Sue Mitchell
Inspiring speaker, author and executive coach (and former scientist and adventurer) who specialises in a mindset approach for resilience, wellbeing, inclusion and engagement
Sue Mitchell: Biography highlights
Dr. Sue Mitchell is an international speaker, the author of “The Authority Guide to Engaging your People” and Director of Aeona, an award-winning leadership and executive coaching company that works with private clients and organisations to change lives, transform the workplace and harness the power of being purposeful.
Full biography
Sue inspires people and organisations to achieve high performance and their desired results through developing a positive mindset and culture that raises confidence, resilience, adaptability to change, engagement, wellbeing and fulfilment.
Event delegates comment on how they like Sue’s energy and positivity in her events and how they have been inspired with new perspectives and ideas, as well as practical things they can do right away.
Examples of varied events Sue has delivered
- Designing and facilitating team / board visioning and strategic planning events – from one day events for 30+ people to three day retreats for smaller groups.
- Facilitating retreats with small groups and also up to 30 people, where the typical focus is on leadership, confidence and/or resilience.
- Designing and delivering bespoke Masterclasses and interactive events on topics such as resilience, the power of positive, leadership styles, emotional intelligence, mental toughness, leadership mindset, executive coaching, wellbeing and much more.
- Speaking at scientific conferences and events, with audience sizes varying from 20 to 200 delegates in her event.
- Organising local events and conferences for various organisations (Women in Banking and Finance, Association for Coaching, British Sub Aqua Club) for audience sizes typically 20 – 100 people.
- Facilitating and leading instructor development events for the British Sub Aqua Club for events lasting 2 to 5 days around UK and overseas.
Sue’s Multicultural experience
Sue grew up in Africa as her father worked in Land Use on foreign aid projects, living in Malawi until she was eight years old and also 3 years in Tanzania until she was 12.
After graduating from university, Sue led 3month expeditions in Western Samoa and Tonga where she worked with local government departments for the environment and fisheries to develop projects that would make a difference and provide useful data. Sue worked and volunteered on marine projects with local scientists in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Zanzibar. She has also travelled widely particularly in Europe and South East Asia.
During her PhD and post-doc research in evolutionary ecology, Sue worked at universities in the UK and a Max Planck Institute in Germany and has given talks at conferences globally.
In September 2019, Sue founded the Edinburgh Hub for Women in Sustainability, which aims to support a courageous community of women from all sectors to work for a better world and explore diverse perspectives on how to nurture and enhance sustainability for the environment and society and economies.
Sue’s company, Aeona, works with a purpose to contribute to a sustainable future that is great for people, great for the planet and great for prosperity. Services include:
- Executive 121 Coaching
- Psychometric profiling
- Leadership Development
- Team Development
- Masterclasses
- Keynotes, Conferences, seminars, retreats and other events
Available for:
Org Dev Programme Delivery
Speaking (physical)
Watch Sue in action
BNP Paribas
“Sue has an engaging style of communication, with such natural ease of delivery that the audience feels included and interested in the topics being discussed. Her content always balances theory with practical applications of what is being proposed, providing many examples from her own experience which add authenticity to her presentations.“
Voluntary Organisation
“Coaching provided me the space and opportunity to explore – A major change I was planning in my life Identify the steps necessary to make that change Consider the impact of the change in my work life and other aspects of my life – eg domestic and financial. In addition, I was introduced to some tools to aid my thought processes and the interest of my coach in my plans was very affirming.”
Vilo Sky
“I have been fortunate enough to attend Sue’s workshops numerous time now and I always find her mix of theory and personal application to be completely relatable and relevant to the challenges I face. Her inclusive approach makes sessions very interactive and easy to consider key points in light of your own individual circumstances. I was struggling to formulate my 12 month career plan without getting a knot of fear in my stomach but after just one session with Sue I was able to change my perception and I now have a very solid plan. I thoroughly recommend connecting with Sue for help with any mindset, personal or career barriers, the results you get are great.“
Mel Sherwood Ltd, PSA Scotland
“I recently heard Sue speak at a Professional Speaking Association event. Her material was well structured, interesting and highly relevant for women in business. Sue has a natural warmth, positive energy and engaging delivery style and this particular talk would be very valuable for women in leadership positions.“
University of Stirling
“Sue has worked with The University of Stirling for over two years now and continues to provide an excellent, personal and professionally knowledgeable service. Sue connects and builds relationships with all levels of the staff community and consistently gets great feedback. I would highly recommend Sue, her service is reliable, conscientious with current research/thinking – we value our relationship with Sue and look forward to working with her into the future.“
Women in Management Network Scotland
“Sue delivered an excellent workshop for WiM Scotland earlier this year, as part of our Career and Life Management programme.. She is an excellent facilitator who connected well with the audience and demonstrated her thorough knowledge of the topic. We had very positive feedback from the event and wouldn’t hesitate to use her services for other workshops. Thanks Sue for a great evening!“
Healthcare
“Just to say thank you for the coaching session and you have worked some magic once again, thank you so much.”
