KATE SOUTHERBY
Leadership Coach and Speaker
I help creative, curious, and ambitious people use their strengths for a fulfilling life and career. True fulfilment comes from understanding ourselves and how we interact with the world. My career is dedicated to creating tools for self-knowledge and fulfilment, helping people overcome mistakes and make better decisions.
For nearly two decades, I've coached leaders, teams, and startups, focusing on self-discovery and improved relationships. After leaving my job to raise two children, I immersed myself in personal development, emphasizing self-reflection, understanding others, and making meaningful changes with a neuroscience-based coaching approach.
In 2017, I founded I Am Me Coaching to help people develop self-awareness and boost their self-esteem. Now back in Bristol with my family, I've transitioned to Kate Southerby Coaching. My mission is to help leaders and teams achieve greater self-awareness, build better habits, and accomplish more.
“Our ever-changing world, evolving work habits, and increasing uncertainty mean more than ever today’s leaders have to be able to remain calm, make sound decisions, and build strong relationships. My coaching, grounded in neuroscience, focuses on how our brains react to threats. I’ll guide you to think differently, enhance your relationship skills, and align with others’ motivations. By connecting more deeply with yourself and those around you, you’ll rediscover your strengths and value. Remember, you didn’t come this far to only come this far.”
What I offer
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Kate works with a broad spectrum of professionals, from high potentials and mid-level managers to senior leaders and C-suite/board members. Her coaching is particularly beneficial for those new to leadership roles looking to navigate the complexities of modern leadership and develop their communication, problem solving and influencing skills.
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Holding memberships with the International Coaching Federation (ICF PCC) and the NeuroLeadership Institute, Kate is a qualified brain-based neuro-leadership coach and a certified practitioner in several assessment tools, including Core Strengths TotalSDI, Situational Leadership DISC, and Myers-Briggs. Her extensive qualifications allow her to offer a comprehensive coaching experience that integrates science-based methods with deep insights into personal and organisational development.
Core Specialisms:
1. Decision-making and future planning coaching
2. Agility and change leadership coaching
3. Trust building and influencing others coaching
4. Coaching through internal conflicts
5. Hybrid leadership and feedback coaching
6. Growth mindset and team motivation coaching
7. Personal productivity and wellbeing coaching
8. Confidence and resilience coaching
9. Instilling autonomy and accountability in the team coaching
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Kate’s coaching is grounded in neuroscience, helping clients understand how their brain functions can both aid and obstruct their leadership journey. She employs a structured, process-focused methodology that is outcome-driven, ensuring measurable progress and return on investment. This approach enables clients to overcome challenges, boost personal effectiveness, and achieve long-term success.
Kate’s coaching not only focuses on achieving specific leadership and business outcomes but also on improving interpersonal relationships, making more compassionate connections, and promoting a brain-friendly environment. Her methods are based on the latest developments in neuroscience and are tailored to meet the unique needs and challenges of her clients.
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Participants in Kate’s coaching programs can expect to emerge as more innovative, adaptable leaders capable of inspiring their teams and making unbiased, creative decisions. Through her brain-friendly coaching style, clients gain a deeper understanding of themselves and others, leading to improved personal effectiveness and relationship intelligence.
Background and Experience
Holding memberships with the International Coaching Federation (ICF PCC) and the NeuroLeadership Institute, Kate is a qualified Brain-Based neuro-leadership coach and a certified practitioner in several assessment tools, including Core Strengths TotalSDI, Situational Leadership, Korn Ferry, DISC, and Myers-Briggs. Her extensive qualifications allow her to offer a comprehensive coaching experience that integrates science-based methods with deep insights into personal and professional development.
Kate Southerby is a Leadership and Relationship Intelligence Development Coach based in the UK, renowned for her unique and effective approach to coaching. Kate has a decades-long career in leadership coaching and mentoring with many top-flight organisations and start-ups, including 10 years in a senior L&D role at Arcadia Group.
With an impressive track record in the media, entertainment, retail and creative industries. Kate's expertise is sought after by clients including Publicis Group, EY, Unknown Studios, Starling Bank, Accenture Interactive, JustEat and many more.
Kate is also an associate coach with This Is Glow, working with clients including News UK, ITV Media, Sony, Warner UK and Oliver Bonas.
What they say about Kate
Mike Jacob
Founder Kiss House
“In a chance encounter with Kate I instantly connected with her energy and knew that she was someone important to develop a meaningful relationship with so that I could give the best of myself. It can boiled down to this: If you care about what you do and others rely on you, accept that there are established proven models out there – what matters most is getting the right delivery agent. There will be one for you and it could be Kate.”
Emma Crossland
Chief People Office, MAG Airports
“Kate is a natural coach and trainer, she’s curious about people and listens to understand. Kate’s approach and techniques and the tools she uses deliver results and people’s lives are enriched because of their interaction with her.”
Sally Oldfield
Managing Director, Accept and Proceed
“Allows you to get curious about yourself. Leaves you with the benefits twice - once in the session, and then equips you to take those ideas further once you’ve worked together. Warm. Accepting. Forwarding. Like being coached by an equal.”
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My story
I wanted to be a professional dancer when I was young, but due to an injury and frankly not being good enough to make it, I had to change my ambition. I discovered that my natural talent was helping other people become more successful and self-aware. This realisation led me to eventually starrt my coaching practice, dedicated to helping people with creative, curious, and ambitious minds make the most of their strengths for a more fulfilling life and career.
I believe true fulfillment comes from understanding who we really are and how we see the world around us. Many of us go through life without knowing why we think, act, or behave the way we do. It's only when we have a true sense of self that we can make career and life choices that align with our goals and values.
My career has been dedicated to developing and coaching others, searching for tools and techniques to develop self-knowledge and find fulfillment. Effective insights are hard to find—we're not taught emotional intelligence in school, university, by our parents, or in our careers. It's easy to dismiss this deep work as "woo woo," without realising why we keep making poor choices and ending up in blind alleys.