I have had the great privilege of working with world class companies, organisations and people across a number of sectors. The experience I have gained has been priceless, the people I have worked with have been inspiring and have helped me to continually learn and grow as I explore new challenges.
Procter & Gamble
“Catherine has that rare quality of combining the strategic with the highly actionable…her wide ranging experience at senior leadership level means that HR is not seen as a separate tool to leverage individual factors like retention or talent, but really is an integrated force to drive dynamic cultural change and efficient work throughout the company. I particularly value her innovative and fresh thinking attitude to capability building, where her grasp of both the big picture and the detail has enabled her to make a unique contribution to my thinking and approach”
Kathryn Davies, Senior Director Communications, Procter & Gamble
Tesco Plc
“Catherine has always been extremely customer, colleague and business focused. She has strong leadership and change management skills which have left a legacy and improved individual and organisational capacity within the business.”
Judith Nelson, UK People Director, Tesco PLC
NSPCC
“Catherine has demonstrated great commitment and passion in her work with the NSPCC. Catherine is highly competent in her role as a leader in developing teams, taking organisations through major change and as an executive coach and mentor for senior executives. She is also an ambassador for young people, having led graduate programmes that have guided and nurtured young people on the start of their journey in work, and an accomplished strategist in both disciplines of marketing and HR.”
Alison Jeremy, Director of Communications, NSPCC
View More NSPCC Testimonials
‘”Your commitment, energy and the intellect you bring to the National Services Committee is hugely needed and valued. I think the work you did on Childline volunteer retention was second to none!”
Feedback from NSPCC Executive Board member:
“To me you are a star, and the NSPCC is so fortunate to have benefitted from your insight, vision and expertise. What was obvious above all is the fact that you care passionately about the service and the thousands of children and young people it supports. This is your legacy, and I hope it will continue to bring you real satisfaction and pride for many years to come.”
Feedback from NSPCC Trustee Board member on the Childline Baxendale report
I found the sessions with Catherine to be enormously helpful. They helped me appreciate how far I’ve come in my professional life, question some preconceptions about my abilities and define a clear future direction for me that I feel really comfortable with. I particularly liked that Catherine considers professional and personal life to be equally important in deciding the next step. It was very challenging at times but well worth it.”
Coaching Client, Senior Executive, NSPCC
“The time I spent with Catherine has had an incredibly positive effect, on my self-awareness, my confidence and my focus. With Catherine’s thoughtful, carefully structured approach to coaching, I learned a great deal about myself in a very short space of time. I’ve also been able, with Catherine’s support, to turn this learning into tangible action, which has felt incredibly empowering. Catherine is exceptionally insightful and provides both healthy challenge and expert support. I feel as though she shone a light on some of the issues and problems I’ve been experiencing and helped me to work through some pretty knotty challenges. I’d recommend an hour with Catherine over weeks spent on other things.”
Helena, Associate Director, NSPCC
“The First 100 days Coaching programme with Catherine has been enlightening and empowering, alongside being very practical. As well as taking the time to understand my own motivations, style and operational impact I’ve been able to step back and look over the longer term as to what I want to achieve and how I can learn and grow. Catherine is a supportive but challenging coach which is a great combination in really developing as a leader.”
Ali Jeremy, Communications Director, NSPCC
LSE
“Catherine has demonstrated real passion for young people and has helped them over many years through her seminars and lectures. She has proved to be an invaluable resource to the Master’s in Management students at the LSE. Catherine has inspired the students with her experience, energy and commitment. She has helped students make the most of their time in LSE, provided insightful and practical advice on finding the careers of their choice, and contributed to the development of the professional skills required for a successful career.”
