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When Strong Partnerships Need Stronger Conversations
Case Study with Sara Bains: Group & Individual Coaching
The Overview
Bringing organisations together around a shared goal sounds straightforward. In reality, even established partnerships can face unseen challenges.
Different cultures. Different priorities. Competing pressures.
For Sara Bains, Wellness, Resilience and Inequalities Lead at Erewash Primary Care Network and Erewash Health Partnership, LeaderLine Place Collaboration provided the space and structure needed to help a partnership move forward with greater clarity and stronger collaboration.
The Challenge
Erewash was not a new partnership. Representatives from the county council, borough council, VCSE Infrastructure, primary care network, NHS, ICB and Active Partnership Trust had worked together before.
But the demands of the Sport England Place Partnership process created a new level of shared accountability.
As Sara explains, previous collaboration had often been optional. This time, everyone had a stake in the funding and shared responsibility for progress.
Sara's Key Benefits from LeaderLine Coaching
Space to think differently
Making the invisible visible
Building confidence
A stronger way forward
For the wider partnership, one of the biggest benefits was simply having protected time to reflect.
"The coaching introduced us to a different way of thinking about things."
Even though the group had worked together before, the coaching created conversations they had never previously had.
"This was the first time we discussed each other’s values."
The sessions helped deepen relationships, improve understanding and make the collaboration feel more personal.
Different organisations naturally bring different cultures and ways of working.
Often, these differences remain invisible and can be hard to identify.
Sara believes this is where coaching made a real difference.
"I would absolutely recommend coaching. Coaching helped us to see where we have been blind to the important stuff."
This is often where place-based partnerships make their biggest breakthroughs.
Not by working harder, but by working differently.
Alongside the group work, Sara also benefited from one-to-one coaching.
Having a safe space to reflect helped her step more confidently into discussions and champion the health perspective.
"Harriet, my coach, helped me to crystallise my thoughts."
Without coaching, it can be difficult for busy partnerships to pause and understand what is really shaping behaviours and decision making.
LeaderLine Place Collaboration creates that space.
If your partnership is navigating complexity, competing agendas or stakeholder challenges, coaching can help build stronger relationships, clearer thinking and more confident leadership.
Testimonial
"I would absolutely recommend coaching. The Active Partnership initiative comes with more responsibilities for us as a group. The sessions provided us with a safe space and time to pause and reflect and introduced us to a different way of thinking. Although we had worked together before, coaching enabled us to discuss each other’s values. This helped deepen our connections and understand each other better. It became more personal.”
~ Sara Bains | Wellness, Resilience and Inequalities Lead
at Erewash Primary Care Network and Erewash Health Partnership