Ascent
A Leadership Programme for Your First 90 Days in the Role
You know what you're capable of. Let's make sure the people around you in this new role do too.
You have the experience and the track record. What you need now is clarity, a plan, and someone who can help you see what you bring and lead from it with confidence, right from the start.
A four-month career consultancy built around your unique strengths, ending with a clear strategy for how you lead in this role and the language to back it. It's a leadership programme designed for senior professionals across the UK, Ireland, and Europe who are newly into a senior role and ready to lead it with intention rather than work it out as they go
Investment from £750 a month, or £2,995 paid in full.
About This Leadership Career Programme
I built Ascent because I kept seeing the same thing. Competent, experienced leaders stepping into a new senior role and quietly guessing at how to show up. Not because they lacked ability. Because no one had ever helped them carry what they already know into a new context with confidence.
That matters more than people realise. The first months in a new role are when working relationships form, credibility gets built or lost, and a leader's reputation in that organisation often gets decided, usually before there has been time to think any of it through properly.
Ascent fixes that at the root. Before we do anything else, you complete the StrengthscopeLeader™, a BPS-validated diagnostic that maps your strengths, your leadership risks, and your performance patterns. That becomes the evidence base. Everything else, how you build trust quickly, how you make early calls that hold up later, how you lead in a way that's recognisably yours, is built on what's actually true about you.
Is Ascent for you?
Ascent is for leaders and senior professionals who are newly appointed or recently promoted into a senior role. You already have the track record and the capability that got you here. What you want now is a clear strategy for establishing yourself properly in this role, rather than a year of finding your feet by trial and error.
You might be settling into a CEO, director, or senior leadership role for the first time in this organisation. You might be leading a team or function that doesn't yet know how you work. You might simply want to make deliberate, considered decisions in these early months instead of reactive ones. What every Ascent client has in common is this: you are done figuring it out alone, and ready to do the real work of establishing your leadership on solid ground.
Ascent is not for people looking for generic onboarding advice or for someone to make decisions on their behalf. It's structured, it's direct, and it requires you to do the work.
Pre-Programme Diagnostic
Before we begin, you will complete the StrengthscopeLeader™ assessment. Validated by the British Psychological Society, it is a rigorous, research-backed diagnostic that maps your unique strengths, leadership risks and performance habits. This forms the evidence base for every conversation and recommendation throughout the programme.
Your Four-Month Ascent
Ascent runs over four months, with two 60-minute consultancy sessions and one Ascent Briefing Call each month, giving you structured, consistent support from start to finish.
Month 1
Diagnostic & Direction
Session 1: trengthscopeLeader™ debrief. Your strengths, your risks, and what they mean for how you lead in this specific role.
Session 2:
Context and direction. Understanding the organisation you've stepped into and where your strengths will create the most value within it.
Month 2
Strategy & Positioning
Session 3:
Leadership strategy. Defining how you intend to lead here, on your terms, and the boundaries that protect that.
Session 4:
Communicating your leadership strengths clearly to your team, manager, and senior stakeholders.
Month 3
Execution & Preparation
Session 5:
Visibility strategy. Who needs to see how you lead, what they need to see, and how you build that presence with purpose rather than performance.
Session 6:
High stakes conversations. Board updates, senior reporting, and difficult early decisions rehearsed around your strengths and your story.
Month 4
Consolidation & Forward Plan
Session 7:
Results review. What's working, what's not, and what needs to change before old patterns set in.
Session 8:
Closing consultancy. A forward plan to sustain how you've established yourself and keep your strengths working for you well beyond the first 90 days
What's included
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Eight one-to-one sessions - just you and Paula, across four months
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Between-session support - voice notes, quick calls, or written feedback, direct access when you need it
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Strengthscope diagnostic - full assessment and personal debrief
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A personal career strategy document - your direction, your positioning, your next steps
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One follow-up session at month six - to check progress and tighten anything that's drifted
Specialist Support Built In
StrengthscopeLeader™
Full diagnostic and feedback session, validated by the British Psychological Society, to uncover your unique strengths, leadership risks, and performance habits.
Stakeholder Positioning
Most leaders underestimate how much the first 90 days shapes everything after. This session ensures how you're perceived by your team and senior stakeholders is built around your real leadership strengths, not left to chance.
High Stakes Conversations
The early conversations in a new role carry weight. This is focused preparation for the board updates, team moments, and senior interactions that matter most.
Not sure if Ascent is the right fit? Book a short discovery call
Format
Online/ Agreed Times
Ascent is delivered entirely online, giving you the same structured, one to one support whether you're based in Belfast, elsewhere in the UK and Ireland, or further afield across Europe
Duration
4 months / 8 engagements
Model
1-to-1 consultancy
The Work That I Do
I'm a career consultant who uses strengths-based diagnostics to cut through the guesswork. The foundation for better leadership, stronger decisions, and meaningful change in a new role.
Fifteen years in career and leadership development. Belfast-based, working with senior leaders and executives across the UK, Ireland, and Europe.
Over the past three years, my focus has been one to one work with leaders stepping into new senior roles, helping them establish themselves with confidence, communicate their value clearly, and lead in a way that genuinely reflects their experience and capability. My background in employability and career development means I understand both the strategic side of stepping into a new role and the human reality underneath it. That combination of insight, structure, and practical guidance is what Ascent is built on.
What People Say
These reflect earlier work with Paula, before Ascent. Ascent client feedback will be added here as the programme builds its own track record.
"After moving to Northern Ireland, I began seeking a new job in the IT field. Since I wasn't familiar with the job market, I asked Paula to guide me through the process.
She helped me improve my CV, enhance my LinkedIn profile, and gave me invaluable advice on how to strengthen my job search.
Paula is a great specialist, detail-oriented, and always seeks a personalised approach to her clients. I highly recommend her as a career development mentor and consultant, with creative ideas and insights for navigating the tough process of job searching or career change."
— Lusine P
"I had the privilege of working with Paula as my career coach, and I cannot recommend her services highly enough. She played a pivotal role in transforming my job search, helping me refine my CV, master interview techniques, and even connect with key recruiters and companies in my field.
What impressed me most was her genuine commitment to my success. Paula didn't just offer advice; she followed up regularly to ensure I stayed on track and provided tailored guidance every step of the way.
Thanks to her expertise and relentless support, I secured a role that perfectly aligns with my career goals."