A Trusted Leadership Development Facilitator
Training leaders with compassion, enthusiasm and creativity.
Training leaders and transforming teams across the housing sector
- Is your team disconnected? Unmotivated? Bogged down in office politics?
- Are you struggling to communicate with your team? To manage different personalities?
- Do you or your team need to improve your strategic thinking and creativity?
Compassionate Leaders’ Hayley Gillard has been one of the most well-regarded leadership development facilitators for managers in the social housing sector for over a decade and a half.
With a background and multiple degrees in business and psychology, Hayley supports organisations to create the psychologically safe conditions in which high-performing teams can be built, and helps leaders to lead with confidence, compassion and build teams that thrive.
An effective and versatile leadership development facilitator
Hayley began her career working in various business development roles for a housing association, and spent 6 years delivering volunteer training, holding staff engagement forums, managing the skills and employment support service, and more in-house.
Leaving her role as Business Innovations Manager in 2015, she has since forged a reputation as a skilled, empowering and engaging facilitator and trainer. Her coaching and training for housing associations reflects her understanding of industry terminology, the political landscape across housing organisations, and operating conditions.
Hayley understands the pressure organisations like yours are facing around building safety to upgrade buildings, refine policies, and protect the residents in your homes, whilst maintaining efficient internal processes and brand reputation, and can help leaders and teams to navigate the related organisational pressures and challenges.
Hayley has developed a track record of delivering accredited leadership development courses, programmes and training for housing associations that help leaders like you to develop your leadership skills, strengthen and transform your team, and maximise engagement, innovation and performance across your department and organisation.
A leadership development facilitator blending leadership with psychology
Hayley is a skilled and experienced leadership development facilitator with an approach to leadership development coaching and training that is unique, but highly effective.
Whether supporting you with coaching, courses or programmes, Hayley and her trusted associates, will help you to lead with compassion, confidence, empathy, and emotional intelligence. This support will also help you to develop your self-awareness to enable you to create a positive culture of collaboration where your team can innovate, communicate and thrive.
Inline with her background in business and psychology, she delivers invaluable leadership training with psychological safety at its centre, to help you create the conditions on which high-performing teams can be built.
But, what is psychological safety?
Psychological safety is the bedrock of high-performing teams, and the key to unlocking your team’s full potential so they can achieve outstanding results. Developing and maintaining psychological safety across your department or organisation isn’t always easy, and is often misunderstood as being nice or friendly. It can involve tackling some complicated challenges, and developing the ability to challenge your teammates.
As a talented, experienced leadership development facilitator with a background and qualifications in psychology, Hayley understands that psychological safety principles are incredibly effective in enabling business leaders like you to cultivate an environment where your team can communicate openly, take risks, innovate, learn from mistakes, trust one another, and collaborate effectively with confidence.
The combination of leadership development training and psychological principles can have a huge number of benefits including:
Creates Open Communication: Fosters an environment where team members feel comfortable to express their thoughts, ideas and concerns without fear of judgement.
Increases Trust & Collaboration: Builds trust among team members which enables collaboration to flourish, and maximises effectiveness and productivity.
Creates a Culture of Learning & Growth: Team members are more likely to admit mistakes, seek help, share experiences, embrace challenges and develop new skills.
Increases Innovation & Creativity: When individuals feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to share ideas, think outside of the box, and innovate to drive continuous improvement.
Encourages Risk-Taking and Experimentation: Encourages team members to take calculated risks and experiment, often leading to breakthroughs and improvements in team performance.
Increases Adaptability to Change: Fosters a culture of adaptability and resilience in the face of change, where team members can openly discuss and address issues.
Maximises Employee Well-being: Psychologically safe teams have higher job satisfaction rates and lower levels of stress, resulting in a positive atmosphere and higher employee retention rates.
“It has been quite remarkable having Hayley as our group facilitator. Before Hayley, I only had worked with male coaches, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. After the experience, I am so happy we chose to ask Hayley (working for The Fresh Air Leadership Company) to host the workshops for us. We were a big group of 17 people, and Hayley managed to keep us engaged and open to collaborating with each other. She didn’t draw much attention to herself, instead acted as an enabler for us all to feel safe to share our experiences and opinions. During the day, Hayley guided us through several very challenging tasks, ensured we stayed on track and produced tangible results by the end of the session. I can’t wait to work together again.”
“This programme has had an incredible impact on myself personally and in the work place, with the help of everything Hayley has taught me and shown me I have managed to get 2 promotions and self confidence that has improved massively.”
“Hayley is an authentic, energetic and extremely knowledgeable coach and trainer. She helped me understand and overcome many of my fears and shortcomings. I feel I am a better, more aware and insightful person after I’ve attended her course. Thank you, Hayley! What you do makes a difference!”
Meet Hayley
Hayley Gillard is Managing Director at Compassionate Leaders, and an empowering, engaging and skilled leadership development facilitator and trainer.
With a background and qualifications in both Business and Psychology, Hayley helps organisations to create compassionate, decisive leaders of high-performing teams, made up of fulfilled and dedicated staff who are committed to achieving the organisation’s mission and living its values.
Her degrees in Business and Psychology enable her to combine an understanding of people’s thoughts and behaviours with an appreciation for their work environment, and she has developed her practical skills by gaining qualifications in leadership management, coaching and mental health.
Hayley is a highly experienced leadership development facilitator, supporting organisations in the social housing sector as one of the most highly-sought leadership experts.
Amongst her highlights so far are:
- Supporting one of The Times Top 100 UK’s Fastest Growing Companies to unite staff across the whole organisation in its purpose, vision and operations.
- Training leaders from a national housing association to perform well in a high-pressure environment, via a tailored programme that was shortlisted for an ASCP Safety and Compliance national award in 2022.
- Helping a global male-dominated organisation to develop actions that will deliver its gender equality mission in locations around the world.
Compassionate Leaders also has a carefully selected, trusted team of associates whom Hayley works with on relevant projects to help deliver her support.
When supporting education providers and training particularly large groups Hayley may be accompanied by fellow leadership development facilitator, sector specialist and ex- school senior leader, Liz O’Connor, to help her deliver her valuable training on a larger scale.
For settings where de-escalation techniques and practical tools and ideas for supporting highly-charged situations are required, Hayley brings in colleague and conflict specialist Rich Atkinson, to provide more comprehensive training around managing conflict.
Manisha Vithani is a skilled facilitator, leadership development professional and accredited coach and a valued part of the Compassionate Leaders team. By offering you a choice of facilitator, Compassionate Leaders’ offers you the flexibility to find a specialist whom you really gel with.
Helenlee Whalley is a skilled facilitator and a valued part of the Compassionate Leaders team. By offering you a choice of facilitator, Compassionate Leaders’ offers you the flexibility to find a specialist whom you really gel with.
Gemma Brown is a skilled facilitator and a valued part of the Compassionate Leaders team. By offering you a choice of facilitator, Compassionate Leaders’ offers you the flexibility to find a specialist whom you really gel with.
Kate Bennett (The HR Hero) is a skilled facilitator and a valued part of the Compassionate Leaders team. By offering you a choice of facilitator, Compassionate Leaders’ offers you the flexibility to find a specialist whom you really gel with.