IK-INSIGHTS
About Me
Executive coaching, fractional sales leadership and strategic advisory for leaders and organisations navigating growth, change and transition.
Clarity for leaders. Structure for growth. Space to think differently.
Redefine success on your terms.
Hello, I'm Kay.
I’m Kay Henderson, a CPCC & ICF accredited coach with 30 years’ experience in leadership, sales, and culture at IBM and Microsoft. I work with leaders, teams, and organisations to create clarity, structure, and confidence - helping them scale, navigate change, and thrive in complex environments.
Why work with me:
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Executive and leadership coaching
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Advisory & fractional leadership
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Midlife and career transition support
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Practical, human, commercially grounded approach
Experienced Leadership Support for Growth, Change and Transition
About Me
After 30 years in senior leadership roles at IBM and Microsoft, I took a deliberate step to redesign how I work - and who I work with.
Like many leaders in midlife, I was operating in what I now call the midlife sandwich: balancing demanding roles, organisational change, ageing parents, growing children, and the quiet question of “Is this still success?”. The overwhelm was real.
That moment became the catalyst to redefine success on my own terms - and to support others to do the same.
Today, I work with forward-thinking organisations and mid-career professionals navigating growth, transition and uncertainty. My work sits at the intersection of leadership, culture and human experience - helping people lead well through complexity, without losing themselves in the process.
I’m a CPCC and ICF-accredited coach with an MBA, and an experienced business advisor with deep roots in technology, sales and cybersecurity. Clients value my ability to combine strategic clarity, commercial realism and human insight - grounded in lived leadership experience, not theory alone. I'm a northern girl so add a sprinkle of straight talking into the mix too.
My Approach
I combine coaching and advisory because leaders rarely need just one or the other.
My work creates space to think - and then helps translate that thinking into grounded, practical action. I listen deeply, challenge thoughtfully and stay focused on what will make the biggest difference, both professionally and personally.
Clients often come to me feeling capable but stretched, successful but unsettled. Together, we work on clarity, confidence and resilience - not as abstract concepts, but as lived experiences in how you lead, decide and show up every day.
My 1:1 coaching clients come from corporate, public sector, academia, the arts and entrepreneurial environments. What they share is a desire to reconnect with what matters and to lead - or live - in a way that feels more intentional and sustainable. Beyond the midlife sandwich.
Reach For Your Goals
Conversations & Challenges I regularly support
Career confidence, satisfaction and progression
Navigating complexity, change and uncertainty
Mid-career transition and reinvention
Difficult people dynamics and leadership presence
Leadership resilience and burnout recovery
Rediscovering purpose, energy and direction
A confidential conversation to create clarity, talk through your current challenges, and explore the next right step with practical, grounded support.
Experience & Credentials
My work is shaped by:
30 Years Corporate Experience
30 years in senior leadership, sales and business growth roles
Deep Experience
Deep experience in strategy, culture and people development
Specialisation
Specialisation in integration, M&A and leadership resilience
Ongoing investment in professional development, including:
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Coaching Outdoors CCEs - Henley Management College
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Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC)
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ICF (International Coaching Federation) Accreditation
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MBA from Henley Business School
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Chartered Institute of Marketing Diploma
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CISMP (Cybersecurity)
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ITIL (Service Management)
CLIENTS
Working With the Best - UK and Globally
