“I worked with Sue over eight sessions, focussing on changing some habits in my professional and personal life that were no longer helpful.
Sue’s coaching over this time was invaluable. She has an astute mind, and was not afraid to tell me what she saw, yet in a way that was always supportive. I enjoyed her sense of humour, her willingness to share useful tools and concepts, and her openness to the uniqueness of each person’s path. I am happy to recommend her to others.”
Jackie B, Health Professional, December, 2017
“I engaged Sue as my coaching supervisor in May this year. We had seven videoconferencing sessions together. I was able to take some tricky work-related issues to Sue to work through.
Sue is a great listener. She is warm, empathic and has a great sense of humour.
She was able to offer other perspectives to my challenging situation and she was never judgemental. Sue enabled me to challenge myself and question what I needed and wanted for my professional and personal life. Our sessions enabled me to make concrete choices.
I have no hesitation in recommending Sue as an invaluable support for personal and professional development.”
Brian Johnston, Personal Performance Coach, 05/12/2017
“Thank you for such a straightforward and practical book – I could tell right away how useful it would be when you asked us to edit it. And now that I’ve been a user of the final version myself, I have all the important information about our business in one place for when I need to refer to it, sell the business or have someone else run it. Not only will it increase the value of our business, but it gives me peace of mind to know that our business systems and details don’t exist only in my head, or in random documents on my hard drive. An incredibly helpful resource – thank so much again, Sue!”
Sylvia Bauer, Director, Clear Edit NZ
“For quite a while my husband and I have been talking about the need to commit to writing information about his business and our personal details and wishes that family need to have access to in the event of our deaths. The Get Your Affairs in Order books have given us the motivation to sit down and begin this process. As we have worked through each booklet it has enabled us to talk in depth about a great number of issues and share our wishes about end of life care and funerals. We have been very impressed with the breadth and detail of each booklet raising aspects that we would never have thought of writing down ourselves. The completion of the three books has given us peace of mind that such an important task has been done. Thank you so much Sue for providing us with such a valuable resource.”
T.D., Christchurch
“I have worked with Sue Dwan for about 2 years; I have found her expertise as a management coach invaluable in my professional development. Sue’s approach is supportive while at the same time she has challenged my perceptions and beliefs and this has led to me developing new perspectives and strategies to resolve situations I had felt little control over.
During the sessions I’ve had with Sue I have felt able to bring any issue for discussion. Sue’s skill as a coach has contributed to the development of my skills as a manager in a range of areas. She combines strategic thinking, personal experience and practical tools to provide an effective service which I feel has enabled me to widen my perspective of the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation.”
Jane Hossack, Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Trust, 2014
“Sue Dwan provided one to one coaching to several members of our organisational management team over a six month period. They found the sessions of great value in terms of the opportunity they provided for guided reflection on their roles within the organisation, as well as their personal and professional goals.
Sue’s approach was both challenging and supportive, bringing a fresh, objective and highly informed perspective to the issues discussed. Her multi-dimensional approach and astute analysis of business development, organisational structure and effective management strategy made the sessions stimulating, enjoyable and thought-provoking”.
AH, 2012
“I have been working with Sue Dwan since I started in my senior management role around three years ago. The sessions that I have with Sue have been invaluable in assisting me to develop as a manager. Sue has been wonderfully skilled in assisting me to gain perspective on issues and has supported me to work through possible strategies to arrive to the best outcome. I have really appreciated Sue’s objectivity, availability and support and will take the learnings I have gained from her forward with me into all future roles”.
MC, Dunedin, 2011
“I had the privilege of working with Sue for 3 years as my mentor. Sue’s approach is very person-centered and she draws out skills from within you that at times you were unaware you had! Sue is able to reflect her own experiences to offer insightful methodologies to approach situations; she is able to identify your strengths and encourage you to build on these, whilst gently shaping, developing and stretching you to increase your line of sight and think more strategically. Sue is supportive, an advisor, a consulter, an evaluator and mediator, all fantastic assets to have in a mentor for a new manager in a Government Department. I have treasured my time working alongside Sue and have seen the benefits in my own professional growth. I would definitely recommend her to anyone”.
