As a coach I bring my experience, knowledge, insight and compassion to support you, no matter where you are at on your journey and what you want to achieve.
As a leader I was frustrated by seeing the impact of poor leadership, including my own, at all levels in the businesses I ran. I saw long hours of work and unnecessary stress for the leaders and their teams which resulted in missed opportunity and poor results. In the end talented people left in frustration or simply burned out not fulfilling their potential.
Of course, if I had known what I know now it would have been a different story!
I sensed there was a better way, so I trained as a coach and facilitator and learned how to connect people to their leadership potential and success. Leadership is not easy, but with a greater self- awareness, an understanding of how to connect with others, a clear purpose and some simple principles and tools it can be engaging and fulfilling for you and the people around you.
The work I do as a coach with individuals and teams is about creating that different story supporting people to connect to their purpose, have a positive impact and deliver results. In doing this I also ensure that you are aware of the need to look after yourself and live a good life to remain engaged, vibrant and energised so you can fulfil your purpose. The leadership moments podcast and my blog are resources that support this.
So it is boils down to being a better leader, make a better world and lead a better life.
travelling the world
On graduating from University with a Degree in Hotel Management, I left Glasgow and worked in the kitchen at the Paris Hilton. My adventure had begun. I spent 13 years with Hilton in Europe, The Middle East and Southeast Asia, opening a hotel as GM in Surabaya in Indonesia. This gave me great experience working with different cultures and put me in some extremely challenging situations. I learned a lot!
making a change
We moved to Sydney as a family in 1996 and I worked to build a career in tertiary education, working at the International College of Tourism and Hotel Management in Sydney. I ended up running the diploma program and before being asked by the owner to go back to hotels and be the Group GM for his National Hotel company, Touraust Hotels.
losing perspective
Throughout my career I thought that by working harder and being smarter than everyone else, and where necessary forcing decisions through, I would be successful.
Well I was wrong, as I moved up the ranks, I put immense pressure on myself often being too afraid to admit when I did not have the answers and ask for help. In the end I lost all sense of perspective and connection with myself as I got caught up in the rush of it all. I was stressed and was afraid of being found out and losing my job.
connecting to my purpose
I was not doing a great job and after a difficult conversation with my boss, it became clear that things had to change, or my worst fear would be realised!
I hired a coach. The coaching gave me a safe space to think through my problems. The coach challenged my thinking giving me new perspectives and insights, allowing me to find a way forward and kick some goals. I made important changes and kept my job. It was also the beginning of my journey and development as a coach – I wanted his job - I was starting to connect to a deeper purpose and it was the beginning of true change for me!
ME AS A COACH
I decided I was going to be a coach and a redundancy provided the circuit break I needed to make the change. I started in April 2007 and quickly learned that I did not know anything about coaching! I set about developing the skills and knowledge to necessary to be a good coach. (See the foot note for the details of the training and development I have done and continue to do). My work is dynamic and aims to bring new perspective and deeper insight as a starting point to meaningful work. It is underpinned by contemporary approaches including systems work, narrative coaching and mindfulness. I also like to bring a bit of fun into what I do. I have worked with individuals and teams within hospitality, tertiary education, real estate, recruitment, not for profit, telecommunications, property services and government including work in South-East Asia and the Pacific. I also do pro-bono work at different times for different organisations. One of my proudest moments was being recognised as a Most Valuable Partner by Career Trackers along with other great people.
Training & Accreditation
Accredited;
Organisational Coach, Level Three, IECL
Trained in Human Systems and Organisational Constellations, Sarah Cornally
Rapid Consensus and Strategy Connect facilitation, Waterfield consulting
Mental Health First Aid
Education: BA (Hotel & Catering Management); Harvard Business School, Key Executive Leadership Program;
Diagnostics: LI, LSI, GSI, HBDI & Everything DiSC, The Leadership Circle Member of the Association for Coaching Hogan 360
