Carney Consultancy has launched a new leadership development and coaching programme designed to support business owners and senior leaders struggling with stress and the pressures of modern leadership.

The specialist service has been introduced as a dedicated leadership development division within Carney Consultancy.

The programme is created and delivered by Angela Carney, managing director of Carney Consultancy, following her own experience of burnout in 2023. During this period, she recognised that many high-performing individuals, including business owners and CEOs, were facing similar challenges, which led her to train as a Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) Master Practitioner, alongside foundational NLP training and coaching accreditation through the Association for Coaching’s 3 Principles approach.

The 3 Principles is a coaching approach focused on how thoughts create an individual’s experience of stress, performance and wellbeing.

Established in 2002, North Tyneside-based Carney Consultancy provides quality, safety, health and environmental training and consultancy, primarily serving the construction and engineering sectors, with a strong focus on improving compliance, performance and operational standards. The new coaching service complements this established work by supporting business owners and senior leaders to develop the internal capabilities needed for effective leadership, including mindset, confidence, delegation and strategic thinking.

Angela identified a gap in the market, recognising that while traditional consultancy typically focuses on business strategy, operations and systems, less provision exists for coaching that supports the personal and psychological demands of leadership. These include thinking patterns, emotional resilience and mental load that influence a leader’s ability to implement change, make decisions and sustain performance.

Angela, said: “For 24 years I have run and grown a successful consultancy business, working closely with a great team and supporting clients with strategic and operational consultancy.

“During this time, I kept seeing the same internal challenges holding leaders back — stress, burnout, self-doubt and difficulty stepping into strategic leadership.

“In 2023 I experienced burnout myself, which became the turning point for retraining in NLP and coaching to create something that addresses both sides of leadership — the practical and the personal.”

The consultancy’s new coaching programme is designed for business owners and senior leaders who want to move from reactive, high-pressure operating modes into clear, confident and strategic leadership. It begins with a complimentary 60-minute discovery session, in person, online or outdoors, where clients explore their goals and challenges.

From there, a tailored coaching plan is agreed, typically consisting of 1–2-hour sessions delivered weekly or fortnightly depending on need and schedule. Each session focuses on identifying and releasing limiting beliefs, building accountability through action planning and strengthening leadership skills including communication, delegation, confidence and strategic thinking.

The intention is to move business owners away from month-by-month firefighting towards more structured, long-term planning, particularly when preparing to scale, exit or hand over a business.

Using the 3 Principles and NLP, Angela helps clients recognise and change thought patterns that create stress before they impact decision-making, health or relationships, resulting in sharper focus and better decisions under pressure.

Sessions are practical and outcomes-focused, with each meeting designed to deliver tangible next steps, improved clarity and a calmer mindset.

Angela said: “There are plenty of consultants who focus on business strategy, operations and systems. What is less common is high-quality coaching that addresses the internal side of leadership — the thinking patterns, emotional resilience, confidence, delegation and mental load that determine whether a business owner can implement change and sustain performance.

“It starts as an investment in the individual and, in turn, benefits business performance and creates stronger teams under more resilient leadership.”