Testimonials

“It has been a delight working with Claire as my executive coach during my first 9 months in role. Claire has been great at asking questions that assisted me in challenging my assumptions, nourish my curiosity and recharging my reflective thinking when revisiting my coaching goals and shaping the journey. I warmly recommend Claire as a coach”

– Claus Madsen, Chief People Officer, Wirral Community Health & Care NHS Foundation Trust

“With each coaching conversation, Claire supported me to explore new levels of leadership and put my goals into action. She was patient, ready to ask tough questions, and help reframe my thoughts to better develop my next steps in academic leadership”

– Dr Gareth Williams, Associate Dean – Resource and Planning | Associate Professor, Nottingham Trent University  

“I feel the group gained so much more doing the development with your input than we would ever have achieved alone. I have certainly learned new skills and revitalised my leadership and team development.”

– Claire Vaughn, Head of Medicines Optimisation (Salford), NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care 

Su, Louise and Claire did fantastic work with us during lockdown to help reconnect as a team and to support us to develop our strategy for the post-COVID world.  They worked with the team to formulate and approach that worked virtually and helped us to keep up momentum between sessions. The team really valued the approach and we now have some great new ideas for the future.

– NICE

“Claire is a positive, energetic and empathetic coach. I felt supported and inspired by working with Claire. I felt heard and seen and also supported to take action and bring about changes that I wanted to make happen.

Working with Claire as a coach, I was struck by Claire’s active listening. She often picked up on something that might have seemed of little importance to me initially but unpacking my throw-away remarks often revealed useful insights and patterns. These stayed with me beyond the coaching session and helped me become more aware of habits of thinking and behaviour and thereby more able to reflect on and develop as needed.

Similarly, whilst being open to whatever I might bring with me, Claire helped me to stay focussed and steer a path that addressed the goals I’d originally shared. I can get lost in the busy-ness of work and the immediacy of daily operational thinking, losing sight of my strategic focus and goals. Claire gently checked in with me to help me assess and evaluate how important the information I was currently presenting might be in relation to my overall aims and goals.

Claire is organised, punctual, efficient and engaged which provided a positive role model in addressing some of my own challenges around time management and procrastination.

In the midst of the pandemic and lockdowns, I had been struggling with my energy levels and Claire’s energy and good humour, helped me to rediscover what I enjoyed about my team and work.

Claire is a knowledgeable and positive coach. If I was feeling stuck in a bit of a tough spot, I came away from sessions feeling like things were possible, with do-able actions that helped to remind me of my strengths and skills, as well as to help me embrace areas of development. Claire shared her knowledge and expertise with recommendations of approaches, reading, models to consider that benefitted my personal wellbeing as well as professional development.

Claire touched base before and after appointments so that whilst there might be a gap between sessions at times, I experienced an ongoing connection with Claire and our work together.  I really valued our time working together and highly recommend Claire as a coach.”

– Coaching Client, University Student Services Manager

“Claire is a very supportive coach – she listened extremely well, took time to understand my challenges and was flexible when our discussions took me in a different direction to the one I expected.  She held me to account and was careful to follow up on what we had agreed.  At the end of our sessions I felt I had really got to grips with some of the questions I was grappling with and have some really clear actions in place that I own.  Thank you Claire.”

– Nicky Clarke, Chief of People

“I spent quite a while reviewing the experience and credentials for a number of senior level Executive Coaches, before deciding on Claire. The main reason for the selection, aside from the impressive track record and CV, was the coaching methods and evaluation techniques she employs. As a fully trained and accredited Executive Coach myself I am fully aware that I could be a potentially more difficult client to work with. However I immediately found Claire to be confident, assured and a great listener with a highly developed interpretive insight skill set. Over our time together Claire really helped me consider a number of issues I had been grappling with, and develop some greater fine tuning of options. I feel much more prepared for the future, which I know will be complex and highly competitive. I have no hesitation in recommending Claire as an Executive Coach.”

– Denis Gizzi CEO & Accountable Officer (NHS)

“Our coaching sessions were geared up to my personal objectives, with a particular focus on using my team’s talents well, and supporting clinicians going through major changes to be more aspirational and confident.   The sessions were refreshing, constructive, and stretching. They enabled me to look at my own challenges in new ways and to ask the right questions of others.”

– Coaching Client, Medical Director

“My sessions working with Claire clarified and distilled thoughts that were inside me into concrete actions. I felt appropriately challenged and supported. Claire used a variety of techniques, and it is a testament to her that at the time they all felt natural and spontaneous.”

– Coaching Client, GP

“I have been extremely impressed by the sessions I have had with Claire, which were challenging yet positive and focused. They have enabled me to take a step back, reflect and facilitate changes which will be greatly beneficial for the future.”

– Coaching Client, GP

“I really enjoyed the programme and got a lot out of it. Thanks for your expertise, your enthusiasm, and your positivity throughout the programme – it was infectious!”

