In commercial activities, and in his personal life, whether designing immersive, engaging workshops or hosting parties, Ben thrives on creating great experiences for people.
“In the experiences I create it’s all about anticipating and responding to what the other person wants to get from them. Be it a large house party, a conversation or a corporate event – they are all thinking “what’s in this for me?”
Ben’s specialist industry area is retail, but he has translated his experience effectively and enjoyed great results in professional services, banking and insurance.
“I’m interested in any business that has to engage directly with it’s customers or clients, and any environment where people need to work interdependently.”
One of Ben’s personal Heros is Will Schutz Phd. who developed ‘The Human Element’. Will was often called the grand synthesizer because of how he brought together many facets of personal development into one coherent approach – this is what Ben does for clients of Noggin.
Ben runs ‘The Human Element’ here at Noggin – a 5-day deep psychological exploration of our inter-personal behaviour. Find out more:
I really like the expression ‘If you know what you do you can do what you want.’ What really interests me is how one person’s behaviour kicks off a reaction in someone else. Getting under the surface of what drives someone to react how they do when they communicate with each other is fascinating in any context.
Books By Ben
Testimonials
I’ve known Ben Houghton as a coach and as a course leader. His relaxed and unassuming style works magnificently in both contexts. Ben possesses that rare quality which enables him to be challenging and thought provoking without being confrontational – a true change agent.
TK, Director, Barclays Bank.
Ben demonstrates incredible insight and intuition in his coaching. He has a warming sense of humour, is very centred and exceptionally self-aware. His sessions are full of an air of calm which supports a stillness in thought that allows the “waves to part” to unveil the simplicity of a dilemma/issue
CD Learning Manager FTSE 100 Accountancy Practice
I had three sessions with Ben as I have always suffered with a lack of confidence in myself as a person when under pressure or when presenting whatever the scale. The lack of confidence manifested itself at work and at home. I would have panic attacks that I would not know the answers, imagine that I will be lost for words, think other people would judge me and generally work myself up so that I became a nervous wreck. This has resulted in me never pushing myself forward, doing all of the work in the background , watching other people excel through the work I have done and I was starting to make my children feel the same way by not wanting to go out locally and pushing my ‘silliness’ onto them. I was sceptical about coaching as I have had some experiences in the past that have not really made a difference but really felt comfortable with Ben, he was non judgmental, a good listener and structured the sessions to focus on me – it did not feel like he had a prepared a standard format from a text book
The sessions with Ben gave me the thinking time to really focus on me and to address ‘my silliness’ ,some deeper set issues. and focus on using the nerves in a positive way, ensuring that I prepare fully using some of the tactics that Ben has passed to me. I now quite enjoy the buzz. Honestly I feel different, I am still me with all of the attributes that people like and respect but have a new found confidence and way of dealing with situations – which others have noticed.Programme Manager FTSE 100 Company.
I was introduced to Ben at a time when I felt I was at a dead end in my life and almost daily there would some event that would have me in an emotional state. Our first sessions of coaching were a little off the wall, where I could see no connection but they would be the foundation for a series of coping mechanism to get through the day / week. Building up to a sense of wellbeing, which meant I was able to sleep more than 3 hours a night. Through the coaching I learnt how to recognise the things that were important to me and make my own choices again (respecting other peoples opinions but ultimately doing what was right for me) and claim my life back. I have gone from someone whose entire identity was wrapped up in “career”, to spending the last year just allowing it to be a job. I have rediscovered my creativity through different outlets and built a life I love around it, I have found my esteem in the things I love like drawing, pottery, art, friendship, and just being present in the moment.
HC – Management Consultant. London
