Creating Focus
Hive supports coach to achieve her business goals
A graduate of the Hive's Headstart programme, Sarah Dale, the Chartered Occupational Psychologist behind the Creating Focus coaching programme, recently wrote and published a self-help book whilst running her coaching business, which was started at The Hive. Sarah has run her own business for over eight years and during that time has worked in collaboration with a variety of organisations, as well as directly with clients. Over sixty senior professionals (in different fields, ranging from architecture to medicine) have now completed the Creating Focus programme.
Sarah is accredited as a coach with the Society for Coaching Psychology and recently held a successful launch for her book Keeping Your Spirits Up in Nottingham. The book features case studies from small businesses riding the roller-coaster of the economy and transitions through different life-stages. It offers practical ways to boost resilience and morale in the challenging modern workplace. Based on solid evidence, it is a reassuring read that reminds us that we can help ourselves to manage stress effectively.
Supporting people to help them deal with uncertainty and change
As a Chartered Occupational Psychologist with a business background, Sarah grew up in a family of self-employed people, and wanted the flexibility that having her own business would bring as well as the variety and ability to shape the way that she went about designing and delivering services. Alongside her coaching services, Sarah also offers 360 feedback, team building and training as well as psychometric testing. Her main area of interest is well-being at work, in particular writing and coaching to support people facing uncertainty and change.
Rolling out the Creating Focus programme with 50 managers in one organisation three years ago was a highlight of her career along with the publication of Keeping Your Spirits Up in 2011. Sarah is using these challenging times to shift focus slightly towards more local networks for face to face work and more global networks for distance work with the aim of selling more services (and books) to individuals rather than relying on organisational contracts.
Strategic business development using NTU student talent
Sarah's focus now is to promote her book and distance coaching (via Skype or phone) to establish a relatively regular income from writing and individual coaching. She is currently working with a team of masters students from Nottingham Business school who are helping her to develop this strategy. Her ultimate aim is to be able to write another book (or more) and to develop a strong enough coaching client base to give her the financial flexibility to devote her time to her two passions, coaching and writing.
Sarah comments, "The support I've received from The Hive has been very useful and has given me time to reflect and to be challenged on my business focus and progress. It has also been good as a platform for local networking, as well as being great on a practical front, for room hire etc. I hold regular group meetings at The Hive, which is excellent and allows me to keep in touch in person. It's a great supportive way of sharpening my business ideas and goals."
For further details about Sarah Dale's work and Creating Focus services, please visit her website.
You can also follow Sarah on twitter: @creatingfocus.