– Leadership Programme Delegate

“Aspire supported us in developing a bespoke leadership and management framework for our organisation. We then ran 360 degree surveys for our line managers. Aspire took a very organised approach to how we have worked together and this ensured the project met deadlines and important details were not missed. The process Aspire used to help us develop and shape our framework was very effective, our line managers have fed back that they found the process clear and are comfortable with the framework.”

– Motor Neurone Disease Association

“Claire worked with me as my coach over a 6 month period while I was on an NHS Leadership Academy Transformational Conversations Programme. I found the coaching and support that Claire offered incredibly helpful. The coaching supported me in focusing on and achieving my career goals.”

– Coaching Client, Finance Director

“I have known Claire Harris for a number of years and she has been a coach and a coach supervisor for senior managers at my trust.  In addition Claire held a very useful group coaching session with my senior team including running a 360 degree feedback process for the group as opposed to the individuals in the group.”

– Simon Barber, Chief Executive, 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

“We first started working with Aspire Personal and Organisational Development Ltd in 2011. The success of the Sustainable Leadership Programme (SLP) speaks for itself in that we continue to deploy the programme across subsequent cohorts of leaders with great success. The cohort for 2015/16 is well underway.

The programme that Claire has created is challenging, engaging, and powerfully interactive and provides staff with a perfect environment in which to explore ideas and concepts to enhance their approaches to leadership. The quality of Claire’s delivery and that of her associates is excellent. They are genuinely committed to learning and development and utilise creative ways to achieve the programme’s targets in a collaborative and responsive way. Evaluations of the programme continue to positively highlight the impact of the programme on the performance of individuals both professionally and personally with many citing increased levels of ownership, accountability and responsibility in leading teams and in their own ability for self-reflection and challenge. The programme comprises a wide and interesting range of tools, practices and processes used to capitalise on potential, providing a catalyst for personal, team and organisational change and sustained performance improvement.

I have found it a pleasure, personally and professionally, to work with Claire and her associates. Their professionalism, collaborative approach and openness to feedback is exceptional as is their ability to seamlessly customise their services and approaches in order to achieve the best “fit” and outcomes for their clients.

They clearly take a great deal of pride in their work and have a true commitment to professional and personal learning and development. I highly recommend Aspire Personal and Organisational Development Ltd. to any organisation.”

– Karen Chubb, Professional Development Co-ordinator, University of Cumbria

“Practical sessions were useful to practice in a ‘safe’ environment – the feedback was useful.”

– Delegate, MSc Manufacturing Leadership, Manufacturing Institute

“Claire provides great support, challenges you, and keeps you focused. I really value her work and feel it makes a difference to me and my work.”

– Coaching client, Deputy Head

“Having worked with Aspire for many years now, specifically with the 360 Assessment tool, their assistance has been invaluable.  We get professional, expert and timely support which makes our job a lot easier. I cannot recommend Aspire highly enough.”

– Charlotte Gallagher, Managing Director, P3 People Management Ltd

“I have worked with several external training suppliers and found Aspire to be the most professional and original in their preparation and delivery. Feedback from participants has been extremely positive, the majority stating this was the best training I have ever had’. Moving forward, Aspire will be my first choice for the future.”

– Karen Challinor, Technical Leader, Skills Development, AstraZeneca

“Aspire consultants facilitated the two day development centre. They engaged me in the process, provided me with useful developmental feedback and challenged me to really understand my leadership style. Time is a precious commodity, I am glad I invested my time in attending this development centre.”

– Dr Pete Naylor, Clinical Commissioning Group Chair, Wirral Health Commissioning Consortium

“The educational experience was unlike any other I’ve received. The program they ran with their excellent team was both challenging and provoking and has had a real impact on my professional life. Their ability to successfully take a group of clinicians outside their comfort zone to reflect and explore their leadership styles and roles is a testimony to their professionalism, expertise, responsiveness and humour.”

– Ian Redfearn, Practice Principle, Dental Practice Advisor

“The combined approach of 360 feedback, coaching, action learning, project based work, leadership forums and the opportunity to network with colleagues across the organisation has enabled me to really stretch myself and develop my transformational leadership style, which has not only helped me to lead my team but also make an impact at the strategic level. The programme was well designed and professionally facilitated by the Aspire team. The team really put time into understanding the organisation and our individual roles, which made the tailored programme and the sessions much more focused and practical.”

– Andrew Heron, Deputy Director of Finance, University of Cumbria

“The development centre gave me an excellent opportunity to network with colleagues, receive some real time feedback from peers and facilitators and reflect on my own leadership style. The follow up coaching session enabled me to formulate a robust leadership development plan to continue to work on in the future. The development centre was well facilitated and the feedback was professionally delivered which really enhanced my learning experience.”

– Howard Mellor, Principle Dentist