What We Offer : Partners In Development

What We Offer

Learning & Development
Women’s development
Consultant development
Executive Coaching
Coaching Supervision
Team Development

Learning & Development

We are experienced training and development specialists providing learning experiences that truly make a difference.

We have substantial experience of designing and delivering management and leadership development programmes, which are tailored to fit both the organisational context of our clients and the personal context for the individuals. We believe in providing training and development that relates directly to individual participant's experience, and provides the means to expand their range of personal working styles and develop versatility in their approach. By starting from where people are, we help our clients to discover and realise their full potential.

Our programmes:

are based on real work issues
focus on developing personal skills
provide a climate of support and challenge
are stretching and enjoyable
build confidence and commitment
are oriented towards practical application of learning


	“Jean has an excellent knowledge of her subject matter, an engaging and vivacious style of delivery and produces great results every time. The feedback from each session was great. I have no hesitation in recommending Jean to anyone seeking an engaging, entertaining and professional business consultant.”

	Jane Piper, Transport for London

Women’s development

We have a proven track-record in designing and delivering innovative women’s development and diversity programmes for a wide range of organisations across the sectors in UK and internationally. We are also highly experienced in working with leaders, both men and women, in ways that take account of and help promote diversity and inclusion.

Jean has a passion for women’s development, gender issues and diversity that has been a core thread throughout her working life. Together with her friend and associate, Carol Pickering, she has developed a very successful Women into Leadership programme which, to date, over 1000 women from a wide variety of organisations in the UK and internally, have benefitted from attending. This tried and tested programme can be tailored to meet the needs of individuals and their organisations.

Jean and Carol have also helped organisations develop strategies to increase the opportunities for women at senior levels and consulted to boards to enable them to integrate diversity into their strategic plans.

They are available as speakers/ workshop facilitators for conferences and networking events related to these issues.


	“Jean is an exceptional developer of people. Jean (and her colleague Carol) ran our women leaders network day and made a great difference in inspiring our people. She has a great knowledge of her subject, she is personable, professional and fun. We all took lots of new tools and thinking away with us.”

	Paula Haines, Environment Agency


	“The Women into Leadership programme was life changing. I learnt so much about myself and it gave me the confidence to really go for it in terms of achieving my full potential. The action centred learning approach suited the group well and inspired a culture of trust and support amongst us all (often resulting in laughter and even a few tears). Through the course I met a group of really inspirational women who still provide a support network for each other. Jean's experience and empathy were key to the success of our group. She was always able to help us to find creative solutions to whatever problems were brought to the group and she knew exactly which were the right techniques to use to help us to explore our attitudes to and perceptions of the issues” Dr. Virginia Hawkins, National Assembly for Wales

Consultant development

Consultant development has been a core specialism since partners in development was founded.

We have extensive experience of designing and delivering consultant development workshops for both specialist consulting firms and for individuals and teams within organisations that have an internal consultant role. Whatever the technical skills of the consultants concerned, our programmes offer development in the key areas of building and sustaining good consultant/client relationships, effective partnership working and the ability to take a client-centred approach which, in our experience, is the key to finding workable solutions to client problems that the clients themselves are fully committed to.


	“Having used partners in development for many years, we find their depth of knowledge and ability to get to the heart of the matter refreshing. The team are enjoyable and friendly and have a collaborative training style which suits Crimson & Co.”

	Alison Walthew - Training Manager at Crimson & Co

Executive Coaching


	"I found my time with Jean enlightening and very valuable and, as a result of working through some thoughts and fears, I have found the energy to make the desired change at work. I now feel so much freer and more empowered!"

	NC, Coaching Client

Executive coaching provide focused, personal development for individuals seeking to improve their performance at work. It can provide individuals with the support and challenge they need to achieve their full potential in their role and can also help them clarify their career and life priorities.

Our approach encourages the client to take ownership both of their issue and the solutions required to bring about improvement and change.

We agree a contract of confidentiality around an agenda which addresses the client's needs within the context of their organisation. We also help to create the conditions where both support and challenge are present so that real and measurable progress is achieved.

Whilst we bring some standard principles and practices to the work, our experience is that each client is likely to want to work in a unique way, and this is reflected in our coaching contract.

We offer contact between the face-to-face sessions, via email and/or telephone.

Jean Woollard is a Member of the Association for Coaching (MAC)

Coaching Supervision


	“As a coach myself, the process of reflectivity and space to think is extremely important for how I maintain the quality of the work I do. Jean is my coaching supervisor. She has an exceptional talent for getting to the heart of the matter with her first question! She is insightful, direct and thoughtful – she creates an environment for rigorous thinking and dialogue and also is one of the few people I know who considers the energy and emotion of a conversation so candidly and so carefully. My practice is the better because of her”

	Liz Margree, People Create


	“Jean has the ability to challenge, support and develop you all at the same time. As my coach supervisor she enables me to reflect on my practice and see the connections between who I am and how I coach. Her knowledge and experience make me feel like I am in a safe pair of hands and my coaching has benefited enormously from the time I have spent with her. We also share the sense of humour which makes our time together even better.”

	Helen Tiffany, Bec Development

A qualified coach supervisor and Member of the Association of Coaching Supervisors, Jean Woollard offers supervision to both internal line-manager coaches and external independent coaches.

Regular supervision is a pre-requisite of creating and sustaining a successful and effective coaching practice. It is also a key part of a coach’s continual professional development and, increasingly, an essential requirement of the various coaching associations which accredit coaches.

We offer both one-to-one and group supervision for coaches of every level of experience, from beginners to very experienced.

Team Development

We have extensive experience of working with teams to help them improve their collective performance.

We use a variety of methodologies, including Team Coaching, Open Space Technology and Appreciative Enquiry. All our team events are designed in partnership with our clients to meet the unique requirements of the organisation, the team leader and her/his team. Team workshops range from small scale to whole organisation events; from one-off Awaydays to regular on-going team support.


	"I worked with Jean on several occasions. She supported me during the course of a year to improve my leadership style, and she also supported my team, as our facilitator. Jean listened carefully and understood our challenges, showing a very high level of care and empathy. She also challenged us to overcome our limitations and explore how to improve our impact on others. She brought fun and positivity to the discussions, always helping us to see things in perspective and to enjoy our journey together. She reminded me of my strengths as a leader and helped me to build on these by defining a development plan to improve both my business and personal development journeys. I will always consider Jean a wise and generous friend" A. Toniutti, Nestle Purina Europe