Lauren, 2012
“Thank you for all the advice, support and encouragement you have provided during our sessions. Your skill in introducing me to concepts and ideas has been inspirational and one that I have utilised myself with my staff. I commend you on your professionalism.”
KB, Service Manager, Blenheim
“Sue Dwan has carried out a variety of projects and contract work for CPIT, e.g. coaching for managers, coaching support for teams, change management workshops, seminars on a number of topics. Sue is highly professional and maintains the strictest confidentiality. She is clear in her communication and analysis, and particularly practical and ‘real’ in her interventions. Sue is very skilled in the field of management, in particular human resource management, and is objective in the assessment of the issues raised. She focuses on the outcomes for both the staff and the organisation”.
Patsy Gibson, Director, Human Resources, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
“I have contracted the services of Sue Dwan on several projects to write course material for the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development. I have found Sue’s work to be extremely professional, innovative and appropriate for our learners. A recent project developed a Leadership course for The NZIM Certificate in Management. The brief was to create a highly interactive New Zealand focussed set of learning notes that enabled the student to work independently and create for themselves a pathway to improved leadership ability. Sue’ s material more than met this brief. The course is now considered an exemplar of effective learning material and the model is being used on consequent courses. I have no hesitation in recommending Sue to any organisation that requires a writer and developer of a high standard who exceeds the brief to create a superior product.”
Chris Matthews, Principal Lecturer, Centre for Entrepreneurship, Open Polytechnic
“Sue is able to recognise the uniqueness of each person’s experience and helps you to understand and feel more at ease with your reactions and emotions following a stressful event. She has the ability to see things holistically and help you focus on what is really important in life (not just in work). Through discussion, discovery and understanding, Sue helps you to clearly identify where you are at and the steps required to move forward. Her empathy, sense of humour and practical advice have been an inspiration to me.”
CC, Timaru.
“Sue Dwan is a professional coach who has the rare qualities of humour, intelligence, knowledge, compassion and skill, combined. My professional development has been enhanced by her ability to identify issues, help me set priorities and assist me to plan throughout the year in a sometimes difficult, complex environment. She has been a wonderful inspiration and mentor.”
RL, Wellington
“Having worked with Sue Dwan for the past four or so years on a number of large eLearning projects, I can honestly say she’s been brilliant to work with. Not only is she probably the best content developer and writer I have ever worked with because she’s accurate, intelligent, experienced and writes beautifully, but most important of all she delivers on time every time. What sets her apart is her professionalism and absolute commitment to quality and excellence, all of which is managed with great good humour and a distinct lack of preciousness or defensiveness. She actively pursues new opportunities to learn and is always willing to have her work critiqued and amended to meet requirements. Best of all she’s great fun to work with.”
Keith Tyler-Smith, TANZ Project Manager.
“As a new manager in the education sector, I gained valuable insights and thoroughly practical ideas from Dwan & associates coaching programme. Sue’s ability to draw out my own strengths and to help me apply them to a wide variety of situations allowed me to adapt quickly to my new role. We focused on planning techniques and time-saving hints and had many discussions on the process of changing current patterns of workplace activity. A wide variety of management tools were offered when relevant and these were always helpful. I also really enjoyed Sue’s encouraging manner and her regular, challenging questions that propelled me towards many key decisions.”
PJR, Christchurch
“Sue is skilled in providing insightful comments, challenging questions and practical advice. Her sense of humour and solutions oriented approach makes meeting with her motivating and action orientated. She has the ability to cut through issues to the heart of a problem and can also identify when a person is paralysed by a situation and can help unlock and change well-established behaviour.”
ME, Christchurch
“I began work with Sue when I was a relatively new and inexperienced manager of 30 staff and a $3M budget. I didn’t have time to read through management books and most often found the advice was not applicable to the complexity of the situation faced. Sue had the ability to analyse the areas I was seeking development in and helped me find effective solutions and a variety of options. The strength of her training was in the practical tools she provided. Her warmth, humour and compassion, balanced with a sharp business focus, made a fast learning environment.”
JB, Wellington