Coach - Trainer - Consultant

In short:

I'm an experienced business strategist, coach and trainer. A creative thinker, who is always looking to join the dots, I work with individuals and teams to help them gain maximum clarity about the issues they are facing, while continually raising performance levels.

In her toolkit:

I'm a member of the CIPD.

In the past:

I started my career in education, before moving into HR and learning and development, first with Sainsbury’s responsible for training provision across the South West region, and then the RAC, supporting executives and senior leaders in the business. My experience has taught me that developing people matters if businesses are to grow and meet their ever changing challenges. I have led projects to design and implement learning programmes for large corporate clients and bespoke programmes for SME’s.

I know the challenge of continuously delivering more for less is critical for established and scaling businesses. My starting point is always the business result you need. I'm very much focused on improving people's performance to deliver the business goals and positively impact the bottom line. I've also qualified and worked as a commercial spatial designer in healthcare, before deciding to focus on coaching support to grow SME’s in the South West.

In her spare time:

Family – a strong work life balance is at her core, travel – the more places I visit the more amazed I am, baking diva – cake makes learning so much more pleasurable.

In three words:

Amplify talent & capability.

In touch:

If you’re looking to take your business to the next level, Sara would love to hear from you…

Call: 07748105099

Email: hellosara@saracottrell.com

Work with Sara

Coaching

I know from experience that sometimes people need cajoling and coaxing to try out new ideas and put their learning to work.

Effective coaching will enable you to bring all your energy, skill and strengths to the things that matters most to you. Whatever your definition of success, a good coach is an ally working with you to achieve your professional and personal goals.

It takes practice to master skills, confidence to take the first step and tenacity to keep going when things don’t go the way you had hoped for. It can be tough. So coaching is a key part of what I do, to support your journey to master new skills.

Who is coaching for?

Business owners and entrepreneurs
Executives and established leaders
New leaders and rising stars
Teams

Regular coaching sessions can:

Help you set goals and define your aspirations
Keep you on track.
Give you the confidence to have a go.
Share your concerns and worries about the things holding you back.
Develop your skills and capability.
Help you understand the outcomes you want.
Create a plan to keep moving forward.
Motivate you to just get on with it.
Create space to reflect and learn.
Test and try out new ideas.
Create accountability with regular check in’s.
Address and overcome barriers (real and imagined!)
Unpick relationship issues at work.

You will never know what you’re capable of until there’s someone to push you outside your comfort zone. Just ask any professional athlete.

Workshops and training

Nurture and grow the talent in your business

It’s not always easy to take time out from the day-to-day demands of a busy business, however sometimes it is exactly what you and your team need. You’ve built a great team, however they need some support to acquire the skills and knowledge to take on new challenges as your business expands.

It’s time to focus on what’s really important.

This could be encouraging your team to collaborate and find ways of working more effectively together, coaching to embed learning from workshops or comprehensive leadership or skills programmes aimed at challenging mindsets and creating new ways of working.

I take learning very seriously and pay special attention to workshop design and delivery. I will work hard to help you close those critical skills gaps and give people the confidence to stretch, grow and ultimately perform better.

There are some common threads that run through my workshops:

Make it big and visual - I’ve learned over the years people respond much more positively when information is shared visually as well as verbally.
It's a partnership - I work closely with clients to ensure learning hits the mark and makes a positive impact on your people.
Size doesn't matter - I work with groups of different sizes from a handful to a conference of over 400 people – we relish the chance to learn with others.
It must work for you - My workshops are designed to fit with the ebb and flow of your business, they can be broken down into small chunks for ‘lunch and learn’ sessions or more meaty programmes.
Re-inventing the wheel -I do have a portfolio of some tried and tested modules, however I know your business will have some particular requirements, so I make sure exercises, examples and activities fit your business context.
Thinking to doing - Getting to action is important yet I understand and encourage the value of reflection to dive deeper and gain a fuller understanding of the critical issues.
Training isn't always the answer - it is costly and if I feel you can better address some of the issues you have with more effective solutions then I'll tell you.

I have a wide range of workshops and programmes and I don’t believe one size fits all, so no two workshops are exactly alike. I'll tailor any learning to meet your requirements and achieve the outcomes you need.

My workshops are interactive, motivating and focussed around the fundamental idea of giving people tools to master the hard and soft stuff they need to improve performance.

It’s easy when you head back to work to put the course folder on the shelf and ‘park’ your learning.Make sure you follow up with some really great coaching to embed your learning.

SDI - working with strengths

Know what makes you tick

The SDI is a powerful and effective psychometric tool for understanding the motives and values that drive behaviours.

Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) helps people better understand their themselves and what motivates them. Greater self awareness enables them to influence and lead with clarity and empathy, be a great team player, and more effectively navigate conflict.Why SDI works

The power of SDI is in how quickly and easily it gets people connecting and really talking to each other. SDI facilitates strong relationships through:

The insights people gain
The acceptance it encourages
The conversations it informs
The trust it increases
The conflict it decreases

SDI is useful if you are seeking to:

Understand what drives behaviour.
Appreciate the strengths your team bring to their work.
Develop behaviours to lead with clarity and empathy.
Improve cohesion and collaborative working in teams.
Develop leaders.
Support and manage change.
Drive sales.
Unlock the mysteries of working relationships.
Deliver great customer service.
Navigate conflict and misunderstandings.

SDI is easy to use and apply: It’s relevant to all levels in business, making it an great foundation for better and more focused conversations across your business.

Manifesto

Community

Working to support employment and skills based community projects

Enterprise Advisor - Churchill School Somerset

What I do:

work with the careers team to develop a careers strategy that gives students multiple opportunities to get to know the world of work
share my insights about job opportunities and the key skills that local and national businesses need
use my network to open doors and create more work encounters

Babbassa Youth Empowerment                           Project Bristol — Babbassa Youth Empowerment Project Bristol

Babbassa - Bristol

Providing support to the team at Babbassa to build skills and confidence in their roles.

KAtja House - Kathmandu - nepal

Katja House is a charity organisation that cares for underprivileged children from the streets of Kathmandu and the villages of Nepal. Supporting and sponsoring children with visits and funds.