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AspireCoaching & Development

Coaching · Mentoring · Leadership development

Find the route to what's next.

JM Aspire offers coaching, mentoring and development for individuals, leaders and organisations. Practical, honest support, grounded in more than 20 years of senior leadership across higher education, sport and community development.

For you Coaching and mentoring for your career and confidence Career direction, stepping up, leading people, feeling more sure of yourself. For organisations Leadership, management and team development Coaching programmes, workshops and facilitated team development for your people.

Senior leadership experience

20+ years leading people, programmes and partnerships · ICF Level 1 coach training

  • Sheffield Hallam University

    Principal Lecturer & Programme Lead

    Led Sport Management programmes, their teams and their development.

  • Nottingham City Council

    Active Communities Manager

    Managed multi-partner, place-based delivery across the city.

For you

Coaching and mentoring for wherever you are right now

Maybe you're weighing up a career change. Maybe you've just become a manager, or you're good at what you do but keep holding yourself back. Whatever it is, it helps to talk it through with someone who listens properly and has led people too.

  • Online or in person around Sheffield and North Derbyshire
  • Confidential, working to the ICF Code of Ethics
  • Starts with a free, no-pressure introductory call
Book a free intro call

Career & personal development coaching

Get clear on what you want next and build the confidence to go for it.

Might be for you if: you feel stuck, you're thinking about a change, or you're returning to work after a break.

Leadership & management coaching

One-to-one support to lead with more clarity, confidence and less stress.

Might be for you if: you're new to managing people, leading former peers, or stepping into a bigger role.

Career mentoring & employability

Practical, down-to-earth guidance for the early stages of your career.

Might be for you if: you're a graduate or early in your career and want help with applications, interviews or your first steps.

For organisations

Leadership and team development that fits how your organisation works

For universities, colleges, charities, sport and leisure organisations and other employers. Each piece of work is shaped around your context, your people and what you need to change.

It's informed by years of doing the job: managing teams and budgets, leading through change and delivering through partnerships.

Challenges we can help you with

  • New managers leading former peers

    Setting boundaries, building authority and keeping relationships intact.

  • Experts stepping into management

    Academic, technical or specialist staff learning to lead people, not just the work.

  • Difficult conversations

    Performance, feedback and conflict handled with confidence and care.

  • Leading through change

    Restructures, mergers or new strategies that teams need to understand and own.

  • Working across partnerships

    Leading where you don't have direct authority, with many stakeholders.

  • Teams under pressure

    Resetting priorities, workload and ways of working when capacity is stretched.

  • Developing future leaders

    Preparing aspiring and middle leaders for their next step.

  • Coaching skills for managers

    Helping managers use coaching conversations with their own teams.

Ways of working together

Leadership coaching programmes

One-to-one or cohort coaching for managers and senior leaders, with objectives agreed with you at the start.

Usually a series of sessions over several months

Leadership & management workshops

Practical, interactive sessions built around the real situations your managers face.

Half-day or full-day, in person or online

Organisational & team development

Facilitated away-days and development programmes to help teams align, collaborate and manage change.

Scoped with you after an initial conversation

Discuss your organisation's needs
Your photograph goes here A genuine, professionally shot portrait of Jo. Natural light, relaxed but polished, ideally outdoors.
Jo Marsden, founder of JM Aspire

Meet Jo Marsden

I've spent my career helping people and teams find their next step.

I'm Jo, founder of JM Aspire. For more than 20 years I've held senior leadership roles in higher education and local government, across sport, leisure and community development. I've led programmes and teams and delivered projects that depended on getting very different people pulling in the same direction.

The part of that work I've always valued most is the conversation where someone sees their options clearly for the first time. JM Aspire is built around those conversations, combining my ICF Level 1 coach training with first-hand experience of what leading people involves.

  • Sheffield Hallam UniversityPrincipal Lecturer & Programme Lead
  • Nottingham City CouncilActive Communities Manager
  • Coach trainingICF Level 1
More about Jo and how I work

How it works

How working together begins

  1. 01

    Get in touch

    Book a time online or send a short message using the form below.

  2. 02

    Introductory call

    A free 30-minute conversation about where you are and what you'd like to change. No obligation.

  3. 03

    A clear plan

    Individuals agree goals and a number of sessions. Organisations receive a short written proposal.

  4. 04

    Work and review

    Sessions in person or online, with review points built in so progress is visible.

Why JM Aspire

People grow. Leaders develop. Organisations thrive.

These are connected. A confident individual becomes a better leader, and better leaders build organisations where people want to stay and grow. JM Aspire works at every point along that route.

  • Experience, not just theory

    Coaching informed by years of leading teams, budgets, partnerships and change.

  • Familiar with your sector

    Higher education, sport, leisure and community settings: the pressures and culture are familiar ground.

  • Practical and honest

    Straight conversations and actions you can use straight away. No jargon, no grand promises.

  • Confidential and ethical

    Clear coaching agreements and a commitment to the ICF Code of Ethics.

Insights

Ideas on careers, leadership and development

All insights

Let's talk

Start with a conversation.

Book a free 30-minute introductory call at a time that suits you, or send a message and I'll reply within two working days.

Choose a time for a call
Where
North Derbyshire, Sheffield and the East Midlands, and online across the UK

Send an enquiry

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