A Call To Courage
REDEFINING THE LEADERSHIP JOURNEY FOR QUIET REVOLUTIONARIES
Being a leader shouldn’t require you to sacrifice all of your health, energy and life force.
Yet for too many of us, that’s the devil’s bargain we’re asked to make.
What we need is a new paradigm: a more courageous model of whole-person leadership.
It's time to disrupt the old ideas of "leadership" and be part of creating something much more equitable, nourishing - and human.
And along the way get your life back too.
Let's get down to it.
If there had been a formal transaction that asked you to be willing to give up all of your energy to the job, leaving only scraps left over for your life and the people in it.....
Or a contract to sign demanding you to give up evenings, weekends, and be willing to become so exhausted you would be okay with sleepwalking through your entire existence....
Would you have signed it?
Your response would have been "Hell no chance! That's a ridiculous and unreasonable ask!" Or a more sweary version. Either way, you'd have been right.
Yet here you are.
Fading before your own eyes.
Unable to hide the truth from yourself any longer. Successful at work.
An increasingly hollow shell of yourself at home.
Wondering how the hell this happened and what on earth to do about it.
Our culture, our organisational bubbles, our systems implicitly demand, normalise and even glorify overworking, sacrifice, busyness, pushing through.
For women, in particular, the cultural programming we have taken on board to do more, be more, prove more adds to an unspoken cost that we stop questioning.
And it becomes so entrenched that not only do we not challenge this need for sacrifice, we can become the unwitting enforcers of this broken system and the patriarchy.
We add to the glorification of working beyond our limits, wearing exhaustion like a shiny badge of honour and staying silent on the cost.
We need a rethink of leadership - one that dismantles the need to martyr ourselves, acknowledging we’re only at our best as leaders when we’re living fully rounded, fully rested, fully authentic lives too.
Does any of this seem familiar to you?
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You are exhausted, stressed and worried pretty much constantly in your role.
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You’ve followed the ‘rules’, worked hard and have reached a position in your career where you are ‘successful’ - and instead of feeling happy and accomplished, you feel empty and brittle.
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You’ve been doing ‘self-care’ - had the weekend away, downloaded the meditation app, have a calendar full of plans (most of which you cancel) and none of it seems to make a jot of real difference.
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You’ve wondered on more than one occasion if you should leave - that you’re not cut out for this and it’s only a matter of time before you’re found out.
You don’t need to go on this way.
There’s no magic wand you can wave that will change things and no fairy godmother is coming in this story to rescue you.
But YOU have the power to change things.
And I can help.
A Call To Courage - What We Need Instead
To find ways to really step into our courage and our leadership so that instead of going with the flow, we can start to disrupt the current narrative and transform leading into something that actually works for us.
To know how to embody discernment. To stop saying yes to everything and set healthy and strong boundaries so we get to choose what we unapologetically say no to and where we wholeheartedly put our yeses. In the job and in our life.
To ditch striving for perfection and being strong and start feeling confident to show up as we truly are so we can become really comfortable in our own skin with no need to mask.
To speak and live our truth so it doesn't have to leak out in illness. Truth speaking is the opposite of noise and bluster.
I’m Sarah Bishop and I’m a leadership coach and mentor who specializes in helping leaders step out of martyrdom and into an empowered, courageous, and altogether more rounded way to lead and live.
I initially learned these lessons the hard way but in hindsight, I’d say this experience, tough as it was, was a turning point in my whole approach to how I chose to show up as a leader - and as a person.
I’m a current senior leader in education (having led across 5 different settings) , an associate writer on a mental health curriculum, and a NLP Master Practitioner and Hypnotherapist.
My work focuses on how we can lean into our courage and resiliency for more of the time so that we get to do the work we want to do in the world and have well rounded, healthy lives.
"Working with Sarah, me as a developing practitioner of NLP, she with her knowledge she guided me to develop courage, she helped me to understand how to become the best version of me.
I really was inspired by her to have clarity of thought, confidence in myself to be able to make some positive change with a focused mind.
If you want to make a change or a difference Sarah will encourage and guide you with a belief that you can and will become what you need to be.
I highly recommend working with this modest but inspirational lady."
Mel. Head Teacher / Principal
Change can be scary - but staying where you are is no picnic either.
You’ve wondered how much longer you can go on this way - and the truth is, not much without it starting to have to major negative impacts on you
(it already is!)
Courage Calls To Courage
We can become so plugged into work and technology and schedules that we find ourselves disconnected from our body, our wisdom and our true self.
Our best work is done when we are at our most resourceful. We are most resourceful when we are operating from a strong base of courage and resiliency. Our courage and resiliency are best maintained and strengthened by real connection, perspective and a living wholly - beyond the job.
When we do start living wholly and with courage -that courage calls to more courage and we give permission for others to do the same. And that can be a beautiful thing.
I work with a limited number of private clients at a time to help you to get to that place of deep rooted courage and ease.
This transformation doesn’t happen overnight (you already know that) so our work together takes place over a few months.
This not only gives you the ongoing, individual support and encouragement to make the mental, cognitive and internal adjustments necessary to start living and leading in a way that works better for you, it means you can embed tools, perspectives and new practices so that you can make a lasting change to your relationship with leadership, work and your place in it.
" Sarah has a genuine belief in 'doing' leadership differently. There's none of that old school machismo that can sometimes accompany what constitutes a leader. Instead, she has a steady focus, which she pitches perfectly for the situation in front of her, helping people to find their own path and offering a supportive arm along the way. A real, authentic guide for those that want to do things a bit differently. "
Catherine. Local Government Leader
This is deep and courageous work.
I won’t be telling you to take more bubble baths or paying lip service to ‘do more self care’ - the change needs to run deeper than that (and you’ve likely tried those superficial tweaks anyway.)
I’m going to help you to change your approach to, not only leadership, but how you approach your life as a whole. I fully believe that unless we do this, we cannot show up fully as the leaders we’re meant to be - and unless we learn to nourish and support ourselves while we do this, things quickly fall apart again.
So if you're not quite ready to run off and join the circus, reinvent your life or retrain for a completely different profession, it’s time to make a decision.
Because it’s 100% possible to be a nourished, whole, courageous leader in the role you’re in now.
Because it's 100% reasonable to want to live a full, rounded and courageous life outside of the job.
If you’re ready to make a change, let’s have a chat to see how I can help you.
Ready? Fantastic!
Click on this button and you’ll be taken to straight to my calendar to book a time for a quick chat – this is just to see if you’re a good fit for the program and to answer any final questions you might have.
There's no commitment or expectation that clicking the button commits you to anything other than making sure this is a great move for you.
In a culture where over-work and busyness can be glorified, being able to disrupt that narrative and truly own our own story needs that courage and resiliency in spades.
Navigating this landscape of uncertainty and fear that we find ourselves in during and post pandemic can create additional stress that we need to deal with.
Many of us are in caring roles where we help others or in leadership where we lead and manage staff. We need to ensure we are not pouring from an empty cup and are staying well too.
My online development and courses are designed to be fit into your lifestyle in the best way for you so that you can maintain, top up, and strengthen the courage and resiliency needed to stay effective and stay well.
“I'm an experienced leader. I've been working with Sarah for 18 months now and what she has helped me do is really transform my leadership practice”
Denise. Experienced Leader
“Working with Sarah, it has been my first year of leadership and she has really helped me find my voice”
Nicole. Emerging Leader