Hello and welcome to the Business of Executive Coaching Podcast. I am delighted to be here with Louise Zawada, incredible coach, member of the accelerator, and just all around fabulous human beings. Now, Louise has a tremendous amount of experience, so when you hear a bit about her story, you're going to be deeply impressed, as was the first time I met Louise and continue to be.
But the highlights are that Louise has a very deep background in change and transformation and working with very large clients, very hands on to do that. And obviously that's coaching adjacent. And so a lot of the work that she does is also in the coaching leadership and teaming space. And so I'm gonna stop there and hand over cause I probably didn't articulate any of those details particularly well.
But welcome Louise. It's so great to have you here. Thank you. Gosh, make a girl blush, right? With the intros, it's always my goal is like, let me make sure people know how fabulous this person is. Oh, can we start with you sharing a little bit about your professional story? Like what brings you to this place where you are, you know, coach, facilitator, a few fingers in a few different pies in terms of the work you do, which is exciting.
Tell us the story. Yeah, sure. So I've always really loved people in terms of thinking about what makes them tick, and so I knew that I'd go into some type of a field where I got to interact with people and hear their story. And initially that was journalism and public relations. I thought I was gonna hear stories through that way, and loved doing that as my undergraduate degree, but realized pretty quickly that professionally I didn't think that that was gonna be.
Something that would engage me. Forever. So I, by chance, fell into my career. These were the beginnings of my career. Lots of people so my background is human resources and organizational development. And then more, you know, in the last sort of 15 plus years, changed transformation. But I always think about them as these are the people.
Kind of functions or disciplines and people are at the heart of whether you're doing HR OD change, transformation, it's people led even though. Potentially, sometimes we get distracted by the systems and the process stuff, but really it's just human behavior and understanding how we support people. So that's how I fell into it in terms of initially coming back from traveling, needing a job.
Yeah. Got this job working for the federal government and then, yeah, ended up starting my HR career and then it morphed and it's been quite an organic process to some degree. There's a lot of complimentary skills, I think even from my journal. Days, you know, in terms of that ability to understand the audience and communicate is still something that's really relevant, even in the coaching spaces.
I'm not sure I knew about this journalism background. Oh, I feel like this explains a lot about how clear your communication is. Okay. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I've always, I'm quite naturally what some people might say is. They didn't realize, but I'm quite naturally introverted. But I've always recognized the value of being able to interact and engage with others and hear their story and then tell a story back.
And I like writing as well. So maybe those two things, you know, is probably what led me down that. Journalism PR path, and then there's that natural kind of affinity, you know, with her and then more recently with transformation. So, yeah, I mean, there's still skillset sets that I draw on every single day in terms of being able to take that step back and go, okay, well what are.
What am I trying to say here? Or what is this person trying to say, particularly in a coaching engagement and how can we kind of pick that apart and really understand the meaning behind the intent of what it is that they're trying to get across. So it's a lot of fun. I love it. I love that. And I can totally see that I am an introvert.
But I'm very passionate about people and so also seeing the value of, and the importance of connection and showing up and all of those things. So tell us a little bit about what took you out of organization, like being an employee and an in organization to starting your business, because you've been in business for quite a while now.
Yeah, I think it's coming up to five years. Like fully, I guess it's always hard. I don't know if I ever actually went back and pinpointed and said like, this is the day that I'm starting my business. Yeah. Like many, I think coaches in particular started as a bit of a side hustle and then, you know, went really.
Seriously about it? Sort of probably more than four years ago, was my last client side gig, I think. The days and months and weeks I tend to meet I was naturally spending a lot of time coaching the leaders that I was working with across, and I've worked across lots of different sectors, but I typically.
At that stage in my transformation career and the types of programs I was working on for organizations, they're quite large, complex, you know, financially a lot at stake, and so. I tend to work more with senior leaders, executives, and boards. And you know, you can have an amazing plan when it comes to transformation and you can have incredible people supporting it and skills and toolkits and all of the great things that are absolutely essential.
But the number one determining factor in my opinion is leadership presence and the ability for someone to lead through and a high degree of ambiguity. Even when, and especially when sometimes they themselves are wondering, what does this mean for me, regardless of whether they're CEO or someone else. So I loved that and I loved that personal connection and that ability to really support at a really close sort of proximity to leaders and felt that.
They don't always get that. You know, some, some of the leaders that I would work with did have coaches for different, you know, things of which the transformation might've been part of it, but oftentimes not. And so I think my background and skillset naturally allowed me to play that kind of informal internal coach role under the guise of the other work that I was doing.
I just got such satisfaction out of it and I could see the value of it, and I felt that it was almost a little bit sad at times that those options weren't available more readily. So I thought, okay, I think there's a missing piece here and, and how can I sort of fill that gap? So I went and got my certifications and at that time was still working internally.
