You Left the Public Sector, But You Haven’t Left It Behind
You trained as a coach to make a difference. You left your public sector role – perhaps burnt out, perhaps frustrated, or possibly you were simply ready for something new. The thing that you may not have realised before you left is that your insider knowledge is worth less than you think when you’re on the outside looking in.
You’ve probably tried leveraging your old contacts (and that got uncomfortable quickly, didn’t it?). You’ve looked at tender portals and felt overwhelmed by the procurement maze you once navigated easily from the other side. You’ve wondered if there’s actually any money for coaching when you know how stretched budgets are.
And underneath it all, there’s that nagging thought – “Am I even credible anymore? I’m not a big consultancy. I’m just me.”
The Problem Nobody Else Understands
There are loads of generic marketing programmes out there that offer advice to coaches, but they don’t get it. They may teach you about LinkedIn, content marketing, and finding your ideal client, but they don’t understand that public sector procurement has specific requirements that make standard marketing tactics useless. They don’t know that being an ex-insider can actually work against you if you position yourself wrong.
Sarah Clein and John Gilbert get it. Both have impressive public sector backgrounds – Sarah, with 20 years spanning NHS, local government and public health, and John, a retired local government Chief Executive. More importantly, they’ve both built thriving coaching businesses that work with public sector clients and they did it working with The Coaching Revolution. They’ve done what you’re trying to do and now they teach coaches with a UK public sector background how to do the same.
There Is Money – If You Know How to Show ROI
What stops most coaches is that they think there’s no budget for external coaching, but they’re wrong. There absolutely is money, but you need to speak the language of procurement teams and budget holders. You need to translate coaching outcomes into metrics that matter to them – such as staff retention, reduced absenteeism, and service delivery improvements.
The Coaching Revolution has developed frameworks, templates and scripts specifically for this. Not generic business tools, bespoke resources that actually work because we understand how public sector decision-makers think.
You’re Not Competing With the Big Consultancies
We’re very aware that coaches think you can’t compete with the large firms. You’re right – and that’s precisely why you’ll win specific contracts. Public sector organisations increasingly want coaches who understand their reality, not consultants who’ll deliver a glossy report and disappear.
Your background isn’t a weakness to overcome, it’s your differentiator, providing you position it correctly. That means stopping trying to leverage old relationships and instead building a professional external practice. It also means (and this is critical) understanding procurement from the supplier side, not the buyer side. It means knowing which tender portals are worth your time and which are a waste of time.
Why Go Back to the Sector You Left?
This is a very fair question. We get it, you left for a reason. It might be the bureaucracy, the politics, or the constant pressure with ever-reducing resources. We understand that you may be thinking why would you want to work with them again?
The answer to that very fair question is that this time, it’s different. As an external coach, you get to:
- Choose which projects you take on and who you work with
- Set clear boundaries that protect your time and energy
- Package your expertise in a way that truly helps organisations and individuals
- Build a sustainable income doing meaningful work
- Keep contributing to the sector you care about – but on your terms
Remember, you’re not going back as an employee. You’re returning as an expert who can drive meaningful change without getting caught up in the system.
The Elevate Difference
Elevate isn’t another generic programme with a public sector module bolted on. It’s built from the ground up for coaches with UK public sector backgrounds who want to work with UK public sector organisations.
In a small group of just four coaches, you’ll learn:
- How to position yourself as a credible external supplier, not an ex-colleague
- The exact procurement processes and how to navigate them from the supplier side
- How to write proposals that get through procurement gates
- Which tender portals to use (and which to ignore)
- How to demonstrate ROI in terms that resonate with public sector values
- How to build new professional relationships instead of relying on old ones
This isn’t theory – Sarah and John teach what they do. Jane Cryer, currently on the programme, puts it clearly: “The approach is very structured, tried and tested and tailored for coaches working with public sector clients… helping me to overcome my fear of marketing so I can be visible to the clients I want to work with.”
The Next Cohort
The next Elevate cohort is enrolling soon.
This isn’t about rushing you into a decision. It’s about recognising that if you’re still reading this, you know your current approach isn’t working. You’ve probably tried everything else – networking, LinkedIn outreach, maybe even a few tender applications that went nowhere.
You have two choices. Keep doing what you’re doing and hope something changes, that your business suddenly takes off, or learn from people who’ve successfully made the transition you’re trying to make.
The UK public sector needs coaches who understand its reality, coaches who can help managers navigate impossible pressures while maintaining their humanity. It needs coaches who speak the language and understand the constraints.
That coach could be you, but first, you need to learn how to get through the door as a professional external supplier, not someone trading on old relationships.
This Is It
There’s nothing else like Elevate. No other programme is explicitly designed by and for coaches with UK public sector backgrounds. No other programme offers such an incredibly bespoke programme, built by those who’ve successfully built the exact business you’re trying to build.
If you’re tired of generic advice that doesn’t work for public sector marketing, if you’re ready to turn your insider knowledge into a sustainable coaching practice, if you want to serve the sector you care about without sacrificing yourself – a place on the next cohort could be yours.
But only if you take it.