Testimonials

Jo Land,

CEO

“I have been working with Lesley-Anne as a personal and professional coach for the last eight months. On appointment to my first Chief Executive role, I was seeking support from outside of my organisation to help me achieve the transition into leadership and to establish and differentiate myself as the CEO with the board of trustees and the executive after previously working with them as the Deputy CEO. Having previously worked with Lesley-Anne, I was confident that she was perfectly equipped and skilled to be the coach that I was seeking for this important time in my professional career.

Lesley-Anne took time to get to know me through both regular conversations and frequent observation of me in a variety of settings. This was made more difficult than usual due to the Covid-19 lockdown but together we agreed a virtual approach to our coaching sessions that has worked really well.

Feedback from Lesley-Anne has been invaluable in helping me to reflect upon my style and how I interact with the different audiences that I now need to influence and lead. As a result I have been able to develop and adopt an approach to each audience, including developing clear ideas of what I want to obtain from these interactions and how best to achieve the contribution and outcome I am seeking.

Utilising Lesley-Anne’s breadth of experience in similar roles, I have been able, with her support, to critically evaluate the performance of the senior leadership team and, as a result, have identified and addressed gaps in the skill set which were an obstacle to future organisational growth and development.

I have been able to identify and address the relevant levers to give the board the assurance that they seek of my commitment and ability to deliver a successful first year, whilst also addressing a number of significant organisational ‘legacy’ issues which have adversely affected operating performance for a number of years.

With Lesley-Anne’s support I feel that I have achieved much in the time we have been working together and I now have a much clearer understanding of what being a CEO needs from me personally and how to manage the pressures and the challenges of the role. I will be forever grateful for Lesley-Anne’s reminder to ‘pause’ occasionally and to reset the dial periodically.”

Lauren Osman,

Transformation and Compliance Manager

“Having worked at my organisation for over 12 years but starting a new, more strategic and senior role, I was keen for some personal development to help me make that change so my line manager recommended working with Lesley-Anne.

After working with Lesley-Anne for just two weeks I had learnt more about myself, my colleagues and my organisation than I had over the whole time working there. Lesley-Anne has helped me grow and see things from a new perspective and with a fresh set of eyes and I feel much more confident to do what I need to. Lesley-Anne’s enthusiasm to get things done is infectious and I know that her influence will stay with me for my whole career.”

Gary Masterson,

President, Intensive Care Society

“When Lesley joined us the charity was dysfunctional as a result of a prolonged period of substandard management, financial control, leadership and governance. In response, Lesley initiated a turnaround programme to address all of the charity’s failings. Her expertise and experience in multiple fields (including contracts, charities sector, legal processes, staff management, team building and financial management) proved invaluable in rebuilding the Intensive Care Society into the successful body it is today. I am delighted to be able to say that the Society is now a major success and this achievement is in no small measure a result of Lesley’s expertise, commitment and hard work.

It has been a pleasure working closely with Lesley as President Elect and more recently as President. She encapsulates the qualities that highly effective leaders often demonstrate. She is approachable, accessible, tenacious, patient, energetic, creative, collaborative and supportive.”

Caroline Neal,

Interim Director of People

“I have had the pleasure of working with Lesley throughout 2020 in my capacity of Interim Director of People with the Avenues Group. Lesley’s coaching skills have supported senior people throughout the organisation to align personal brand with the organisation’s values and expected leadership behaviours, which has in turn created a new and highly professional and accountable culture at the top of the organisation. With the benefit of Lesley’s management consultancy skills, as an Executive Management Team we have successfully embedded an inclusive programme, which over time will transform our organisation and lead it to success.

In combination, Lesley’s management consultancy and coaching skills are truly unique. As a coach, Lesley has empowered me to plan for my own professional future and consider in earnest my development needs. Due to Lesley’s management consultancy skills, I have been able to develop in a stretching but practical way to meet my own and the organisation’s needs.

Lesley has a firm grasp on people, their skills and motivations and her personal style is immediately engaging. Her extensive experience of leading organisations ideally places her to very quickly gain organisational understanding and empower people and organisations to make change. I would highly recommend Lesley as a coach and management consultant; two valuable skill sets that are hugely beneficial on their own but highly effective in combination.”