Edinburgh Napier University
“Sue very kindly gave a talk for JCI Edinburgh earlier this year. She gave a fascinating insight into mental toughness. She covered ways in which you can identify your own strengths in this area and how to build on them. Sue is not only extremely knowledgeable in this subject but also enthusiastic to share the benefits with others.“
ViloSky
“Engaging and inclusive, Sue has a great way of delivering her content and then making sure it has been absorbed by asking different members of the audience to participate. Sue doesn’t just speak for 8 hours and that’s it! Well-structured and with a good narrative thread. Her inclusion of personal stories helps embed key points. She has an informal style which allows participants to feel relaxed but she is also direct and concise with regards to the points she is making, which are also well backed up with relevant theory and research. – Clearly an experienced, well-practised speaker who is comfortable presenting to large groups, her approach is flexible enough to respond to the different personality types and needs displayed by any group.”
Holyrood Communications
“Sue is a fantastic speaker! She spoke at an event I organised around equal gender representation on public boards in May 2018 focusing on ‘Mindset for Resilience and Mental Wellbeing’. She was really engaging and her presentation was very well received by our delegates. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Sue, both in the run up to the event and on the day, and I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for an enthusiastic, passionate and knowledgeable speaker for conferences and events!“
Glasgow
“Where to start – first thing, see new title below!! I have been promoted and given a pay rise which was entirely down to you giving me the confidence and the tools to raise the issue. You also helped me recognise where boundaries were being crossed and not respected and to stand up for what is important to me. You were very impressive and I always came away feeling motivated – you were very natural to talk to and it really boosted my confidence and morale.”
Business and Communications
“I have been reflecting on our conversation and really found it useful, particularly the elements around transitioning from operational management to leadership. This is already proving of use!“
Banking Sector
“Excellent event and speaker! I liked the balance of interactive tasks and group activities, learning about the 4Cs and how to put these in practice. I’ve learned a different approach to try out dealing with organisational change and a staff member who is difficult to manage.“
WIBF - Women in Banking & Finance
“The informal discussion and that the speaker shared her past experience. Noticing the positives and keeping a journal of 3 achievements each day. Time for reflection. The delivery, content and general approach were excellent! This helped me bring together my thoughts and refocus and shape an implementation plan for a challenge I am looking forward to. An excellent event! I liked that it was interactive and allowed you to draw on your own experiences Appreciating my achievements and not taking everything I do for granted. Pay attention to thought processes – be aware of and reduce or eliminate negative self talk. Change negative thinking. That Sue included the research to back up why motivation is so important. Sue helped to bring the whole way motivation works to life and helped me to understand more about my own motivators.”
Lloyds Banking Group
“Sue is an excellent speaker and very engaging. She presented at one of our WIBF events with the focus on “Don’t let the past hold you back”. It was well received by the audience. Brilliant session. Thanks Sue!“
Sue's speaking topics
Embracing Diversity to build trust, strong relationships and high performance
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Solutions Focus facilitation for overcoming issues hampering implementation of our objectives
Where are we now?
- Identify 'AS IS' - mid-term in the implementation of the strategy 2018-2021
- Identify objectives that are not yet achieved. Brief analysis to understand the barriers and issues and find instances when they were less of an issue.
- Recognise and celebrate achievements so far and analyse what made them work well.
Define the future and plan to achieve it
- Living the Strategic Vision - what does the endpoint in 2021 look like?
- Re-commit to our purpose and strategic vision
Create the bridge from 'as is' to reach the vision, taking into account what is at stake and external forces that both drive and restrain the management team.
- Clearly understand what is at stake if there is no change and what happens when we succeed.
- Identify indicators and evidence of success, how we will recognise them, and who else needs to recognise them.
- What can we do more of that has worked well already?
- How can we make use of what we already have?
- What are the possibilities - past, present and future?
- What leadership activities are needed to inspire, motivate and engage our people and external stakeholders to make this happen?
The Power of Positive
This fun, highly interactive masterclass gives your managers the essential ingredients to create the positive environment and 'can-do' culture for working successfully together and to create high performing teams themselves. It is ideal when your people could do with a burst of positive energy to revitalise a project or manage changes.
Working in pairs, small groups and as a whole team, we look at ways to build positive thinking and emotions into everyday life at work, making it easier to work more effectively together and raising wellbeing and engagement.
Evidence from neuroscience shows that feeling positive, and especially safe, unstressed and unthreatened, opens up access to the higher reasoning cognitive part of brain which leads to more creative thinking, inspiration, new ideas, solution finding, problem solving, focus and improved social interaction, all of which support higher performance at work. When you feel negative or stressed, your brain literally shuts down access to the cognitive areas of the brain, resulting in poor focus, feelings of overwhelm, interpersonal conflicts, inability to listen to different perspectives and poor decision making, all of which have a negative impact on performance and productivity.
Embracing Diversity: Raise Performance and Wellbeing
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Train your Brain to be Confident
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Success Mindset for innovation and performance
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Emotional Intelligence for greater effectiveness
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Photo Gallery: Sue Mitchell
Check Sue Mitchell's availability
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