Organization and started my business kind of on the side. And you know, still to this day a lot of my work is referral and word of mouth. And then I had an amazing leader at that time who was just so supportive and recognized the value for the organization and was just happy to do anything to kind of foster that and allowed me to work a really flexible work pattern, which allowed me to work on my business one day a week and work full.
That business the other four days, which, you know, was an incredible runway to get, to be honest. And I know that not everyone has that. And then it really just reached a tipping point where I felt, you know. We've kind of taken the organization as far as they could go with me, and they probably needed sort of a different set of eyes and I was more and more focused on my business and realizing if I was gonna be serious about it, I needed to go all in and yeah, so I went all in.
How did that feel like, was it a big decision for you or did it feel like an inevitability that it was always gonna happen? It felt like an inevitability. I think the timing ended up being slightly different. You know, there's just a lot of difference, as with. Large organizations and complex organizations, there's lots of different moving parts.
I went up to the leader, like I knew I was gonna transition out and so that was probably another reason, you know, that I sort of thought about, okay, well do I accelerate this? And it just ended up being one of those things that was a fit at the right time for everybody I think and It was almost like a blessing as well.
'cause potentially, I know we talk about this a lot through the accelerator and just in my kind of community, it doesn't matter how many years you've got under your belt in terms of professional experience and even coaching experience, we all have that self doubt, you know, and that imposter syndrome and the oh, what if, and it's scary and being accountable for yourself and your income and, you know, if you have a high drive for success as I do, and most coaches do, you really want to make a really good go of it. And you know, sometimes having some of those external factors nudge you faster is actually a real blessing. And I think that's what it ended up being. I probably would've continued on for another sort of six months and
I didn't need to, you know, as it happened. It's an interesting phenomenon I think that I see with a lot of the coaches that I meet, which is that when we're ready, whether we like to identify as ready or not. There are often those little external nudges that come in various ways and it might be a change of personnel or a reduction in flexibility or, or a redundancy or a layoff, and they just seem to come at the right time, which is really just an interesting reflection.
Yeah. I kind of have thought about this a lot as well, and I don't think I've ever been someone who's been, for want of a better word, like karmic or Yeah, had universal feelings. But I definitely listen to some of this more as my career has progressed. I do think there is an element, and I'm sure there's also di design, you know, you put things in place and it's, it's not luck, you know?
I truly believe it's not luck, but also that. Comfort and maybe it is experience to listen to the signals and kind of see where it would go rather than always thinking overly, practically and going, you know, what's all of the pros and cons for this? 'cause sometimes it really just is a sense or a feeling that you need to lean into.
Yeah. So, yeah. Oh, and I really think there is something to that inevitability. So I know a lot of coaches who are in that. Should I, shouldn't I? There's really like that sense that something's just tapping you on the shoulder and you can ignore it for so long, but it's going to happen eventually. And yeah, it's, you're already that person.
It's just how is that gonna come into the world? Yeah. And I have so many conversations, whether it's with my clients or people in my community where it's rare. Somebody reflects back on a significant decision and goes, oh, that was the wrong one. You know? Yes. And it's always, and there's always the lessons in, in the process.
Yeah. And yeah, I feel strongly, and you know, this is the work I, I do on myself by having a coach and making sure that I don't know everything and I'm not perfect and I'm still learning and growing as a person and as a business owner, as his coach, and But it's the work I do with my. Coachees as well in terms of Okay.
Being open to that and kind of seeing where things go and not overcomplicating things a lot of the time. Which is what we have a tendency to do. Yes. Getting in our own way in all sorts of special, complex ways. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. So when you think about your business now, can you tell us a little bit about what you do now and then I'll dive in a little bit into Yeah.
The details. Yeah, so I love transformation. I'll always love transformation and that was probably one of the decision points for me as well in terms of starting my business around how do I do this thing that I really love, but also, you know, do more of. Other things that I enjoy, which was more of the coaching and, and the things that I didn't do as much client side just because of the nature of how the role was constructed.
So I really spent a lot of time thinking about that. And I think, you know, maybe not dissimilar to other coaches is starting off with that as your core in terms of what is something that you're highly skilled at and very passionate about, and can you design your business around that. Yeah, so people still come to me because I'm known in that transformation space, almost like that transformation coach, but in essence, work with senior leaders, executives, and teams as well.
How they can become more high performing in the context of complex organizational change. So whether that's through one to one coaching, I do a lot of leadership development work with individuals and teams, and then also, you know, as a byproduct of that facilitation. A little bit of mentoring as well for people who have some of the skill sets that might help them in a career in transformation, but maybe an early career and just sort of discovering what that means for them.
Or they've had their first gig and want a little bit of support. So I still do a little bit of mentoring also in that space. I love that, and I really see that thread coming through it, which is the complexity of the change that people in organizations are experiencing and some more than others. It really requires leaders to show up in quite a different way than they might have originally been taught or something that in a way that doesn't come naturally.
