leading in a complex world

In an increasingly complex world, we need a different kind of leadership at a personal, organisational and global level. As a leader, you need to be able to go deep to understand the principles of what is working and what is not working, in order to embrace complexity and appreciate nuance so that you can adjust actions in order to improve.

As a leader, you need to be present and engaged in change in a way that enables you to see both ‘the wood and the trees’. Now more than ever you need to be able to uncover patterns of relating, organising and influencing - forces that can be easily overlooked.

Consulting for change & improvement

I work in partnership with you to learn. Our work together is about cultivating something new and, as a result, create the opportunity to manage yourself and the system differently. 

It’s a partnership of more than technical knowledge and experience, it's about how I connect this with your situation. We are engaged in an ongoing and dynamic process of sense-making, courage and challenge.

A skillset that makes our partnership work well: 

  • Technical - I bring knowledge, expertise and experience in psychology, learning and leadership

  • Interpersonal - credibility, building trust and psychological safety 

  • Consulting - engaging others in change, creating movement and momentum and the transfer of expertise

5 phases of working together

  1. Initial contact - getting to know you and your organisation 

  2. Dialogue - working with you to make sense of what’s happening (what’s working and what’s not) and defining how we might work together 

  3. Planning - developing a proposal of how we will work together

  4. Implementation - depending on the nature of the work this may be a series of engagements or a one-off

  5. Learning - together we review what we have learned and plan the way forward which may include extending, revising, or stopping the work

Kind words

“Sarah is an insightful collaborator. She ably applies evidence informed expert knowledge to deeply change practice and thinking.”

— Pauline Stephen, CEO, General Teaching Council, Scotland