Hi, I’m Sue Belton
You know the leader you’re capable of becoming. I’m here to help you get there.
If you’re a senior leader, managing director, or founder ready to step out of the day-to-day and lead strategically, you’re in the right place.
I work with driven, ambitious, high-achieving leaders. Why? Because I am one.
Since 2008, I’ve coached leaders like you, and before that, I was a producer at the BBC learning what makes people tick. I don’t just coach this, I’ve done it, and come out the other side.
Why leaders work with me
You’re really good at what you do. You’ve built a career, a team, and for founders, a business, on being the person who delivers.
But somewhere along the way, the drive that got you here started running you instead of the other way around.
I coach senior leaders, managing directors, founders, and C-suite executives, at organisations from Virgin Wines and Generali to fast-growing SMEs: different industries and roles, all facing similar challenges:
- Buried in the day-to-day, firefighting, back-to-back, finding it hard to carve out time for the strategic work you were brought in to do
- Always on, unable to switch off, never fully present with the people you love
- The one everyone leans on, with no one to lean on yourself
- Half-convinced that whatever you achieve, it’s never enough
The thing is, the workload is never going to change. And actually, that’s not the problem anyway.
The problem is the patterns underneath it: the beliefs and habits that have you working this way. Change those, and you can become the leader you aspire to be.
That’s the work we do together.
I help you see the patterns you can’t see for yourself, understand where they came from, and build new ones in their place.
I’ll tell you the hard truths, the things you might not want to hear.
Then I’ll back you all the way, while you take the tools and techniques out of the coaching room and put them to work in the real world.
18
Years of Experience
700+
Hours of Training
3000+
Impactful Sessions
4
Bestselling Books
My Story
“I knew how to make people feel safe.”
I was raised in a military family, an only child, taught to be strong, sort everything out, and never let anyone see it was hard. It made me capable, driven, and very good at pushing through. It also set the wiring that nearly broke me later.
I spent my early career at the BBC as a documentary producer and director, making BAFTA-nominated factual programmes. On one series, Jailbirds, I remember climbing into the back of prison vans and talking to people at the very worst moment of their lives, getting them to trust me, open up, and tell me their story. I was good at it, because I knew how to make people feel safe.
That’s the same skill I bring to coaching now: I create a space where you can be completely honest, drop the performance, and do the real work, often the side of you that you don’t show anyone else.
The trouble was, I was working twelve, fourteen, sixteen-hour days and calling it dedication. Certain that was what it took to be successful.
It came to a head when I found myself five months pregnant in A&E, listening to a doctor ask me what on earth I was doing. I knew then that I couldn’t carry on working the way I was and raise my daughter the way I wanted to. But I had no idea what to do about it.
Someone suggested I talk to a coach. In 45 minutes, I learned the thing I now build my whole practice on: whatever the situation, you always have a choice in how you respond.
“Whatever the situation, you always have a choice.“
“Changing the job was never going to be enough. I had to change the pattern.”“
So I retrained as a coach and built my business. And then, two years in, I burned out all over again, because I brought all of it with me.
Changing the job was never going to be enough. I had to change the pattern. That’s the work I now do with the leaders I coach, and I can tell you, the thing you’re most afraid of, that this is just how it has to be, simply isn’t true.
And now…
I’m an award-winning executive and leadership coach based in London, working one-to-one with senior leaders, managing directors, founders, and C-suite executives, the kind of driven, high-achieving people I understand from the inside.
I coach through three programmes: the Strategic Leader Programme for senior leaders and established founders, the Emerging Leader Programme for new and rising managers, and the Thriving Coach Programme for executives building a coaching business after a successful corporate career.
Alongside one-to-one coaching, I lead a hand-picked team of ICF-accredited coaches who deliver my group and organisation-wide leadership programmes, to the same framework and standards as everything I do.
I’m also the best-selling author of Screw Meditation! and Change Your Life in 5, and contributing author to best-sellers Leading from the Heart, Shine, and Retire Inspire 2.
I’ve been named Coach of the Year (Silver Stevie Award), Female Entrepreneur of the Year (Gold Stevie Award), and Best Coach (Best Business Women Awards). I’ve produced my own podcast ChangeMakers, and regularly guest on podcasts and in the press, talking about leadership, burnout, and the science of changing how we work.
I practise what I coach. I’m an empty-nester now, living in London with my fiancé, Andrew. We walk our dog, Daisy, every morning. I work the hours I choose, and I’ve built a business and a life on my own terms.
It took me years, and more than a few mistakes, to get here. I can help you get there a good deal faster.
That starts with a 60-minute Clarity Call. We’ll talk about where you are, what you want to change, and whether I’m the right coach to help you do it.
I knew straight away that this was someone who would give me candid feedback and ask hard and, at times, uncomfortable questions when needed.
She was also able to do this while remaining incredibly kind and supportive.”
Founder, Solas
Coaching based on science and proven frameworks
Everything I do is grounded in neuroscience and the latest leadership research, built around two frameworks I’ve developed over nearly two decades of coaching: the 5 Principles of Effective Leadership and the THRIVE framework. You’ll find more about each on the Strategic Leader and Thriving Coach programme pages.
Executive and Leadership Coaching Programmes
Strategic Leader Programme
Executive Coaching For Senior Leaders and Established Founders
My flagship one-to-one coaching to get you out of the day-to-day and leading strategically.
Emerging Leader Programme
LEADERSHIP COACHING FOR NEW AND MID-LEVEL MANAGERS
Targeted coaching to develop the skills and confidence to lead well now, and step up when the opportunity comes.
Thriving Coach Programme
MENTORING FOR COACHES TRANSITIONING FROM CORPORATE
One-to-one support to help you attract the right clients and build a high-value business.
Ready to see if we’re a fit?
You can’t tell from a website if I’m the right coach for you. That’s what a Clarity Call is for. We’ll talk through where you are, the challenges you’re facing, and what you want to change. If it’s a fit, we’ll talk about next steps.
