In the late-1970’s I spent some time in the Falkland Islands as a graduate student engaged in geological research.  It’s a very remote spot in the South Atlantic Ocean, windswept, treeless, thinly populated, and, at the time I was there, entirely lacking any kind of road system outside of the capital, Port Stanley.  I was with two colleagues, driving a Land Rover across a boggy track in the middle of nowhere.  We descended to a ford to cross a river, and as we rounded a bend, there before us were two beautiful black-necked swans, moving gracefully on the water.  This is a species which breeds only in the Falklands and Patagonia, so it was a magical discovery, and the encounter has stayed with me with great clarity ever since.

Thirty years later I’m in a coaching seminar in Oslo, learning about personal values and how they influence our motivation and fulfilment.  We are asked to find a symbol which captures the essence – the gut feel – of some of our core values.  I’m transported back to a creek in the Falkland Islands, and the image of two black-necked swans, graceful, silent, majestic, and possessed of some deep inner strength.

Dave Roberts

I grew up in Yorkshire before heading steadily further north for university, first to Newcastle and then Aberdeen.  I've since lived in the Falkland Islands, Scotland and the Netherlands, and from 2006 in Norway, which I'm now happy to think of as my permanent home. 

I've had the immense good fortune to be married to Ingun for over 35 years, and to have been able to raise three marvellous children together.  We've now graduated to grandparenthood and have lots of creative fun with young Kyran. 

I began my career as an earth sciences student and was lucky enough to study glacial landscapes in various remote parts of sub-Antarctica, South America and Northern Europe until, in the mid-1980’s, I embarked on a career as a hydrographic surveyor.  I worked initially on survey boats and oil rigs around the North Sea, then moved onshore into technical support and project management. 

From 1999 I've worked in commercial and general management for several international companies in Norway and the UK, in the process visiting most of the world’s major oil & gas provinces.  I've been involved in contracts and supply chain, M&A, project management and services management.  In my last role I established and ran a new business unit here in Norway for a UK parent company.  You can see my full business profile here.

A big change occurred for me in 2007, when I experienced coaching first-hand whilst on a management training programme.  This was a "light-bulb" experience which led me to make a number of important changes in my life.  One of these was to embark on my own professional training as a life coach, for which I chose The Coaches Training Institute (CTI).  I've since built up my experience of one-to-one coaching, both in private practice and within business organisations, the latter with staff in a wide variety of roles. 

I've also built-up substantial experience as a trainer, presenter and workshop facilitator.  I've worked in particular with business groups in the areas of communication skills, coaching and mentoring skills, organisational vision and strategy, and leadership development.  More recently I've become involved with the start-up business community in Norway, which is a wonderfully dynamic and creative environment.

My background allows me to bring a unique blend of personal and managerial experience to coaching and training.

Working with coaching has given me a special sense of the importance of personal values, and how these give us access to our sources of inspiration, creativity,  motivation and fulfilment.  Of course, each of us has our own unique blend of values.  I've found it a great adventure to explore and deepen my understanding of my own values, and to find symbols or images which express these in a meaningful way - often more powerfully than is possible in words.  The symbols become a touchstone - a reminder, and a stepping-off point - which somehow simultaneously keeps us grounded and yet open for new challenges and opportunities.

You'll find many such symbols in the images I've used on this website.  The Andromeda Galaxy, the mountain lake, the aurora borealis, the rising and setting sun, swans, the stones on a beach.  I hope these will touch and inspire you to explore your own.