About Us
Sarah Rodgers is an experienced executive and business coach, facilitator and counsellor with a strong background in organisation capability development, cultural transformation and corporate leadership. Sarah supports clients in making fundamental positive changes in their personal and professional lives so they can live fulfilling, authentic and happy lives. Sarah is empathic and practical and combines aspects of positive psychology with a client-centred, values-based approach.
Sarah’s varied corporate career spans 28 years. During this time she has worked with many individuals and teams to support them in their personal and professional development. Sarah has coached groups and individuals, developed and delivered numerous management and leadership programs and facilitated a range of team building and strategy sessions. Sarah’s vision is to help people find meaning and connection in their lives, and in a professional setting, to contribute to the development of Australia’s leaders.
Prior to establishing iolite consulting in late 2016, Sarah was the GM People & Culture at the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation and before that, GM People & Performance at Sydney Airport. Sarah has been instrumental in developing and implementing people related strategies, has successfully overseen the people related aspects of two mergers and has dedicated the last 12 years of her career to organisational development with a specific focus on capability development.
Her work at Sydney Airport was featured in the September 2014 edition of HRD magazine. http://www.hcamag.com/profiles/sarah-rodgers-ready-for-takeoff-192662.aspx
Sarah’s organisational clients include the Department of Defence, ACT Government, Geoscience Australia, The Orijen Group, Suncorp, Port Hedland International Airport, Zuraida Ariffin Wealth Creation, Family Services Illawarra, Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra, Protiviti and the Centre for Public Management. Sarah also works extensively with individuals.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of Commerce (ANU), a Graduate Diploma of Counselling (ACAP), a Certificate IV Workplace & Business Coaching, a Certificate IV Training & Assessment, is an Associate Member of Chartered Accountants ANZ, is an accredited MBTI Practitioner (Step II) and a GAICD.
I have had the pleasure of having Sarah as a coach over the last 4 months. With her support and guidance I have had the courage to follow my dreams. During my sessions with Sarah, she has used her outstanding coaching skill to enable me to have greater self-awareness and thought which has resulted in an increase in my confidence and being able to take control of my career. She was able to unlock some important questions about what is important to me and through our sessions I have found the strength to make some major decisions; as a consequence I am more fulfilled and excited about the future. She is a wonderful coach, with high levels of business acumen, empathy and emotional intelligence. I have found her approach invaluable to my personal and professional development. Sarah was recommended to me and I can wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone seeking practical one to one coaching. Thank you Sarah, for giving me the confidence to set myself free!
I was fortunate enough to be involved in a management training programme that Sarah jointly developed and co-facilitated. I found Sarah’s presentation style to be professional, on point, supportive and open. The content was relevant to all participants who represented a cross section of the organisations’ people managers. The practical examples shared during the program were consistent with the written content and ensured that the participants were continually engaged. As the examples were drawn from real life workplace experiences the sessions were interactive and experiential. Sarah and her co-facilitator provided an environment that fostered collaboration, encouraged trust and facilitated honest discussions with peer attendees. The most rewarding aspect of the training was how much of the information presented I have been able to practically apply in my role as manager. I have become more confident in addressing performance related issues, developed greater awareness about how my communication style impacts my influencing ability, and have realised how crucial collaboration is to my success in a dynamic environment. To this day it has been the most successful management course that I have attended.
I was fortunate to work with Sarah over a 3 month period and can’t thank her enough for the strong coaching, guidance and wise counsel she provided which has profoundly changed my outlook and career opportunities. I am a results focused person and at the time of our engagement I was extremely driven but lacked self-awareness and tact. Sarah was able to provide me with some great skills & strategies to help curb these behavioural issues. The impact for me has been better personal and professional relationships achieving more positive outcomes. I would not hesitate to recommend Sarah even in the toughest of situations.
In 2011 I contacted Sarah because I was lost and unsure as to which direction I wanted to take my career. I was feeling restless and unchallenged in my role and did not know what steps or actions needed to be taken to resolve the issues. A close friend of mine, who at the time mentioned that they were also at a similar crossroads, mentioned seeing Sarah as a career coach and facilitated our introduction.
Sarah has helped me to recognise areas that I was not as strong in, predominantly how I would deal with conflict or opinions that differ from my own. With this awareness I found that my approach to and handling of these situations has improved. I am no longer confrontational or abrupt but more lean towards understanding the other person’s point of view. I have really enjoyed the journey I have started with Sarah, she allows me to tirelessly talk about the current issues I am experiencing and then through gentle questioning and steerage helps me to reach my own conclusions. I have found this approach incredibly rewarding as it forces me to think through the issue rather than being provided with a solution. I always look forward to catching up with Sarah, as the feeling afterwards is always positive – like there is no challenge too great for me to achieve.
Initially, I sought Sarah’s assistance to help determine my best course of action in resolving my uncertainty with the direction my career was heading. After a few sessions I found I was talking to Sarah not just about the issues at work but issues outside of work. In a lot of instances factors outside of work were influencing and impacting me at work. Sarah became more of a counsellor than my career coach and that transition has made a huge difference in me, enabling me to recognise my strengths and confidently move towards my goals. I have noticed that most of the things I was struggling with were in fact, inconsequential and merely required me to change perspective.
I am still on my journey, with the progress so far enabling me to make a decision that has made a significant impact to not only my working life but also my personal life. This decision was one that prior to working with Sarah I would have shied away from. I look forward to the new challenges ahead of me and I have Sarah to thank for getting me there.
Having felt directionless in my career I enlisted Sarah’s assistance to help me define some career progression goals. Sarah has helped me to find myself within the corporate environment. I have found Sarah’s judgement to always be good when dealing with work relationships and her coaching has helped me to gain confidence in my own skills and abilities. Since beginning work with Sarah my work outlook has significantly improved. I am far more able to positively recognise my achievements for what they are rather than being concerned about the negative aspects. Sarah has helped me make my career feel like my own again.
