The Next Chapter

Step into your next leadership chapter with confidence, clarity and purpose.

The Leadership Transition is a confidential coaching programme for experienced leaders navigating their next leadership challenge.

Perhaps you are stepping up to Director or Chief Executive level. Maybe you are moving into a new organisation, taking on a broader portfolio or leading through significant organisational change. Or perhaps the expectations and demands of your current role have shifted, and you want to make sure you are leading with the impact you know you are capable of.

Whatever the transition, success is about more than learning a new job. It is about understanding what the role now requires of you, recognising what you bring, and making conscious choices about the leader you want to be.

01 -Is this programme for you?

Stepping up, moving across, taking on a new senior role or leading through change.

Taking on a more senior role can be exciting, challenging and, at times, daunting.

This programme is particularly relevant if you are:

• Stepping into your first Director, Executive Director or Chief Executive role.

• Moving into a more complex or demanding leadership position.

• Taking on a new portfolio, organisation or area of responsibility.

• Navigating local government reorganisation, devolution or wider organisational transformation.

• Leading in an unfamiliar political, organisational or partnership environment.

• Wanting to increase your strategic influence, confidence and impact.

• Looking to establish your leadership identity and priorities in a new role.

You may be very experienced and successful, but that does not mean you have to navigate your next transition alone.

02 -What will we work on?

Leadership identity, strategic influence, relationships, confidence and impact.

Every coaching relationship is shaped around you, your circumstances and what you want to achieve. Depending on your priorities, our work may explore:

Your leadership identity
What do you want to be known for? How will you make the transition from your previous role or leadership level? What do you need to let go of, and what do you want to carry forward?

Your strategic contribution
How do you move beyond operational delivery and create space for strategic leadership? Where can you make the greatest difference?

Your influence and relationships
How will you build credibility, establish trust and influence people across organisational and political boundaries, including those you do not directly manage?

Your leadership presence
How do you communicate with confidence, handle challenge, navigate difficult conversations and remain grounded when the pressure is on?

Your priorities and impact
What needs your attention in the first 90 days? What relationships matter most? How will you know you are making a difference?

Your sustainability
How do you lead effectively without losing sight of your own wellbeing, values and personal life?

03 -Your coaching programme

Five 90-minute coaching sessions over 6 months.

The Leadership Transition is delivered through a structured but flexible coaching relationship.

The programme typically includes:

• An initial confidential conversation to explore your circumstances and establish whether coaching is right for you.

• Five individual coaching sessions, 90 minutes each.

• Sessions spread over approximately six months, allowing time to reflect, experiment and put ideas into practice.

• Personal reflection and practical actions between sessions.

• A final review to recognise progress, consolidate learning and identify your next priorities.

Coaching is normally delivered online, making it possible to work together wherever you are based. In-person sessions can be discussed where appropriate.

This is not a training course or a prescribed leadership model. It is a space to think, challenge assumptions, explore possibilities and work through the issues that matter most to you.

04 -Why work with me?

My experience, professional background and coaching approach.

I bring more than 31 years of local government experience, including 20 years at Director and Deputy Chief Executive level.

I have worked in different councils and political environments, experienced the opportunities and pressures of senior leadership, and understand the realities of leading public services through complexity and change.

I also know what it feels like to navigate a significant career transition. Having left local government in 2022 to work through my own consultancy following a life-changing brain haemorrhage. I bring both professional experience and personal insight to conversations about what comes next.

My coaching style is warm, honest and encouraging, but I will also challenge you. I will not tell you how to lead or what decisions to make. I will help you think more clearly, recognise your strengths, confront what may be holding you back and decide what you want to do next.

05 -The outcome

The aim is not simply to help you survive the transition. It is to help you make it your own.

You should leave the programme with greater clarity about your leadership contribution, confidence in your approach, a stronger sense of your priorities and practical actions to create the impact you want.

Because the question is not just whether you can do the job.

It is what kind of leader you want to be, and what you want to be remembered for.

06 -Client testimonial

“Since Summer 2023, I have had regular coaching sessions. Averil has been influential in fostering my professional growth and development . Her support in guiding me through challenges, helping me set achievable goals, and providing constructive feedback is invaluable.  

