Sarah Thomas

Business Manager for Microsoft Consumer and Device Business

“I’d been getting a lot of feedback from my team about how hard it was to cut through all the noise and busyness at work and really focus on getting good quality work done. There had also been quite a few comments about how that pressure was affecting their personal lives and causing stress at home as well as in the office. We know and trust Clarity Leadership and they suggested Sarah was the right coach to help us. We had some great conversations with her about resilience in the face of busyness, and how much of busyness is a choice, etc, it really connected with me and I knew she’d be a good fit for us.

Sarah came in to deliver two sessions with our teams, each with about 80 people, first on presentation skills and then on mindfulness/resilience.

They were both completely brilliant and I haven’t heard a single piece of negative feedback! It’s amazing. She was just so knowledgeable and measured you knew straight away you were in safe hands, and she was so focused and practical that even within the first five minutes you felt you’d learnt something new.

I could see that there were lots of ‘aha’ moments for people and that she was managing to really bring things to life for everyone in the room.

The mindfulness workshop particularly has borne some amazing fruit, with people saying that they now feel so much more focused, calm, and positive – much more able to manage their thoughts and see the big picture, which is allowing us to act more strategically as a team. People are also feeling more aware of their own behaviour and attitudes – for example choosing not to start the day by checking their emails on their phone in bed. It’s lots of small, simple things like that, but I can genuinely see the difference in people’s energy and focus.

For me personally there have been so many things that Sarah shared that have stayed in my head, much more than other courses I’ve done, things that are really changing the way I’m thinking and managing myself – both at home and at work.

When it comes to presenting now I feel so much more able to own the space, I really take my time before speaking and even hold myself with greater confidence. Sarah’s insights have had a really positive effect on how I tackle meetings as well. I always stop and just take five minutes before going in, taking deep breaths and making sure I’ve got my head in the topic and am truly present. In both contexts I feel so much more capable, credible, and authentic – it’s fantastic.

My team have been really keen to do more with Sarah, and we’re exploring possible next sessions at the moment. I think she’s special partly because she has such a unique set of tools, with amazing insights from her background as an actor, etc. But it’s also her coaching style – she’s so lovely, fun, and easy to listen to. And really good at winning over sceptics! Her stuff isn’t airy-fairy, it’s really practical, interesting, and useful, and always backed up by knowledge. She helps you feel that you’re in control and makes things seem doable. It’s hugely motivating and I’ve loved working with her.”