Leadership, Learning & Wellbeing

Relationship is at the heart of the endeavour

The old way is to invest in individuals as the primary focus, while the way to face the future is to invest in relationships. Where are you focusing your people development strategy and resources?

The world is changing fast. Are the people and relationships on which your business depends getting the most effective learning and development opportunities to support them to adapt, and to strengthen in the face of ongoing uncertainty and change?

I have spent decades working across multiple sectors and industries. Wherever I go these things hold true:

Managers are under increasing pressure to keep up with demands to support individual needs and wellbeing, while ensuring team effectiveness and business impact. They’re breaking under the strain.
Learning and development still follows a largely programme and training-based approach, and is removed from day-to-day working, relating and operations.
People development strategy is scattered and fragmented across functions, delivery teams, and budgets – L&D, DEIB, Culture, Wellbeing.
Individual development matters, but sustained change and impact comes through facilitating collaborative, inclusive and empathic relationships. Especially in the face of difference.

The conventional siloed and individual approach no longer works, but many businesses don’t have a clear and practical alternative. I know what works, and with leaders and organisations who are ready for a fresh take, I can partner with you in ways that work best for you. In practice, not just in theory. If that’s you, we can do wonderful things for your people and your business together.

All that I require from my clients is a willingness to park assumptions, to reawaken curiosity, and to bring honesty and transparency. In return I bring a unique blend of experience, creativity, a portfolio of evidence-based knowledge, and a collaborative spirit.

Get in touch for a free initial discovery consultation about your needs, goals and challenges.

Contact Me

Who I work with

I work with organisations of all sizes, as well as with individuals and community groups, to create and deliver learning and development programmes that equip and empower people to become better at being them; in their work, their relationships and in the wider world.

Programmes and Workshops include:

Leading Well

A leadership development programme with the wellbeing of your people and business at its core.

MaPS

Managing Psychological Health & Safety at Work – a whole-organisation approach.

Comfort or Solutions?

Peer support skills for wellbeing

Draw the Line

Creating and maintaining healthy boundaries

Meaning from Mayhem

Resilience in disrupted and uncertain times.

RAWE

Resilience, psychological risk management, and peer support for those who operate in high risk or ‘hostile’ environments.

What Crows Know

Re-cultivating curiosity in service of learning and belonging

Be More Squirrel

Lessons in personal and relational skills through working with wild animals.

What Squirrels and Earthquakes Teach Us About Resilience

Read Article

Up In Smoke: Stories From a Life on Fire

My MaPS approach to managing psychological wellbeing is featured in this compelling, and funny, personal account of life as a firefighter. See Chapter 17, p.240-242

Find on Amazon.co.uk

Up In Smoke - Stories From a Life on Fire

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See my Media & Speaking page for more publications

“I worked directly with Jacqui in the delivery of a range of courses, to a variety of client groups. In all cases she proved herself to be able to apply her knowledge of psychology in a practical and helpful way that allows people to tailor it to their own individual circumstances. Jacqui was sensitive to the needs of delegates who have suffered or are suffering from trauma reactions and often helped them to make sense of them and to access the support they need, whilst contributing to culture change in their organisations in relation to psychological wellbeing and support for psychological distress.”

Alistair Hollington

Director of Training, @ Lazarus Training Teoranta

“There are very few people in life who combine experience of command authority with humanity and professional expertise. Jacqui excels in all three.

I met Jacqui through her work as an applied psychologist, when she was developing highly innovative new approaches to workplace wellbeing and psychological safety. I was impressed not only by her ability to integrate challenging (and indeed conceptually complex) ideas from scientific clinical psychology into her work as an applied psychologist, but also her ability to adapt and shape these ideas to new contexts and, through her experience of leadership as well as education, to help colleagues implement these ideas in the real world. Jacqui has an impressive CV – one I would be very proud of. It has a breadth of experience that make her an asset in a wide range of roles, and I have been privileged to have worked with her… and I hope our collaboration will continue, as I have a great deal still to learn from her.”

Peter Kinderman

Professor of Clinical Psychology at University of Liverpool, Past President of the British Psychological Society

“Jacqui worked on a project run by myself at Sheffield Hallam University and the director of South Yorkshire Filmmakers Network, with a group of Film Media and Production students – Mental Health & Working in Film and TV. Jacqui created and delivered sessions on building personal resilience and accessing resources to overcome mental health challenges at work and handling difficult conversations, scenarios and reasonable adjustments at work. Jacqui was a pleasure to work with and her openness and honesty was refreshing and inspiring. The students really enjoyed and benefited from her sessions, saying: “always inspirational to hear from Jacqui” and “Jacqui was really informative and made me feel more positive about myself”.

Rachel Gradwell

Higher Education Employability Advisor at Sheffield Hallam University

“I approached Jacqui because I’d just taken on a new team, and I wanted to create an environment of honesty, integrity and trust for us all. Jacqui helped me do this by interpreting what I needed and then facilitated a number of sessions that made us think about our team identity, our behaviours and how we wanted to relate to each other. The result is a team with a close, trusting relationship, who abide by a set of guiding principles and have a strong team identity. I would definitely recommend Jacqui if, like me, you are wanting to bring together individuals that complement and understand each other.”

Michelle Ong

Head of Core Team, Joseph Rowntree Foundation

“I met Jacqui at the BBC, when she was the Mental Health lead. She cares passionately about her subject, communicates it engagingly and is intent on encouraging mental well-being. She connects with others extremely well, thinks on her feet in a training situation and responds to any challenge thrown at her. She is truly inspiring!”

Sue Ellis

Leadership Coach & Trainer