Sue Mitchell

I have been coaching since 1988 and working as a professional coach since 2006 with individuals from all walks of life, as outlined in my resume.  Some examples include stepping up to Director / C-Level  for  people in senior executive and leadership positions; building confidence and self esteem with private clients and managers; learning how to lead and manage for first time in management; finding new directions with mums wanting to do something more with their life; managing a flourishing career with managers, students, newly redundant men and women, and more.

I work with individuals who contact me directly and also with companies that hire me to work 1:1 with staff and also to deliver training programmes. I have designed four training programmes on coaching and leadership that are nationally recognised by the Institute of Leadership and Management  (ILM) as development programmes.

I find coaching works extremely well for becoming clear about my direction, keeping focused, and on track to make things happen.  This is what persuaded me to take up coaching as a fully qualified professional. I have my own coach who I work with periodically. I invest in my own continuing development as a coach and keep up to date, through regular supervision, training events, seminars, and contributing to the UK professional body for coaching, the Association for Coaching.

"My value is to help you identify your vision and goals, assess where you are now and how to close the gap to where you want to be. I work with you to make your journey to success faster, more efficient and, most importantly, more effective and long-lasting. I bring a unique wealth of experience from academia, overseas expeditions and sport as well as the business world, to encourage new thinking and raise awareness and responsibility for yourself, your work, your team and your life.

I have followed my dreams on several occasions - leading expeditions to the South Pacific, sailing from Australia to New Zealand and traveling the world in my early 20s, returning to university to study for the PhD I'd always wanted to do, taking the plunge to start my consultancy in 2004 and now to be a professional coach. I'd like to help you to follow your dreams - to challenge you to stretch your horizons, to provoke you to question your assumptions and support you to achieve what you want."   Dr Sue Mitchell, Aeona Limited

My clients report success in achieving their objectives for coaching and here is a sample some of their testimonials from my company webpages.

"I found the coaching valuable in helping me understand my values and their implication on my behaviours. Sue also helped me create a personal vision and then explore the route to achieving this. Working with a coach enabled me to gain much deeper insights than would be possible working on my own. It also provided the discipline to work through a staged process over three months, embedding the learning as part of that journey.

I am most grateful to Sue for achieving a depth of questioning that allowed me to gain deep insights. It's those moments when she did not allow the conversation to move on - pushing for deeper reflection - that provided some of the greatest value. She acted professionally and remained impartial throughout." SD, Glasgow. Chief Executive, Public Sector.

"I would like thank Dr Sue Mitchell for her work in helping me develop not just my P.D.P. but encouraging and coaching me to be a more confident person. This experience has not only helped me realise some of my potential in the work environment, but importantly has given me a life skill which has allowed me to become more confident in myself, more contented in my home life, and most importantly made me a happier person. Without her help I could not be where I am today.

My main benefits from coaching are gaining confidence and the self realisation that I have the management skills that others see in me and becoming more confident in using them. The impact on my performance has been massive. Without Sue’s help, I would not have had the confidence and belief to push myself forward. This has not only been a journey to develop a PDP, but a journey of discovery to allowing me to release my potential as a more confident person, both in and outside of the work sphere. I look at everything I now do with a clearer view of my own abilities. The evidence of my success is that since starting on the PDP coaching, I have become a team leader of a group of two people, and in the last month I have been offered and accepted an acting managers role looking after four people. I have achieved more in the last 6 months than I could ever have dreamed of at the start of the coaching process." GM, Aberdeen. Manager, Corporate.

"I first spoke to Sue regarding a change in my role, moving out of my comfort zone with a team I had not worked with before. There were some hostilities and morale was low.

Sue helped me break down my insecurities and identify my goal. We then worked through discovery of techniques and tools that would improve the team's performance and morale.

Sue encouraged me to look at my own motivational and leadership skills and urged me to use them to my best ability. We celebrated success at each session. I enjoyed working with Sue very much. She is genuine and kind, listens with a true interest, and does not pass judgement. My confidence has grown since the coaching and Sue has a big part to play in this. Thank you Sue." JD, Newcastle-under-Lyme. Manager, National Corporate.

"The coaching gave me the opportunity to have time to explore issues with someone who helped me see things in a different way. To be gently, but firmly, 'pushed' to think about situations was challenging but felt good when I came up with solutions. It enabled me to realise that I can't change other people, but I can change what I say or how I react and that, in turn, might change how they respond to me. It helped me focus on the positives not the negatives. " GR, London. Regional Consultant, NGO.

"The coaching was fundamental in supporting my transition from my previous position to my new role in a different organisation. It enabled me to identify actions and behaviour to adopt in order to make my approach to the change more planned and executable. I was able to take a step back and really look at what I wanted to achieve, then set manageable goals that enabled me to chart my progress toward my ultimate goal." KR, Glasgow. Manager, Public Sector.

"The overall effect of coaching with Sue has been quite considerable. I initially wanted to focus on the personal side of things as I was having a real crisis of confidence. Six sessions later and I've vastly improved my scores on the wheels exercise, I've become more confident, taken control of my life, obtained a new job and have been able to approach work matters far more objectively. " LS, Edinburgh. Manager, Public Sector.

"Sue has been coaching me on my career and starting/running my own business. Sue is very good at reflecting back and summarising my thoughts in a succinct and concise way. She is also skilled at knowing when to leave silence for me to think; yet knowing when to step in with an effective and/or challenging question to help me think in a different way when I have run out of ideas! From my coaching with Sue, I feel that I have made significant progress towards achieving my end goal for my career and life!" NW, Sussex. Small Business Owner.

"Coaching really works! I feel much more confident and focused than before. Thank you for helping me notice my successes when I can only see what I haven't got done." JD London. Senior Manager, International Corporate.