Serena was the only woman at the senior table in her tech organisation.

She could see exactly what needed to change.

Her boss Miles couldn't.

Or wouldn't.

Every time she raised it, she hit a wall.

She said to me: “To him, my platform is only smouldering. But ignoring it won’t put out the fire.”

She came to our sessions wanting to convince Miles.

That was the wrong goal — and she knew it wasn’t working.

What shifted was the approach.

Instead of arriving with answers, she started arriving with questions.

Questions that invited him to discover the problem himself, rather than defend against her diagnosis of it.

It sounds like a small change. It wasn’t.

Miles scheduled time to discuss the transition properly.

He started to see her departure not as a disruption but as an opportunity to get the restructuring right.

Serena hadn’t changed what she knew.

She’d changed how she made it possible for him to hear it.

This is what coaching actually does. Not tell you what to say.

Help you see what you can’t see from inside the situation.

If you’re somewhere similar — you can see what needs to happen, and the people who need to act aren’t moving — I’d like to talk.

A chemistry call is a 45-minute conversation.

No commitment.

Just a chance to think through what’s actually getting in the way with someone who takes your progression seriously.

Or if you're ready to talk, email me at suzanne@doylemorris.com for a complimentary chemistry call.