COACH
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August 2019
Coach-in-the-Spotlight: Sue Frost
Systemic Coaching and Leadership Development
From being an executive to coaching executives, Sue Frost uses her background as a leader in the Civil Service to deliver effective systemic coaching and development to leaders and leadership teams.
Sue first discovered coaching 12 years ago when she moved from her role as an operational leader responsible for teams of tax specialists into a brand new role in change and transformation. Here Sue set up and ran an initiative that developed coaching as a leadership style. This brought Sue into daily contact with coaches who she felt had a magical style about them! It was at this point that Sue realised the power of coaching, both for the individual and the wider organisation.
Qualifying as a coach herself, Sue began to coach leaders whilst continuing to develop her own career as a leader working in government departments including HMRC, the Home Office and Ofwat. “Leading isn’t easy” says Sue who has a desire to pass on top tips on the why, what and how of leadership to others via her business, Sue Frost Consulting Ltd.
Sue first discovered coaching 12 years ago when she moved from her role as an operational leader responsible for teams of tax specialists into a brand new role in change and transformation. Here Sue set up and ran an initiative that developed coaching as a leadership style. This brought Sue into daily contact with coaches who she felt had a magical style about them! It was at this point that Sue realised the power of coaching, both for the individual and the wider organisation.
Qualifying as a coach herself, Sue began to coach leaders whilst continuing to develop her own career as a leader working in government departments including HMRC, the Home Office and Ofwat. “Leading isn’t easy” says Sue who has a desire to pass on top tips on the why, what and how of leadership to others via her business, Sue Frost Consulting Ltd.
Sue uses systemic team coaching, a method set out by Peter Hawkins in his book Leadership Team Coaching (Kogan Page). Working systemically means that Sue works in partnership with the individual or team in service of their stakeholders. Sue uses her knowledge and experience as an organisational development and design professional to encourage clients to see the wider system they live and work in.
Emotional intelligence also underpins Sue’s approach and she offers clients the opportunity to undertake Lumina Spark, a non-judgemental psychometric that explores personality and preferences and gives people an insight into how they can work better with others.
For anyone considering a career in coaching Sue’s message would be – it’s hard! The ability to ensure that your language is clean, that you don’t bring judgement or too much of yourself and your experiences into conversations - either verbally or through your body language - is no easy feat. Managing this, whilst also interpreting and noticing patterns of behaviour and the hidden talents within your client is challenging. But don’t be put off! If your heart tells you that is the way to go then definitely follow it. And be prepared to learn and discover far more about yourself during your journey than you would expect.
Sue would also recommend joining the Three Shires Coaching Group. The group have a true sense of professionalism and friendship. They are never judgemental, very generous in sharing their knowledge and keen to learn from each other. Membership offers valuable developmental sessions where everyone benefits. Sue is also undertaking coaching supervision with Debbie Inglis and would highly recommend this too.
In her spare time Sue volunteers as an Enterprise Advisor supporting Tapton School in Sheffield to inspire pupils around their future career choices. Sue also enjoys being with her family, walking her labrador Oscar, gardening and cooking. One of the other things Sue particularly enjoys is a love of cheese and a good piece of mature British Cheddar. This stems back to when she was a child and her mother making ‘Cheese Souffle,’ which the family considered at the time to being really ‘posh.’ If she ever finds the time, one of the things that Sue would love to do is to take up painting as achieving a grade A at GCSE art remains one of her proudest achievements!
Emotional intelligence also underpins Sue’s approach and she offers clients the opportunity to undertake Lumina Spark, a non-judgemental psychometric that explores personality and preferences and gives people an insight into how they can work better with others.
For anyone considering a career in coaching Sue’s message would be – it’s hard! The ability to ensure that your language is clean, that you don’t bring judgement or too much of yourself and your experiences into conversations - either verbally or through your body language - is no easy feat. Managing this, whilst also interpreting and noticing patterns of behaviour and the hidden talents within your client is challenging. But don’t be put off! If your heart tells you that is the way to go then definitely follow it. And be prepared to learn and discover far more about yourself during your journey than you would expect.
Sue would also recommend joining the Three Shires Coaching Group. The group have a true sense of professionalism and friendship. They are never judgemental, very generous in sharing their knowledge and keen to learn from each other. Membership offers valuable developmental sessions where everyone benefits. Sue is also undertaking coaching supervision with Debbie Inglis and would highly recommend this too.
In her spare time Sue volunteers as an Enterprise Advisor supporting Tapton School in Sheffield to inspire pupils around their future career choices. Sue also enjoys being with her family, walking her labrador Oscar, gardening and cooking. One of the other things Sue particularly enjoys is a love of cheese and a good piece of mature British Cheddar. This stems back to when she was a child and her mother making ‘Cheese Souffle,’ which the family considered at the time to being really ‘posh.’ If she ever finds the time, one of the things that Sue would love to do is to take up painting as achieving a grade A at GCSE art remains one of her proudest achievements!