Your Expertise Speaks for Itself.
Let Your Leadership Do the Same.
Hi, I'm Sandra — I help accomplished professionals develop the people skills that make leadership feel less like hard work and more like natural influence.
You don't need to become someone else to be a better leader.
You just need to understand and work with who you already are.
Naturally.
What If Leading People Felt as Natural as Your Professional Work?
Imagine having the same confidence in people situations that you have in your technical domain. Picture yourself:
Having difficult conversations that actually resolve things instead of creating more drama or tension
Influencing decisions through presence and understanding rather than just facts and logic
Building a team that genuinely shares your standards without you having to micromanage or do everything yourself
Navigating office politics and stakeholder relationships with the same competence you bring to your operational work
This isn't about changing your personality or pretending to be someone you're not. It's about adding another dimension to the professional competence you already have.
You Know Your Stuff. So Why Does Leading Feel So Difficult?
You've earned your senior role through competence, hard work, and delivering results. Whether you're an engineering director, finance manager, charity head, or running the family business, you're good at what you do. But lately, you're finding that knowing your stuff isn't enough.
The challenges that keep you awake at night aren't about technical problems or operational issues:
That team member who just won't engage, no matter what you try
Stakeholders who seem to resist perfectly reasonable proposals
Feeling like you're the only one who cares about standards
Taking on more and more because it's easier than managing the frustration
Wondering why influence feels so much harder than expertise
You're not struggling because you're not good enough.
You're struggling because the rules have changed.
Why You Might Be Struggling Despite Your Competence
You've probably tried the usual routes - leadership courses, 360 feedback, maybe even coaching before. Essentially, you’re probably figuring it out as you go along - like many of us!
Here's what the research shows about why capable professionals often find themselves in this position.
Most organisations promote for the wrong reasons. Studies show that 82% of promotions are based on technical proficiency rather than people leadership capability. You're likely in your role because you're excellent at what you do, and you had the drive to get there, not because anyone assessed whether you'd enjoy or excel at managing people.
Leadership training is often an afterthought. Research indicates that 60% of new managers fail within two years, and 59% of managers overseeing small teams report having no leadership training at all. You're probably figuring it out as you go along, which explains why it feels so difficult.
Generic approaches miss how you actually think. Many leadership programmes assume everyone learns the same way and responds to the same motivations. If you're naturally analytical and task-focused, techniques designed for extroverted, people-focused individuals can feel forced and inauthentic.
Outside In Coaching works differently.
Instead of teaching you to copy someone else's leadership style or adhere to a theoretical model, I help you discover how your natural strengths can translate into genuine influence. We work with your analytical mind, your high standards, and your authentic way of being - not against them.
What’s different about
Outside In Coaching?
We Work with Your Natural Thinking Style
Rather than expecting you to become more extroverted or spontaneous, we work together on helping you use your natural preference for reflection and analysis to understand people dynamics.
We Focus on Real Situations
Instead of role-playing hypothetical scenarios, we work through the actual stakeholder relationships and team challenges you're facing right now.
We Use Your Environment
We will often work whilst walking outdoors or in different settings. This helps you think more clearly and notice patterns you might miss in a formal office setting.
We Address the Whole Picture
Your leadership challenges are often connected to deeper patterns around attachment, perfectionism, control, or how you handle uncertainty. We work with these underlying dynamics, not just surface behaviours.
We Respect Your Expertise
You don't need someone to tell you how to do your job. You need support in translating your expertise into leadership influence that feels genuine to you.
This Might Be Right for You If...
You're a senior professional with real responsibility for people and outcomes
You're highly competent in your field but find the people side of leadership draining
You sometimes feel like you care more about standards than anyone else
You've tried leadership development before but it didn't stick
You're tired of taking on extra work because managing others feels too difficult
You know you need to change something about your approach but you're not sure what
This isn't about fixing you. It's about helping you lead in a way that works with your strengths, not against them.
About Working with Me
I've spent years working with professionals who are excellent at their core work but find themselves struggling with the complexities of leadership. Engineering directors who can solve technical problems standing on their head but struggle with team dynamics. Finance managers who can run the numbers all day long but find stakeholder relationships exhausting. Charity leaders who care deeply about their mission but burn out trying to do everything themselves.
What I've learned is that most capable people don't need to be taught how to lead. They need space to work out how to lead authentically, in a way that honours both their expertise and their humanity.
I founded Outside In Coaching from recognising how profoundly our context shapes us—and equally, how we can learn to shape our environment in return. When we understand the interplay between our inner patterns and our outer circumstances, we can create the conditions for natural, sustainable leadership.
My approach combines practical problem-solving with deeper understanding of what drives your patterns and reactions. We work together to find solutions that feel sustainable and true to who you are.
What Usually Happens
The professionals I work with typically experience:
How to Get Started
You've already demonstrated you can master complex professional challenges.
Now discover how that same intelligence can transform your effectiveness with people and relationships.
Here are two options for getting started. Both completely FREE of charge.
Ready for a Conversation?
Let's discuss your specific situation and explore how I can support your leadership development.
30-minute personal consultation
Explore your leadership challenges
Discuss coaching approach and fit
Completely complimentary
Want Insights First?
Discover which of 5 hidden patterns might be limiting your leadership effectiveness.
10-minute online assessment
Personalised insights within 24 hours
Specific action steps for your situation
Designed for expertise-based leaders
Past Clients
Here's what others have said about their experiences of working with Sandra.
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