Averil’s approach is practical and honest, and has enabled me to feel empowered to reach my full potential. One of her key skills is confidence building . She has encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone, helping to build confidence  in my own abilities. I wished I’d met her earlier in my career!

Averil has an extensive network and has connected me with contacts to help further my development.   I find having regular check ins with her helps to ensure I stay on track with my goals and commitments.”

Dawn Crewe, Deputy Chief Executive, Elmbridge District Council

“After making the decision to exit full time work after over 40 years in the public sector, I was surprised when I started to experience some unexpected emotions including a profound sense of loss, uncertainty about my future relevance and an allergic reaction to the word ‘retirement’!

Thank goodness I found Averil! She completely got and accepted how I was feeling and helped me to navigate the transition, encouraging me to reframe my thinking, enabling me to focus on the impact I had made for organisations and more importantly people, supporting me to really think about what I wanted to do next and allowing me to create an emergent plan, rather than having it all worked out!

I loved that when I expressed guilt at not being as busy as I used to be, particularly when others were, she suggested I use the time to learn, to grow and to experiment and to do it with pride because ‘that’s what I do now’!

If you are considering or planning for a change in direction or thinking about the thing we won’t call ‘retirement’, I can highly recommend engaging with Averil! She is an authentic, empathetic and highly experienced senior leader, and having her as part of your team helps with accountability. Averil’s warmth, humour, expertise and style are exceptional. I loved that the focus was on legacy, and continued untapped legacy.”

Anne-Louise Clark, Director

07 -Investment

The Leadership Transition programme is valued at £1,950 plus VAT

Five 90-minute coaching sessions over 6 months

• Initial exploratory conversation at no charge.

• Five confidential one-to-one sessions.

• Personal reflection and practical actions between sessions.

• CV and Supporting Statement review

• Interview preparation support

• Final review and next-step priorities.

Introductory offers and payment plans available.

Ready to explore your next leadership chapter?

If you are approaching a leadership transition, or are already finding your feet in a new role, let's have a conversation.

There is no obligation. Just an opportunity to talk about where you are, what you are navigating and whether coaching could help.

Building Possibility Together

You've achieved a great deal. What comes next?

There comes a point in many successful careers when the questions begin to change.

Perhaps you are approaching retirement, but the thought of simply stopping work does not feel quite right.

Perhaps you are considering a portfolio career, consultancy, non-executive roles or a different way of contributing.

Maybe you have reached a career crossroads, experienced organisational change or realised that the next promotion is no longer the ambition it once was.

Or perhaps you know that something needs to change, but you haven't yet worked out what.

Whatever has brought you here, this is an opportunity to pause, take stock and think deliberately about the chapter ahead.

The Next Chapter is a one-to-one coaching programme to help you explore your options, reconnect with what matters and shape a future that feels purposeful, fulfilling and right for you.

This is not about retiring from your identity. It is about deciding what comes next.

For many experienced leaders, work has been more than a job. It has provided purpose, challenge, relationships, influence and a sense of identity.

When that changes, even when the change is welcome, it can raise some big questions.

• Who am I beyond the role I have held?

• What do I want more of in my life?

• What am I ready to leave behind?

• What do I still want to contribute?

• What would a fulfilling next chapter look like?

• How do I make the transition on my terms?

There is no single right answer. And there is no prescribed timetable.

This programme gives you the space to work out what matters to you, rather than allowing other people's expectations to shape your decisions.

Is this programme for you?

The Next Chapter may be right if you are:

• Within a few years of retirement and wondering what life might look like afterwards.

• Considering semi-retirement or a phased transition from full-time work.

• Exploring a portfolio career, consultancy, board roles or other opportunities.

• At a career crossroads and questioning what you want from the next stage.

• Facing local government reorganisation or other organisational change that may affect your future.

• Ready to make a change but unsure where to begin.

• Looking for a renewed sense of purpose, contribution and direction.

You do not need to have all the answers before we start. In fact, that is rather the point.

Read on to see what we will explore together.