Áine Maguire and the Persuasion Partner Team
Persuasion was founded in 2003 by Áine Maguire. Since then, we have built an exclusive network of trusted partners and associates who collaborate with our clients to design and implement customised solutions. We share a common passion for helping organisations and their people to flourish. We don’t do standard programmes. Our focus is on co-creating strategies and solutions that are rooted in the character of the organisation and it purpose.
Each member of our partner team brings a wealth of specialist expertise in their field together with significant professional and leadership experience. We share common values and ways of working together with a fascination for the working life and what it means for all of us. Our passion and our interest in our field helps us to work as an aligned team, focused on helping our clients and their organisations to flourish.
Áine Maguire
Managing Director
BA (Hons) MCIM MSc Mgt
Áine has always found business and politics to be compelling subjects, and she feels fortunate to have founded a business that depends on a really keen insight into both! Áine had successful career in management in both Ireland and the UK, where she worked in diverse sectors including engineering, manufacturing, nonprofit and professional services. Áine worked for established consulting practices. In 2003, she left her steady job to found Persuasion, an organisational consulting firm, she continues to lead the firm today.
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Over a twenty year period, Persuasion has built up a diverse and loyal client base. Its clients comprise internationally successful and dynamic companies in a range of sectors including technology, professional services, government, food and retail. Persuasion also advises investors, entrepreneurs and business promoters.
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Áine is an experienced Systemic Team Coach, who works with leadership teams to improve their collaboration. Having lived and studied in a number of countries, she particularly enjoys working in cross cultural environments.
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Áine is known for her unique style which combines strategy with pragmatism. As a Strategic Advisor and Executive Coach, she brings warmth, honesty and humour to her work and makes it easy for clients to say what is really on their minds. Áine advises leaders, business owners and their teams. She enjoys collaborating with people who are ambitious for themselves and their organisations and open to exploring new ways of thinking and being.
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Áine leads consulting assignments where she employs creativity and analytical thinking to develop solutions. She draws on a rich and rounded career to provide new perspective and to support clients in setting and delivering an appropriate strategic agenda. Áine leads consulting assignments where she brings creativity and analytical thinking to custom design organisational strategies.
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A novice podcaster, dedicated traveller and language learner, Áine is a Columbia Business School (New York) Certified Coach. She is an accredited and experienced of a range of the leading international psychometric and 360 feedback tools. Her academic qualifications also include a masters degree in Organisational Behaviour, A Chartership qualification in Marketing and an honours degree in History & Politics.
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Sharon Scally
BA MA CIPD Certified Executive Coach
Sharon Scally is a highly experienced Strategic HR Advisor to entrepreneurs, business founders and executive leadership teams. Her expertise arises from a career spanning more than 25 years during which time she has advised business owners in technology and professional services organisations.
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She is skilled in designing people and business programmes for scaling organisations and can point to a strong track record of enhancing business performance and change through effective people strategies. Her main focus is supporting leaders to enable growth by building organisational capability and culture.
Her most recent role as Chief People Officer with ESW saw her working as part of a core executive team building the business to be the global leader in eCommerce and a billion-dollar business over a four-year period. She continues to advise the CEO and Executive team.
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Sharon’s empathetic style and well-developed influencing skills enable her to integrate the core people, commercial and strategic issues and to engage stakeholders to achieve business results. Sharon typically works in an advisory capacity with senior leaders.
An Accredited Coach, Sharon holds an honours degree in Economics, an MA in European HRM and Industrial Relations and is a CIPD member.
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Ita Lehane
B. Comm, MBS
Ita is passionate about delivering better outcomes that improve customer and employee experience whilst delivering core business goals. She specialises in leading complex strategic and technology change programmes. Her portfolio includes business transformation projects, new business operating models and designing and delivering strategic roadmaps.
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Ita is a highly experienced business consultant with a reputation for bringing clarity to complexity, earned through her work across a substantial portfolio of international, market-leading organisations.
Ita’s core focus is shaping and delivering sustained transformational change. Commercially astute, she is known for her ability to ‘make things happen’. Ita leverages her extensive leadership experience which is centred on building relationships and enabling teams. She brings a pragmatic approach to developing effective and sustainable solutions.
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Prior to establishing her own consulting business, Ita held senior leadership positions at Primark, Telefonica O2, Eir and Xerox. She has also held non-executive board positions with Manx Telecom and Trocaire. She holds a B.Comm. and Masters in Business Studies from UCD and is a qualified Executive Coach.
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Susy Kenefick
BCL, LLM, MSc
Susy worked as a lawyer for 10 years, in private practice, in industry and in the public sector before becoming an accredited coach. She developed a keen interest in organisational culture and dynamics working on large teams in professional and financial services organisations and draws on this background in her coaching practice.
Susy’s coaching is motivated by her passion for personal growth, development and meaningful work. She specialises in coaching young professionals with a focus on leadership, skills development, career progression and career transitions.
Susy uses an eclectic coaching approach and is skilled in a range of coaching tools and techniques. Her coaching philosophy is influenced strongly by positive psychology and psychodynamic theory. She works with clients to develop awareness of their strengths and to use this to build resources and resilience in working toward objectives. Susy is also interested in the application of neuroscience to coaching and works with neuroscience models to explore decision-making and thinking styles with clients. Susy is also skilled in facilitation and group coaching.
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