Jenny Garrett OBE

Prior to this she held senior marketing roles for organisations such as Ashridge Business School, Hamptons International and Schroder Leasing. Jenny’s specialist areas include:

• Diversity – ‘no longer counting people, but making people count’, exploring and appreciating difference, culture and beliefs to provide the best organisational solutions.
• Leadership coaching – providing the challenge and support that can be missing for executives at the most senior levels of an organisation to keep them on track.
• Team performance – through team coaching, enabling improved lines of communication, increased self-awareness and an understanding of others perceptions.

Jenny has a Masters degree in Management Learning and Leadership from Lancaster University. She also has a degree in Business from the University of Westminster and coaching qualifications with Ashridge Business School and Lancaster University. She has the highest honorary award of 'Companion' from the Institute of Leadership and Management.

Jenny is passionate about helping women navigate the challenges of work and life and is author of Rocking Your Role, a guide to success for Female Breadwinners.

Coaching experience at a senior level

I have coached Professors, Directors and Heads of Departments in a variety of HE Institutions. The majority of my clients are senior managers preparing themselves for the next step in their careers, or wanting to make the very most of their current role.

Coaching experience in Higher Education

I have and am currently coaching senior leaders who want to develop their leadership skills, manage their workload effectively, develop their communication skills and explore next steps in their career and life.

I have also coached a number of University Department Heads undertaking a leadership development programme at a London University. We focussed on a number of issues such as helping the department to think more commercially, making the most of change, dealing with difficult people, and taking up a more senior role.

Coaching experience in other sectors

I am drawn to working with organisations and institutions that want to make a difference for those they serve and the wider community. I have wide experience of coaching in further education and schools, housing, health, arts, local and central government, charities, trade bodies and the private sector.

Coaching style, approach and influences

My style is that of enquiry. Helping you to take a curious approach to exploring your situation, approach and thinking. My aim is to enable you to penetrate to the heart of the matter in order to move forward in a focused way.

My approach is informed by a number of psychological approaches, including person centred and solutions focused. My experience of working in complex commercial organisations, art, the latest leadership thinking and my intuition also inform my work.  As appropriate, I employ psychometric/ personality questionnaires.

Example of issues explored in coaching sessions

Leadership, authenticity, transition, diversity, unconscious bias, alignment of values, collaboration, tackling difficult conversations, moving from middle to senior management, senior team development, personal effectiveness and career development, relationship management, influencing with impact, leadership confidence/authority, creativity, time management, work life balance, restructuring, managing people, team management, developing strategic thinking, being a woman leader.

Professional background

Over the last 12 years, I have coached and mentored formally and informally in various roles at the centre of organisational change. I have held senior marketing roles in organisations such as Schroder Leasing Ltd and Hamptons International, gaining considerable insight into organisational life from my experience of working in complex organisations, where lines of communication and accountability are ambiguous and pressure for results is paramount.

In 2002, I moved into the education sector at Ashridge Business School where I developed my passion for executive coaching.

Qualifications and accreditations (including diagnostic tools)

MA Management Learning and Leadership,

PG Cert Executive Coaching,

BA (Hons) Business, British Psychological Society Level A and B,

Coaching for Organisational Consultants accreditation - Ashridge Business School.

Real World HETLQ,

WAVE,

Insights,

MBTI

Case Studies

Senior Manager, University

Client Issue: Career next steps after Chair role was ending

We took an enquiring approach to noting changes and exposure to new experiences that the Chair role had brought and considered together what the impact of this was.

We explored options of future career progression cross-University, and the trade of with research and work life balance. The coaching provided a space to reflect, explore and be challenged.

Outcome: The client made a decision to take a year off for research and then take the next step to obtain a senior cross-University role. The client felt that they were making a well thought out decision based on through exploration, their values and future aspirations.

Head of Department, University

Client Issue: The client had been recently promoted and was finding that he was still thinking operationally, although his role demanded a more strategic outlook.

Taking a solution focused approach we started by looking at what was working for him in his new role and developed an action plan to have more experiences of things working for him. The client decided that on the two days of the week that he came in an hour early that he would write in a reflective journal instead of going straight to answering his emails. He found that this opened the space for him to think strategically and also get the most from his day. Instead of starting the day by “doing”, he started by “reflecting” and found that this yielded better results at work while also improving his sense of well being.

Quotes from previous coachees

‘Just to thank you, once again, for such an enjoyable, stimulating, helpful and ultimately productive series of coaching sessions. I have really enjoyed working with you, and it has been a great privilege to have the time, space and your expertise to coach me through my senior leadership journey over the last months.’ Senior Manager, University

 ‘I am very grateful for all of the help, guidance, advice and support you gave me.  I know I can be in touch if and when. All of our sessions were very helpful, in different ways, and the timing of the last turned out to be perfect.’ Professor, University