who I am
I’m Ruth Abela, an executive coach and a senior leader in financial and technology services, with over twenty years working across some of the most fast-moving, high-stakes environments in the industry.
My career at my current workplace, has taken me across the business, spanning divisions, priorities and challenges, that kept changing shapes; which means I understand what it feels like to be the new person in the room, even at senior level. I’ve sat in rooms where the strategy shifts overnight, where new leadership arrives with their own agenda, where a promotion lands and suddenly the rules have changed. I’ve navigated lateral moves, upward moves, and the kind of ambiguous transitions that don’t come with a job title.
What I’ve learnt through experience, and now through coaching, is that the most disorientating moments in a career are rarely about capability. You already have the skills. What shakes you is the identity question underneath: who am I in this new context, and how do I lead from here?
That’s the work I do with my clients.
I know what it feels like to stand at a professional crossroads, and not quite know which way to go.
why i coach
I started coaching because I kept noticing a gap. Talented professionals, people who were genuinely good at their jobs, would hit a moment of transition and find themselves stuck. Not because they lacked ambition or ability, but because no one had given them the space to think through what the change actually meant for them.
A promotion isn’t just a title change. A new manager isn’t just a reporting line adjustment. Returning back to work after time away isn’t just a logistical challenge. These are moments that ask something deeper of you, and most organisations aren’t set up to support that.
Coaching is that space. I’ve built my practice around the transitions I know best: the ones that happen inside organisations, to real people, with real careers at stake.
who i work with
I work with professionals, men and women, who are navigating meaningful change at work. My clients tend to be capable, driven people who are used to performing well. They come to me not because something has gone wrong, but because something has shifted, and they want to handle it well.
They might be:
Stepping into a promotion and navigating new expectations for the first time.
Managing up to a new leader or adapting to a restructured organisation.
Moving into a different function, sector, or type of role.
Returning to work after maternity leave, a career break, or time taken for personal reasons.
Feeling the gap between where they are and where they want to be, and ready to close it.
What they share is a willingness to look honestly at what’s happening, and a commitment to moving forward with intention, not just momentum.
how i work
My approach is warm, direct, and grounded in evidence. I’ll create a space where you can think clearly, challenge the stories that might be holding you back, and build a practical path forward, one that’s rooted in who you actually are, not who you think you should be.
Sessions ate confidential, one-to-one, and structured around your goals. I draw on a range of approaches depending on what’s most useful for you, from cognitive and behavioural frameworks to somatic awareness, perspective-taking techniques, and the kind of honest conversation that most people don’t get at work.
I’m not here to tell you what to do. I’m here to help you figure out what you already know, and act on it.
Qualifications and credentials
I am working towards my ILM Level 7 Diploma in Executive Coaching and Mentoring, the highest level of professional coaching qualification in the UK, equivalent to postgraduate study. I’m also working towards IAPC&M accreditation.
In addition, I hold an ICF-recognised coaching diploma and am DiSC certified, which I use to support clients in understanding their own behavioural preferences and how those show up under pressure.
I bring twenty years of senior leadership experience in fintech into every conversation, not to offer corporate advice, but because I understand the environments my clients are working in, and that understanding shapes everything.