Emma Soane, Assistant Professor, LSE
Baxendale Report
“Catherine Baxendale’s report really resonates as someone who left the civil service – and then returned as an “external hire”. I was always amazed by the lack of interest among my civil service colleagues in anything I might have learnt in my 6 years in the private sector. And even though I was only away for 6 years, no one explained any of the changes in career management that had taken place while I was away (to this day I remain unclear how people are nominated to the High Potential Development Scheme for instance). As her report makes clear, the civil service needs to do more to get the most out of people it recruits in from outside – to their benefit – but also to the benefit of the civil service and the ministers and public it serves.”
Jill Rutter, former senior civil servant, Programme Director, Institute for Government
Oriel College, Oxford
“In my early career Catherine was a corporate leader and an incredible client that helped us supply innovative work for her and her company. I have been so fortunate to be working with Catherine again this time as executive coach helping me clarify priorities and see my way through the ‘bramble bush’ that I didn’t know was in the way.”
Lord Mendoza, Provost, Oriel College, Oxford
M&C Saatchi
“I worked with Catherine on the launch of a major new security technology brand. She’s a communications tour de force, with an eye for detail. Catherine brings much needed clarity and vision in an all too cluttered world.”
Ardy Danielewicz, Co-Founder and Partner · M&C Saatchi Accelerator
“Meeting Catherine was like a breath of fresh air. Within minutes of talking to her she had a very good understanding of the issues that our charity were facing and she helped me reflect and understand our position very well. Catherine was very professional, constructive and supportive throughout her project of undertaking an organisational review for us. She managed a whole range of diverse feedback from staff, volunteers and trustees in a very well thought through manner and provided us with a tangible actionable report. We would like to pass on our considerable appreciation to Catherine and would highly recommend her helpful approach and action orientated review to other organisations. Catherine’s help has been very valuable to me and to Home-Start Welwyn Hatfield.”
Chairman, Home-Start Welwyn Hatfield
“I am delighted to have your support and revelling in the increased confidence and structure you are giving me. Looking forward to our next session!”
Current Coaching Client – C-suite Global Media Company
“Thanks to the great work you did in 2014 we now have a solid foundation on which to build our evaluation and further develop our Senior Civil Service induction.”
Recent feedback on SCS Baxendale Report from Civil Service Leadership Academy, Cabinet Office,
“Thank you so much for your time today, the students are genuinely buzzing and enthusiastic.”
Feedback From Teacher, March 2016
“Coaching with Catherine has been like switching on a light; suddenly things are seeming much clearer and I feel empowered to act.”
Coaching Client, March 2016
“I just wanted to let you know that it was great to meet you and we really appreciated you coming into Harlington Upper. We are really thankful that you were able to engage and inspire our students.”
Paul Jones, Subject Leader
“Catherine has worked with us to shape and create a unique course that rather than follow a traditional teaching method, created a space to discuss/debate and shape the future leadership style and behaviours of our markets business.
Catherine’s experience across industry and the public sector gives her a broad perspective that helped us truly challenge our leaders with their own perceptions as to what good leadership looks like.
Feedback from the programme has been overwhelmingly positive and we are starting to see a shift in the perceived strength of our leaders through our colleague engagement surveys.
So much is the success of the programme we have expanded the original offer to include more of our leaders.”
David, HRD, Leading UK Bank
“My experience of Executive Coaching with Catherine has been nothing short of dazzling – a journey of discovery leading me to acknowledge and own the light within me! After a long break in mentoring/coaching, when I met Catherine for the first time in a virtual meeting, I instantly connected with her and immediately wanted to explore ways to engage. With the global pandemic wiping out geographic boundaries and constraints, I was truly thrilled to experience coaching of such stellar standards in very engaging and intense sessions that always brought out the best in me! Although I am based in India now and my previous experiences are from the US, Catherine could relate to all of my thoughts and predicaments like she was always a part of my environment, like she was right next to me, and any differences in culture, business environment and approaches just seemed to fade into oblivion.
With a very successful Programme 1 behind me, that put many things in perspective, both from a personal and professional standpoint, I am now engaged in a power-packed Programme 2 with Catherine. I am really excited about the professional development aspects that we will be addressing, and I can’t thank Catherine enough for her compassion, empathy, professionalism and understanding and look forward to a great journey together!”
