Karen Turner
the edge is where
growth begins.
Growth asks something of us.
Sometimes we need stability, recovery or time to make sense of what has happened. At other times, staying with what is familiar can keep us stuck.
I work with individuals and organisations at the point where something needs to shift, with enough challenge to encourage learning and change, and enough support and capacity to stay engaged with it.
My work brings together more than 30 years in HR and organisational life with leadership, coaching, mental wellbeing and an understanding of human behaviour.
I work at the edge.
The edge looks different for everyone.
At work, it might be a leader having the conversation they've been avoiding, a team learning to challenge each other more openly, or an organisation trying to change without exhausting the people expected to deliver it.
In life, it might be setting a boundary, returning after burnout, finding your feet after loss, understanding yourself differently, changing direction or doing something you are not yet completely confident you can do.
Some challenge helps us learn. Too much pressure can make it harder to think clearly, stay connected, consider alternatives or make good decisions.
The work is in understanding what is being asked of us, what capacity we have available and what might help us stay engaged rather than becoming overwhelmed.
That is the growth edge.
A simple way I think about growth
Over the years, I have come to think about growth through five connected factors.
What is happening around us affects how we respond. That influences how much capacity we have available, which in turn affects how we think, relate, decide, contribute and deal with challenge.
None of these sit in isolation.
Conditions
The environment around us, including relationships, workload, expectations, clarity, support, recovery, resources and what else is happening in our lives.
State
How we are responding in that moment. We might feel settled and engaged, activated and under pressure, or depleted and struggling to access the energy or thinking we usually rely on.
Capacity
What we have available to us at that point in time to think, adapt, recover, relate, learn and respond.
Contribution
How that capacity influences what we are able to bring to our work, relationships, decisions and responsibilities.
Growth
What can develop over time as we meet challenge, learn from experience and build the resources and support that help us deal with more of what life and work ask of us.
Mental Wealth
The resources we build within ourselves, between people and around us.
Mental Wealth is the thread running through much of my work.
I use the term to describe the resources that help us deal with pressure, change and challenge. Some sit within us, such as self-awareness, confidence, coping strategies and the ability to recognise what we need.
Some exist between people, through relationships, trust, communication and support.
Others come from the conditions around us, including the way work is designed, how people are led, the demands we are carrying and whether we have access to the practical support and recovery we need.
Mental Wealth is not another name for mental health, and it is not a substitute for clinical care when that is needed.
It is a way of looking more broadly at what helps people maintain and build capacity over time.
Nuanced Edge
Human behaviour. Better leadership. Sustainable performance.
Organisations rarely have a people issue with one simple cause.
What we see in performance, behaviour, absence, conflict, retention or culture can be influenced by leadership, relationships, expectations, work design, capability, communication and what people are carrying outside work.
My starting point is to understand what is actually happening before deciding what intervention is needed.
That may involve leadership and manager development, Work in Flow, psychological safety, team effectiveness, HR and people strategy, neuroinclusive practice, Everything DiSC® for clients in the UAE and MENA, or mental wellbeing programmes delivered in partnership with The Mental Wellbeing Company.
The point is not to add another initiative. It is to make the work useful to the organisation and the people expected to deliver within it.
- Leadership development
- Manager development and Better Performance Conversations
- Team effectiveness
- Communication and conflict
- Psychological safety
- Workplace wellbeing and burnout
- Neuroinclusive workplaces
- Organisational culture and change
- HR and people strategy
- Change and life transitions
- Stress and burnout
- Grief and loss
- Neurodivergence
- Menopause and midlife
- Relationships and identity
- Confidence and direction
Life in Motion
Building the capacity to meet life as it changes.
Life can ask more of us than we have available at times.
Sometimes we know exactly what has changed. At other times there is simply a sense that the way we have always managed is no longer working.
Life in Motion is my individual work with people dealing with change, stress, burnout, grief, neurodivergence, menopause, relationships, identity, confidence or a point in life where they want something to be different.
The work is shaped around the person rather than forcing everyone through the same process.
Depending on what is needed, that may include coaching, practical support and selected programmes or Mental Wellbeing Clubs delivered in partnership with The Mental Wellbeing Company.
Why work with me?
I have spent more than 30 years working with people and organisations.
My background is in HR, leadership, employee relations, organisational change and the reality of what happens when business decisions meet human behaviour.
Over time, coaching, mental wellbeing, neurodivergence, somatic and trauma-informed practice have added other ways of understanding what people may need when pressure is high or change is difficult.
I haven't left the commercial world behind to work in wellbeing. I bring the two together.
That matters to me because people do not stop being human when they come to work, and what happens at work does not stay neatly at work either.
- Chartered MCIPD
- More than 30 years' HR and organisational experience
- Leadership and somatic trauma-informed coach
- Everything DiSC® Authorized Partner serving the UAE and MENA
- Mental Wellbeing Company partner
- UK and UAE experience
"I admire Karen's determination to see a project through to the end and her ability to overcome challenges to achieve the end result. Great Knowledge, Focused and Determination"
Corporate Client