Catalytic Conversations
Accelerating leadership, engagement, and performance in teams, organisations, and schools.
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Catalytic Conversations
Accelerating leadership, engagement, and performance in teams, organisations, and schools.
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Conversations Matter
Feedback, accountability, career development, coaching, diversity and inclusion, and conflict resolution – leaders and managers need to be skilled at all these kinds of conversations and more!
Unfortunately, not everyone is.
They matter for relationships. They matter for wellbeing and engagement. And they matter for performance.
Never had access to high-quality leadership and communication training, or;
Been on a few courses but you’ve not walked away with exactly what you need – the knowledge and skills to become successful people leaders, or;
Tried all the leadership and “leader as coach’’ programmes, yet nothing seems to stick. It all sounds great in the training but when you're back in the workplace uncertainty kicks in, you don’t seem to have time, old habits die hard, and nothing (despite the best of intentions) seems to change.
Perhaps like many of the leaders and managers I speak with, you and your team have:
You’re putting out fires instead of doing the strategic thinking needed to move things forward
You and your teams are working harder not smarter because there’s not enough expressed clarity around expectations, responsibilities, and boundaries
There’s a lack of accountability because there’s no established practice for holding critical conversations that support learning and performance
You’re struggling with retention and absenteeism because relationships are fraught and stress levels are rising
Or, maybe you know you’re capable of achieving so much more.
And as a result, perhaps:
“This has been the best CPD I have ever attended in my career and by far the most beneficial in my leadership on a daily basis.”
- Luke, course participant
The need for authentic, courageous, and effective conversations has never been greater.
And they’re within your reach.
- Tom, Regional Director, Oasis Learning
Learning about coaching with Sarah has deepened my understanding of how key relationships are to success. It has transformed how I work with people, built trust and improved interactions across our whole organisation. Sarah's experience and knowledge of coaching, relationships, and as an international leader, means she is able to give clear, practical advice which has had a significant impact on every aspect of my role.
What clients are saying
Learning about coaching with Sarah has deepened my understanding of how key relationships are to success. It has transformed how I work with people, built trust and improved interactions across our whole organisation.
Sarah's experience and knowledge of coaching, relationships, and as an international leader, means she is able to give clear, practical advice which has had a significant impact on every aspect of my role.
There are two ways I can partner with you to transform your leadership, team, and organisation with powerful Catalytic Conversations that accelerate leadership, engagement, and performance.
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Catalytic Conversations
The next era in leadership practice and communication.
Providing the mindset, heartset, and skillset to have catalytic conversations® that unlock performance.
I partner with you through a blend of consultancy and facilitation to improve dialogue and dynamics and strengthen processes and procedures – making teamwork work better.
Making teamwork work better
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Training
Catalytic Conversations
The Catalytic Conversations® programme is focused on helping your team grow as people leaders and managers so they can develop a culture of accountability and improve communication, growth, and performance.
Communication is often called a soft skill. I prefer to call it a human skill – the most important one in a leader’s toolkit. Leaders and managers have thousands of opportunities each and every day to connect, inspire, and influence their teams.
What if you could make every conversation count?
You can.
The Catalytic Conversations® programme is a truly transformational leadership learning experience. Participants report an increase in their self-awareness, confidence and capacity for empowering their teams by creating ownership, establishing accountability and holding courageous and catalytic conversations. They also report tangible changes in the quality of their relationships and their ability to influence for good, renewed optimism for themselves and their teams to overcome challenges and achieve strategic goals.
With a doctorate in leadership development, post-grad certification in education, and 20 years of direct experience in leadership and learning, I understand how leaders learn best and have designed an experience that leaders report as being transformational for them, not only professionally but personally.
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Create the conditions for relationships and conversations to flourish.
Understand the differences between managing, leading, and coaching and what’s needed for each state.
Coach your teams and build capacity – with no outdated, time-sucking models that are challenging for leaders and managers to use.
Create cultures of accountability; setting and communicating expectations clearly and kindly.
Lead powerful feedback dialogues that people actually look forward to, learn from, and that make a difference.
Initiate and hold conversations with confidence, courage, and compassion - even the difficult and conflictual ones.
After the Catalytic Conversations® programme, you and your leaders and managers will be able to:
so you can accelerate leadership, engagement, and performance.
– Carol Wilson, CEO, Culture at Work
We have worked with Dr Sarah Howling for many years... Her knowledge, credentials and skill at culture change are awe-inspiring... and she is a complete powerhouse.
Sarah is great to be around – enthusiastic and flexible in her approach, she carries people along with her visions and inspires them to realise their own. She is loyal, reliable and completely dedicated. We would unhesitatingly recommend her to work with people and organisations at all levels of seniority.
What clients are saying
Programme Feedback
The course was inspirational and had a profound impact on my leadership. Sarah demonstrated a deep knowledge of leadership and coaching throughout.
There's been a huge impact on me in terms of my awareness of myself and those around me. My ability as a leader has improved dramatically.
Thank you for such an inspirational experience that has had such a significant influence on my thinking, my leadership, and my life.
Simply the greatest opportunity for professional and personal growth I have ever undergone.
The impact of the course has been huge. I can now deal with issues calmly and professionally. I feel I can perform better now as a leader than any point previously.
This has been the most worthwhile CPD I have ever attended and has hugely developed me as a leader.
Thank you so very much.
Thank you for all the time you have given to us as individuals and as a team. The amount of detail and knowledge you have shared with us has been invaluable and it has been fantastic to see the strategies working in the team.
Learning how to think about and structure challenging conversations has been really beneficial. It's helped me have really purposeful conversations and I've had positive outcomes with my team.
The strategies and tools we've discussed about challenging conversations and coaching have been extremely useful for me in managing my team and supporting them in the best ways possible. They've worked really well!!
Consultancy
Catalytic Conversations for Brilliant Teams
As a leader, you’ll have many things on your mind – strategy, systems, revenue, company politics, profitability, and growth – to name just some.
Building and sustaining a positive, high-performing team is at the heart of your business success. And yet, less than 20% of teams are classed as high-performing and very few leaders, no matter how well-intentioned, proactively ensure their teams learn and grow together. Creating teams that people want to work in and that get results, goes far beyond team-building activities, strategy days and ad-hoc training.
Whether it’s improving dialogue and dynamics or strengthening processes and procedures, I partner with you through a blend of consultancy, training, and facilitation to make teamwork work better for you, your team, and your business.
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— Chris, Director
We had a specific challenge around how a senior team was performing together. A number of factors led to these challenges including different cultural backgrounds, experience and even gender and age considerations. I was feeling frustrated that we couldn’t get more cohesion out of a team made up of talented individuals.
The exploratory work and the sessions we conducted with Sarah were transformational in how the team approached their work together and ultimately led to a marked increase in mutual respect, enjoyment of working together and ultimately productivity. Sarah’s experience meant that she gained a very confident feel for our context very quickly and understood the challenges we faced both within the group and as a group. All members of the group expressed how supported they felt by the group and individual sessions they had with Sarah – she took time to understand their perspective in this complex mix within the team. In our group sessions, she challenged us to have honest conversations with each other which led to the success of the programme.
I would have no hesitation in recommending Sarah to organisations looking to solve similar challenges.
What clients are saying
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Learn what Catalytic Conversations® can do for you, your team, and your organisation AND together we’ll create the perfect bespoke approach for you.