Pooja Prabhakar, Managing Partner & CEO, BCP Associates LLP
“Catherine brings excellent energy and direction to our leadership programmes. Catherine brings new topics, discussion points, learnings and relevant examples to all our sessions which have really helped me.”
“Catherine brings fantastic enthusiasm, examples, tools, and analogies for us to draw on.”
“Catherine brings great value by explaining concepts clearly and creating a friendly atmosphere which facilitates the sharing of personal information.”
“Catherine has a wealth of experience and knowledge, delivered in a professional yet relaxed atmosphere, which made everybody feel as ease. An excellent programme leader and facilitator.”
In January 2017 as a guest speaker for the Masters in Management course at the LSE I received the following feedback from the students:
“The talk was given in such an interactive way that encouraged me to get involved and share my ideas with classmates. Really inspiring.”
From the Assistant Professor, Department of Management, London School of Economics :
“Catherine’s expertise in creating an open forum for students to discuss talent generated thoughtful debate. Her skilful inclusion of numerous students in the discussion ensured that there was a high level of engagement. Catherine’s use of reflective questions encouraged students to challenge their own perspectives on talent, and to come away with new ideas that can be applied to their professional development.”
“Catherine’s First 100 Days CEO coaching programme is an outstanding tool. It gave me the opportunity to plan my first 100 days meaning that I thought through my priorities and delivered to my objectives. The “30 day and 60 day” reviews meant that I stayed on course and was prepared to address the known and unknown challenges as they emerged. I could not recommend this highly enough to anyone stepping up to become a CEO.”
Baroness Philippa Stroud, CEO, Legatum Institute
Having completed a 6-month executive coaching programme with Catherine I am now reflecting on where I was at the beginning, and the changes that have happened along the way.
At the beginning I was vulnerable to triggers and hung up on the past. I could not get past feeling let down by my management. I know I needed guidance and help but I did not know where to start. I came into subsequent sessions with an open mindset and willingness to change.
The coaching sessions with Catherine opened my eyes and expanded my view. Some of the sessions were heavy.
I am now in a much better place. I understand my true potential, have better composure and am more confident. I have adopted a much more open and growth mindset. I feel more capable and resilient. Lots of other good things have also happened as I have found a better pace and healthier attitude.
I hope to continue to work with Catherine.
Senior Director, Civil Service, Whitehall
My coaching experience with Catherine ran for nearly 2 years and evolved visibly from my first engagement with her. It was a time of many professional and personal peaks and troughs, and dramatic events. Catherine helped to give me the perspective and support to ensure I learnt from these experiences the right way.
Catherine has a very balanced and practical approach, and her deep experience and expertise came through in every one of my interactions with her. She had this innate and unique ability to pick up on the most relevant or pertinent point, as subtle as it may have been, and expound on that.
Catherine gave me the necessary validation, reassurance and support and left me feeling calm and composed. I always felt that it put me in a frame of mind where I felt in control, had the right focus and clarity, and in a place where I could attract the positive.
This went beyond executive coaching – it was a full 360 degrees, be it professional, personal, health, or family. I found it free, open, and yet bang on. I enjoyed the exploring and picking up the pearls of wisdom on the way. It was an absolutely new experience, full of surprise and delight.
CEO/Founder, Bangalore, India
“Catherine has been and continues to be a real asset to my own career development. Having gone through a series of disappointing job interviews, Catherine got me to focus on my strengths while also showing me how to address or workaround where appropriate my limitations. While Catherine has been my executive coach, I have gone from feeling frustrated and wondering whether I have what it takes to progress my career beyond where I am right now to feeling match-fit and absolutely ready for my next even bigger challenge.”
Senior Civil Servant, Civil Service, Whitehall
Let’s Work Together
If you are interested in discussing your professional development and business needs,
please email [email protected]