A smiling middle-aged woman with gray hair, wearing glasses on her head, a patterned blouse, and earrings, sitting in a cozy room with light-colored walls and large windows, holding a laptop on her lap. She is engaged in conversation with another person, who is holding a cup, in a warm and inviting environment.

For Leaders

One-to-one executive coaching for senior leaders navigating uncertainty.

A space to deepen self-awareness, strengthen judgement and lead with greater clarity.

Most senior leaders reach a point where the next gain isn’t another technical skill. It’s self-knowledge, and there’s rarely anywhere safe to build it. You’re expected to have the answers, not to be looked after yourself.

My coaching starts from a different premise: you are resourceful and capable of solving your own problems.

My role isn’t to hand you a framework. It’s to help you see what’s already there, so you can lead with greater clarity.

This isn’t a soft skill. Self-awareness is fundamental to how you make decisions, respond under pressure, relate to others and lead.

Working with me, you’ll be challenged to take off your blinkers, expand and deepen your self-awareness, and identify existing strengths, new options and choices. This work creates space for new thinking and reflection to emerge, initiating change and development.

The aim isn’t to turn you into a different kind of leader. It’s to help you understand yourself more fully, recognise the impact you have on others and make more conscious choices about how you lead.

My approach is grounded in doctoral research into self-awareness and more than 1,500 hours of coaching practice.

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Every coaching engagement begins with a confidential conversation to explore your context, challenges and goals. From there, we agree on an approach and rhythm that works for you. Coaching is typically delivered through 60–90 minute sessions, monthly or fortnightly, either online or in person.

How it works

  • Leadership approach and effectiveness under real pressure

  • Developing greater confidence, including managing an inner critic or imposter syndrome

  • Resilience, and the capacity to hold boundaries without losing yourself in the role

  • The gap between how you think you come across and how you actually do

  • Navigating uncertainty, complexity or significant change

  • Decisions or relationships where you know something needs to shift, but haven’t yet worked out what

  • Navigating the particular pressures of senior leadership, including working in male-dominated or traditionally hierarchical environments

What you might bring to the work:

A mature woman in a red sweater sitting at a desk with a laptop, reading a phone, with a mug, an open book, and a pen on the desk in a bright interior with large windows and outdoor patio furniture visible in the background.

No matter your seniority or experience, growth in leadership is never finished.

My leadership coaching will remind you that the moment you think you have arrived, you have not.

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Click to download

Coaching Agreement

Guidance for Coachees

Guidance for Line Managers and Sponsors

Client testimonials

  • “I can’t thank Julia enough for the coaching and support I received the last 12 months. I have found my time with her really improved my self-awareness, pausing to reflect and allowed me to gain many insights along this way. Looking forward to a life with boundaries being in control and positive about the future. I feel empowered to make a positive impact in both my personal and professional life moving forward, with renewed energy. The tools for life I have gained will be used time and time again.”

    Richard Betts,
    Corporate Account Director,
    Snows Group

  • “Working with Julia was insightful and helpful. She drew on her wide knowledge of tools, methods and research to help develop and redefine my ways of interacting with our team. Together we identified barriers and challenges and sought practical solutions. I would highly recommend working with Julia.”



    Nigel Gregory,
    Deputy Chief Executive Officer,
    Nottingham Hospitals Charity

  • “If you’re wondering whether supervision is worth it let me just share it’s worth every moment and will change your approach and skill as a coach far beyond any formal coaching programme. And if you’re lucky enough that Julia Carden is your supervisor then it will be at a whole another level. There is no-one else in my experience who has such a wealth of knowledge to draw on, and she’s a master at her craft, whether one on one or in a group. I cannot recommend her enough.”

    Mark Denton,
    Managing Director,
    MAX VMG Ltd

  • “I have used Julia to deliver management training for key managers. Working with Julia is a breath of fresh air. She quickly understands the needs of the business and recommends practical and effective solutions. This means from day one you feel like progress is being made.”

    Samantha Cheeseman,
    HR Manager

  • “It was a rich and rewarding experience to work with Julia and her team. We needed to work with a training partner who could help us to apply supervision theory to the practicalities of our different roles within the organisation. Julia understood this brief and worked with us to create a learning programme which was bespoke to our unique requirements, furthermore she was open and adaptable to feedback and actively sought opportunities to engage everyone in the process. Our team appreciated the opportunity to access the expertise of Julia, Tracy and Karen and they have left us with lots of new skills and the motivation to continue to apply and develop our learning to support ourselves, our colleagues and our learners.”

    Matt Hodgins,
    Programme Manager,
    BPP Education Group

  • “My six-month coaching stint with Julia has genuinely changed both my thinking and actions in a very positive way. I am at a point of transition in my career and the work I have undertaken with her has given me the insight and confidence to make significant choices decisively. Julia was very responsive to my preferred model of working and I genuinely looked forward to the sessions and the outcomes they would bring, she would always share resources and references that I found very helpful. She has great humour, is super smart whilst always being personable and plain speaking. Here is a coach worthy of the name.”

    Peter Knott,
    Arts Council UK

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