The Developed Leader

How to achieve "Brilliant Balance" as a leader

A "Developed Leader" creates a balance between the many facets of their leadership role whilst also finding a sustainable balance between work and the rest of life.

​Are you a woman leader or working towards leadership?

​Are you seeking to support the development of women leaders and future leaders in your organisation?

​I help women leaders and those aspiring to be leaders to achieve the success they are seeking through creating brilliant balance both:

  • between the various elements of successful leadership &
  • between work and the rest of life

Catherine coached me through my first 18 months on my leadership journey in a new organisation. She was professional, constructively challenging and effective at helping me to appreciate others’ perspectives in a given situation. She readily had a set of tools and ideas that I could try to help me navigate complex relationships and coach my team through continually changing processes. Her personable style made her a great coach who is sorely missed! A great asset to anyone who is fortunate to have her as a coach.

Senior Director 
of a Global Charity

Balance is key to success as a leader

  • Do you feel pulled in too many different directions?
  • Are you wanting to progress your career without negatively impacting other aspects of life that are important to you?
  • Does the “little voice” in your head sometimes make you doubt your abilities?
  • Do you want to become more strategic?
  • Do you want to be true to yourself as a leader but find yourself trying to “fit in” too much?
  • Would you like to enhance certain relationships at work and develop a stronger, more supportive network?
  • Do you want to look and act more like a leader?

If so, you are not alone.

I work with leaders and aspiring leaders like you to help them to:

  • Achieve a balance between the different aspects of their role and the rest of their life
  • Identify and overcome whatever is blocking them from reaching their full leadership potential
  • Develop calm and resilience through challenge
  • Identify what is most important to them and become an authentic leader
  • Learn to manage their “little voice” and think like a leader
  • Look like a leader and demonstrate confidence in the role
  • Enhance their key relationships and develop the support network critical for success
  • Become more strategic in both their role and in their career planning
  • Follow a proven approach to becoming a “Developed Leader”

A proven philosophy of achieving balance as a "Developed Leader"

Through developing many leaders and aspiring leaders as an executive coach and group facilitator over many years, I have crystallised five key aspects of achieving successful, balanced leadership. I help leaders Strengthen their Presence, Harness their Potential, Initiate Supportive Relationships, Focus on Strategy and Think like A Leader. Harnessing potential includes creating the balance necessary to nurture and sustain the leader.

Creating "Brilliant Balance"

To become a successful leader you need to balance many different components, both in the workplace and outside. At work there is a need to move beyond the technical expertise that has got you so far and develop more leadership competencies including having a strengthened presence as a leader, developing enhanced and supportive relationships, becoming more strategic and overcoming everything that is getting in your way…including managing anything that is draining your energy! Underlying it all is cultivating a motivating and positive mindset and thinking like a leader.

Balance for women leaders

Both male and female leaders need to achieve balance in order to be successful. However women face additional challenges both in reaching leadership positions (for organisational and cultural reasons) and because of the additional responsibilities many women face outside work. One of the reasons women often choose to step out of contention before reaching positions of leadership is because of the challenge of balancing a demanding, high profile role with the other aspects of life i.e. raising a family, running a home, looking after elderly relatives, whilst also taking care of their health and wellbeing etc. Some women may also want to contribute through voluntary work.

I had the immense pleasure of having Catherine Cuffley as my coach. Catherine was excellent at making me realise that by visualising where you want to go or what you want to achieve, your goals then become more accessible. Catherine is a very good active listener - she knew what questions to ask me in order to help me organise my thoughts without overpowering the session.

HR Manager 
in a Global IT Solutions Business

​​ Achieving balance is key to making all this possible so, in order to harness women’s leadership talents, more needs to be done to help women find their own personal balance and by organisations to facilitate this.

I feel I have gained enormously from the coaching process. I no longer get so nervous when having to speak in front of a large number of people. I also find speaking at work meetings easier and believe I voice my opinions clearly and concisely.

​I now regularly attend external updates and make an effort to get to know people from other banks. My coaching improved my working relationship with a key Director and I felt more able to be honest and open in our communication. I am now better able to handle confrontation and always consider if a face to face meeting aids a resolution.

We are in a time of great change at the Bank and Catherine gave me some useful advice on change management techniques. I found working with Catherine extremely easy. She is a warm and professional person. I felt free to discuss issues openly and honestly without worrying about any consequences on my work role.

Financial Controller 
in a City Bank

Find the balance that’s right for you

Every successful leader finds a balance between the key dimensions of the role. However, the balance between work and the rest of life will be different for different people. For example, it can include balancing a number of aspects at any one moment or over a longer timeframe with more focus being given to one or two aspects of life at any one moment.

​My balance will not be exactly the same as your balance but I know from both professional and personal experience that achieving balance is key to both success and happiness.

Take steps to find your "Brilliant Balance"

If you would like to find out what “brilliant balance” looks like for you, both between all the facets of leadership and a balance between work and the rest of your life, I would be delighted to help. Let's speak on the phone. Please book a 30 minute free Discovery Call at a time that works for you by using the link below:

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Catherine Cuffley 1 to 1

Continually working on my goals (both through the coaching sessions and day-to-day) has helped me approach my workload differently and helped me effectively manage my new team (particularly in terms of communicating).

​Since working with Catherine, I have changed how I deal with requests. Now, unless it is a critical issue, I add the item on my 'To Do List' to be addressed when I have completed whatever it is I'm currently working on. I am delegating more where I can.

​Catherine has been wonderful to work with. I find it very easy to communicate with her and found her feedback very useful and helpful.

IT Manager 
in a Bank