NextGen Professional

About

About NextGen
Professional Coaching
NextGen Professional was founded in 2018 with the goal of supporting the construction industry by means of talent acquisition and leadership coaching. For several years, the leadership coaching programs were delivered to mid-management level staff, providing them with the skills and mindset required to become future leaders within their organization. As time progressed, requests from organizations and individuals outside the construction industry became more frequent.
To better accommodate these requests, in 2021 NextGen Professional launched NextGen Professional Coaching, with services including leadership & career coaching, life & relationship coaching, and mental health coaching.

Our coaching programs are delivered by Mike Watkinson, an accredited coach with the International Coaching Federation (“ICF”).  Mike discovered his passion for coaching during his 20+ year professional career that includes roles in sales, operations, and most recently in the construction industry as a Professional Quantity Surveyor. Mike received his formal coach training through the iNLP Center in Southern California and holds certifications as a Master Coach and Mental Health Coach.

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About Mike Watkinson
My career path started in the golf industry, then moved to technical sales & service, and then at the age of 30 (right after the 2009 financial collapse), I decided to go back to school and study electrical engineering with the intent of leveraging that education to further my career in technical sales. Upon completion, a fellow graduate got me a job with his company, a Quantity Surveying firm. Although I didn’t even know what Quantity Surveying was, I was grateful for the opportunity as it would be some steady work for a couple of months until I found a role in sales. That couple of months turned out to be a decade! I enjoyed that job, loved my co-workers, and would likely still be working there if not for NextGen’s desire to launch the coaching wing of their company. The lesson from this paragraph: don’t worry if your career path isn’t perfectly linear!

My coaching career began by working with groups of 6 – 10 mid-managers, helping them to prepare for positions of leadership at their company.  I was fortunate to have a mentor teach me how to work with groups.  We hosted a series of workshops together until I was ready to leave the nest.  He also suggested that I should consider enrolling in a formal coach training program to further my knowledge and confidence.  Since I was familiar with NLP I enrolled into the iNLP Center’s Life Coach program.  Then I took their Master Coach program.  Then I took their Mental Health Coach program.  It was through that training that I realized a passion for working in a one-on-one setting. 

On a personal level, I currently live in Southern Ontario with my wife Agnes and our miniature golden-doodle Sofie. I still play golf, although not as well as I use to! Agnes and I travel a fair bit throughout the year, and we enjoy taking Sofie for a weekend hike or paddle boarding session on the lake. And, despite being a true introvert, I love spending time with friends; be it travelling, dinners, or just sitting by a fire, there’s nothing I enjoy more than having a chat with some good people.