Have you recently, or indeed ever, as these things can stay with us, experienced an ongoing work situation that left you feeling disengaged, demotivated, low on confidence and generally totally hacked off?

Enter stage left – Elena! Because this is what she was experiencing when we started to work together. She was navigating a – and I don’t use this word lightly – toxic environment, feeling undermined by colleagues she once trusted, and trying to hold herself together while figuring out her future.

She told me that she wanted to feel “less angry – more at peace with what’s happened – and take charge of the narrative.”

And at the time, she said she felt “as far as I might imagine from that goal.”

She also wanted to rebuild confidence, to feel clear about her next career step, and to understand how to move forward without burning out. But when we began, she described herself as “overwhelmed, unclear, and rushed,” and her confidence as “pretty low.”

She wasn’t just looking for tools alone, because we have AI to ask if that’s all we need, she was looking for a safe place to make sense of everything, and work out what to do next.

I do love a challenge, but this is the kind of space many of my coaching clients arrive in, so I knew I could help….

Our coaching created a space where Elena could be honest, emotional, and not afraid to share her ambitions.

We used emotional freedom technique (tapping) in our sessions to process some of the emotional BLEURGH of it all, and she learnt to use tapping during moments of stress or triggering interactions at work (many of my clients nip to the work loo to breathe, tap and reground themselves during the day, especially if work doesn’t feel safe.)

As we explored Elena’s strengths, values, and career story, she began to reconnect with her abilities and professional identity.

She started reaching out to people in her network – something she hadn’t felt able to do before – and new opportunities and affirmations began to flow back.

“I’ve been much more proactive in my networking… this led to insightful conversations with recruiters, senior executives and peers. The conversations left me more confident in my ability to articulate my value.”

A big part of our work was helping her define her ideal next role – not just any escape route, but the right one (have you ever escaped the wrong role for you by careering into the first new employer who came along? It’s a very common pitfall and one Elena didn’t want to trip into.)

She started to slow down, listen to her own energy, hold boundaries, and wait for something aligned.

Throughout our sessions, Elena explored how to protect herself emotionally in an environment that didn’t always feel safe. (This is absolutely key for so many of my clients. Please know if this resonates with you, you are not alone.)

She practised micro-boundaries, internal boundaries, emotional boundaries – it was a theme, can you tell? – and developed strategies to stay grounded while she planned her next step.

This is what Elena said (in her own words of course):

“Jen has been an absolutely invaluable part of my life over the past half year. The coaching sessions felt like therapy at times – like a release I didn’t know I needed.

They equipped me with fantastic tools that will continue to serve me going forward.

I’m much clearer on what I’m looking for now in a future role, and willing to wait for the right one.

The coaching sessions gave me a space where I was heard, a chance to offload and an opportunity to learn coping mechanisms and explore ways onwards and upwards.

What a gift you have to create a psychologically safe space… to move seamlessly from holding space for me to process emotions, to reflecting on goals, to coaching me in using new tools, to supporting me in clarifying my next steps.”

And perhaps the line that captures her transformation best, and brings me so much joy, especially given our starting point:

“I’m left much more at peace, and confident in my abilities and professional future.”

Coaching outcomes are rarely as cut and dried as ‘this coaching conversation saved my company £1million’ because no coaching happens in a vacuum. But often the small internal shifts that happen in coaching have big external impact, on our relationships, our well-being and what we choose to do next.

These are the shifts Elena reported noticing:

✔ Rather than anger, feeling at peace

She rated herself a 9 out of 10 on feeling at peace and in charge of her narrative by the end of our 6 sessions together.

✔ An increase in self-belief

Her confidence rose significantly, supported by feedback from her network and her own growing clarity.

✔ More clarity

She became intentional, strategic, and steady – no longer rushing into a new role, but choosing it deliberately.

✔ Taking control back

She understood how to protect her energy, uphold boundaries, and stay standing even in a difficult organisational environment.

✔ Supported and recognised

She realised she had a far stronger network, community, and professional reputation than she had ever believed.

A final word from Elena:

“I can’t recommend Jen enough. She’s deeply caring, relational and feminist in her approach – which allowed me to be vulnerable and my true self – whilst still seeing me as a kick-ass professional.

Having Jen on my team in a time of professional upheaval meant I was able to safely process my emotions, develop a plan, and pick up tools to help me put that plan into action.”

Thank you Elena – it was an absolute joy to work with you.

If you’ve read this story and thought, maybe I would benefit from coaching, this might help:

90% of my 1-1 coaching work is funded by clients’ employers. Any kind of work transition, including a new role, returning to work after a period of leave, or navigating a restructure, are typical touch points where 1-1 leadership coaching can be hugely beneficial. Many of my clients come to me not feeling confident that their employer will fund coaching, but most are very pleasantly surprised at the response.

If you have a people team or learning & development function, they will be able to talk to you about coaching.

Some conversation starters might be:

‘This current period of change has been a lot to navigate, and I’d benefit from space to recharge my batteries and to focus on my leadership and confidence so I’m ready for the next challenges on the horizon.’

or

‘We’ve a lot of uncertainty and change to navigate over the next 12 months on top of some existing challenges within the team – I’d really benefit from some external coaching support so this becomes a learning opportunity rather than a path to burnout.’

If you’d like to talk to me about coaching, feel free to pop in a free 30 minute conversation right here.

You can read more about 1-1 leadership coaching on my website here or share this 1 pager with your People/L&D team here.

A note on how client stories are created:

I pull together client stories based on both the client’s written words in their coaching evaluation form (which references objectives we set together at the start of the coaching programme) and my observations too. I share this in draft with my client and they ask for any amends, updates, wording changes so it accurately reflects their experience and they decide if they’d like to use their name or a pseudonym. Once it’s signed off I publish on my website as a blog post to help future clients understand the kind of work I do.