About Busara
Psychology-Led Consultancy, Rooted in Real-World Experience
At Busara, we believe that lasting change in organisations begins with understanding people — their motivations, their patterns, and the often-invisible dynamics that shape how they work.
Our team brings together applied psychology in the workplace, deep sector experience, and a genuine commitment to the people we work with. We are not generalist consultants. We are specialists — in human behaviour, leadership development, and the psychology of change.
A Corporate Psychologist's Approach to Consultancy
Most leadership consultancies work from the outside in — looking at structures, strategies, and systems. We work from the inside out.
Drawing on psychology-led coaching methodologies and evidence-based organisational practice, we help leaders and teams understand what is really going on — beneath the surface, behind the presenting problem — so that the changes they make are grounded in insight, not just good intentions.
This is what applied psychology in the workplace looks like in practice: rigorous, empathetic, and genuinely effective.
Meet Dr. Zahra Shariff
I founded Busara because I wanted to bring something different to the world of leadership and organisational consultancy — a practice grounded in psychological expertise, not just coaching frameworks and management theory.
As a Corporate Psychologist, my background brings together three disciplines: counselling psychology, executive coaching, and organisational consultancy.
I hold a Doctorate in Counselling Psychology, a Master’s in organisational consulting from the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, and executive coaching training from Henley Business School. I am also Hogan certified, registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), and a registered member of the British Psychological Society (BPS).
Over the past 10 years, I have worked with individuals, teams, and organisations across the NHS, government departments, charities, social enterprises, and the private sector. I understand the pressures of leadership — the complexity, the isolation, and the weight of responsibility — because I have sat with people navigating all of it.
As a mother as well as a practitioner, I bring a deeply human perspective to the work. My approach is rooted in psychology-led coaching — integrating psychoanalytic and systemic thinking with practical, forward-focused coaching. I create a space where it is safe to be honest — about challenges, about patterns, about what you actually want — so that leaders, teams, and organisations can navigate complexity, strengthen relationships, and build change that lasts.
Qualifications & Professional Memberships
Renée Mann
I work with organisations to align culture with strategy — helping leadership teams build workplaces where people genuinely thrive and performance follows.
With over 15 years of experience across finance, HR, and organisational transformation, I bring both commercial acumen and human insight to every project I work on. I have supported organisations through complex change programmes, leadership transitions, and cultural shifts — always with a focus on the people at the heart of those changes.
I am a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which reflects both my professional grounding in people strategy and my ongoing commitment to best practice.
I also trained in Organisational Consultancy at the Tavistock, which underpins how I think about organisational dynamics, group behaviour, and the often-unspoken patterns that shape how teams and leadership systems really work.
My specialisms are organisational culture, leadership development, and people strategy — and I am particularly passionate about creating workplaces that are not just productive, but genuinely good places to work.
I partner with Zahra at Busara because I believe the combination of psychological insight and people strategy expertise creates something more powerful than either discipline alone. Together, we can help organisations not just manage change — but make it mean something.
Qualifications & Professional Memberships
Two disciplines. One shared commitment.
01
Integrated Expertise
Together, Zahra and Renée bring together corporate psychology, organisational development, and people strategy to offer a truly integrated consultancy service.
02
Supporting Teams
Whether you are an individual leader seeking executive coaching, a team that needs support finding a better way to work together, or an organisation navigating significant change, you will find in us two consultants who take your situation seriously, work with rigour and care, and stay with you until the work is done.
03
Bespoke, Evidence-Based Consultancy
We work across the UK with organisations of all sizes — from ambitious SMEs and growing charities to NHS trusts, government departments, and corporate businesses.
Every engagement is bespoke. No templates, no off-the-shelf programmes.
Just honest, psychologically-informed consultancy — grounded in evidence, focused on you.
Busara Consulting is led by an HCPC-registered practitioner psychologist and a Chartered MCIPD professional. Our team holds accreditations including ICF Executive Coaching (Henley Business School), Tavistock training in Organisational Consultancy, and Hogan Assessments certification. We are members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the Female Founders Rise network.