Paul,

Director

“I have had the opportunity to work with Lesley as my adviser and mentor over the last six months – she engages with you both as a professional and as an individual person; a truly holistic approach to mentoring you. She has a warm and friendly nature so that you rapidly get into discussions of key issues without any concerns. Amongst her key skills is the ability to actively listen; dissect the conversation and quickly ascertain the real problems you are facing, and with her experience offer strategic and tactical approaches to solving them. She can make sense of the complexity of a director’s work – eg dealing with people, politics, processes and products or services – and offers really useful insights and advice because of her commercial acumen and knowledge of working with organisational challenges. I would recommend her to fellow senior managers and look forward to having the opportunity to work with her again in the future.”

Margaret,

Director

“I had reached a crossroads in my life – a period of inner conflict relating to values in the workplace. Lesley listened and helped me to achieve clarity and confidence during this period of considerable change. This has enabled me to take the road that will lead to fulfilling my personal goals, whilst maintaining my self-belief.”

Michelle,

Assistant Director

“I began working with Lesley when I was relatively new in post as an assistant director. Lesley’s style of coaching has been a great enabler for me in developing both professionally and personally. She has enabled me to consider things that happen both at work and on a personal level with a different view, seeing things both good and challenging as teaching something, which then becomes part of my toolkit for use another time. This works for me at home and at work.

Also she helped me to challenge myself to push my boundaries and try things that I might otherwise have avoided, with surprising and pleasing results. I have grown in confidence in my role at work and have developed a greater ability to show this confidence in interactions at work, whilst remaining true to who I am as a person. Lesley works to develop the person as a whole and to hone reflective thinking to encompass experiences from all aspects of life. This has allowed me to explore a range of areas of my work and personal life and be more in control of how events affect my performance at work.

Overall, working with Lesley has been a very positive experience on many levels. Her insightful summaries of our sessions shared via email that included discussions of things I might try out kept me on track and gave a lasting reminder of the key things we explored. I would recommend Lesley as a coach wholeheartedly.”

Simon,

Director

“I can’t decide whether working with Lesley is a pleasant challenge or a challenging pleasure. Lesley has a refreshing approach to her work, whether coaching or mentoring. As a mentor, Lesley finds that careful balance between making sure you do your own work (that’s what you’re there for!) and being directive if you need to move things on. She will use the freedom mentoring gives (over coaching) to draw on her own experience as a senior executive, from the experience of others in her network and from her personal experience. Being personal and professional is a real skill and Lesley has it.

If you’re really up for changing then you have to be prepared to work. What really helps is when the person who’s helping you makes the ‘homework’ easier for you. Lesley can do that. She picked methods that suited me, which meant I could focus on the issue (not the technique, tool or model) and I felt like doing it even when I was busy.”

Anna,

Executive Assistant

“Lesley has an impressive track record of turning organisations around and driving them towards success. I’ve seen her ability to assess an organisation’s challenges and opportunities and subsequently inspire and empower leaders and employees alike to develop organisational goals, culture, and overall strategy. On a personal development level, Lesley has a unique approach to understanding you and your motivators. She provides excellent guidance, constructive challenge, and leverages an extensive professional network to help you take your own positive steps in your career journey. ”

Jo,

“3 years ago this May, my life was turned upside down, I witnessed losing my dear Mum in a tragic fire accident. It was one of the most traumatic experiences nobody would want to witness.

Subsequently my sister with Down’s syndrome lived with us then for over 2 years.

I felt at my lowest I had ever felt, going through grief, trauma, loss and adjusting to living with my sister in my large family. My brother and myself started having counselling individually with Lesley.
Even after the first session both myself and brother noticed and welcomed the understanding and compassion of Lesley straight away.

Lesley has such a lovely way of guiding you through a dark tunnel towards the light ….
Her warm, gentle guidance in her encouragement for you to move forward into a positive way of living. Showing me coping mechanisms – in which she seems to understand and empathise a way in which she knows you are able to cope with.

Lesley is a very special lady and has helped me immensely and will always be grateful, for showing me the light 💡 xx”

Ros,

 

 “A huge thank you to you and colleagues for running a course to help me understand my bereavement. This was a great help to me and thank you for helping 

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Photography courtesy of Heidi Marfitt