Samantha was keen to begin her first term at Cranleigh School with full visibility of how the team worked together and any areas that extra needed focus and support.
Clare had completed Toby’s appraisal 10 years previous, for his prior role as Deputy Headmaster at another school. Toby was impressed with Clare’s collaborative style and how she introduced him to coaching techniques.
When Toby moved school to Whitgift he wanted to understand his new team better, to allow for a purpose-driven beginning to the new team.
Toby wanted the team to understand their strengths and personalities, and ultimately to focus on strategic planning and forecasting for the school’s future.
Toby brought Clare in for strategic sessions in August 2025, ahead of the beginning of the school year, and the beginning of Toby’s new leadership post.
Toby envisioned that working with Clare from the beginning of his role as CEO would help him better understand the senior team, and for the senior team to better understand each other.
On working through the Myers Briggs assessments and follow up activities that Clare facilitated, the team were able to apply this knowledge of their individual and collaborative strengths to aid conceptual planning and strategic marketing planning, for the future benefit of the school.
Clare worked both independently with each team member and in group settings. Using her deep understanding of the Independent School sector, Clare was able to direct the nine team members who took part in the activity to think about strategic planning.
When interacting with the team, Clare combined a ‘warm, funny engaging manner’ with ‘deep coaching and business knowledge’. This combination, coupled with her unique Myers Briggs expertise provided the ideal opportunity for better understanding the team and team dynamics.
It was beneficial to the team setting that an objective ‘stranger’ helped to facilitate conversation, as this encouraged contribution and reflection from all.
This practical setting also allowed the team to identify how they would apply this thinking in future, and work together to deliver on strategy.
Four strategic strands stood out as prominent outcomes from the planning sessions.
There was an opportunity to take through all four or to discount one. On collaborating with team members, a focus on a particular key message was included, which may have otherwise been discounted, if team members had been working in silos rather than working collaboratively.
Toby comments: “Clare has a firm and collaborative style. She is proactive in reading the room and provocative in her questioning style – asking well thought-out questions based upon what she has studied from participants.”
“Clare understands operations and strategic planning, and she has good experience of both elements – which are important for the future of the school.”
Toby would very happily recommend Clare and Synergia to colleagues and peers. Three elements of Clare’s expertise stand out specifically to Toby as key reasons for recommendation:
1. Her unique and experienced Coaching style
2. Her knowledge of strategic operational processes
3. A combination of big business knowledge, with public sector industry experience.
Toby concludes: “Clare is bright, funny and switched on and I would recommend her to any person or organisation looking to learn more about who they are – to develop future strategic vision.”
To find a course for you or to speak to the team about the best approach for your school visit our courses page or call the team on 01785 711593.