And so it sounds like you work with leaders and organizations in, you know, really with that thread, that through line. Yeah, and I'm forever grateful for it because of any career that a person could have. I think everyone gets sick of hearing the phrase changes. The only constant, but it is 100% true. And that is true for professional and personal lives.
Yeah. And so the fact that this happens to be. Quote unquote, my bread and butter and that I love it and I get energized by it when it, you know, for others it might. Create huge fear or yeah. It's something that they wanna move away from. I never take for granted that I was able to be in a position to do this work and to continue to do it just in sometimes a slightly different way.
I occasionally still will do a change or a transformation strategic piece for organizations just. It's almost like it's a starting off point, but less so these days just for bandwidth. So yeah, but I still love it and it's the challenge potentially for all coaches around putting your energies where you can have the most impact and the most value, when really we like to help.
Everywhere we do. And so do you have any, are there certain types of clients, whether it's industry or sector that you tend to work with? Or are you quite at this point now quite broad. I'm still quite broad. Interestingly, like within, I guess the APAC region, there's some similarities in terms of the types of organizations that are typically doing large scale transformation and therefore, you know, that is often the jumping off point for a leader to reach out because it's something that they're experiencing directly.
So I work across, you know, mining resources, financial services. Local and state government. you know, pretty much anything in between. I've got NFP clients, I've got something which is slightly more unusual, which is family business slash office clients, which is a space that's kind of emerging for me.
But the common thread is they have something that they're experiencing, which is fundamentally shifting. Their organization or their leadership in terms of, you know, how they're gonna show up through quite a complex period and they're looking for support with that. And so a lot of, you know, when I get engaged, it's that discovery piece around, well, what is it that you're trying to achieve either at an individual level or a team level or an organizational level.
And then we work out the sort of best way to approach that and give them that support. So, but yeah, it's so cool. Environment to be in and If I think, you know, I spent a lot of time thinking about what my values are and I still come back to, I think one of my highest values is variety.
And this desire to, you know. Be exposed to different things and constantly learning and not having things at a steady state. And so it makes sense on reflection that this is the world that I love and that I now get to do it in lots of different ways, which also kind of fills my cup rather than potentially if it was just change strategy work or just, you know, coaching. I love the fact that I can combine all of them. I love that so much because I think a lot of us, as coaches have, we may not articulate variety as that value, but I see it, I see it constantly, which is that we want to be challenging ourselves and doing, you know, different things and having that stimulation in all different ways.
Is there a downside of that? Like is there a point at which it's like too many things, too much, it's hard to be focused? Or like how do you balance that for yourself? With a great network and accountability is one of the ways it's, I think it is a challenge and I don't know if it's a challenge unique to me and no, you know, knowing that some of the drivers or to others and potentially to business owners, right?
'cause there's so many things all of the time that you could or feel like you should be doing. And the temptation to chase after all of them. It is huge. Partly, you know, out of interest. There's always something new to learn, and if you're curiously minded, then that's fun. Partly out of necessity, like things are changing all the time and you need to be really adaptable and pivot.
One of the ways that I approach that is still trying to have some good practices in how I think about it. How I show up for my work each week and kind of over a month and having a degree of planning. Yeah. To that. The other way is having my community, so that's why I am part, that's why I have a coach.
That's why I'm part of a coaching community is to bounce ideas and have that perspective and a level of accountability and. Remind yourself that everyone is different. Everyone's business is different,everyone's journey is different and you know, having the clarity of what is the right thing for you in that season, in that moment.
It is really helpful. And I think some people might find it confusing and go, well, actually being part of a community aren't you comparing and sort of worrying and looking across the fence. But I find the opposite in terms of I look at what others are doing and I can see the alignment to their business, which is very different from mine.
We have different clients, we have different focus areas, we have different ways in which we like to deliver value and I can get those insights and learnings and that helps me be more grounded in some ways. That's probably how I think about it, but I think it's a challenge for leaders across the board.
Yeah. You know? Yeah. Yeah. The world is not getting slower or simpler. It's not getting any more complex, you know, any, sorry. Any less complex. This is where we're at. This is life. Yeah. And you know, I think if you don't spend that time thinking about some of those strategies and what works and what doesn't work, you know, and sometimes you have to.
Try stuff on and realize and go, okay, well I'm gonna leave that behind. Then the risk is that stuff happens to you as opposed to feeling like you've got a degree of control and sort of ownership of outcomes. And I probably see that quite a lot in. People that I coach, which makes sense, right? Change is tumultuous and it can feel like you're in the washing machine.
But we spend a lot of time thinking and talking about what are those principles and practices that can give them the steadiness.In spite of all of the other things that are. Yeah, and I would just say, you know, I see you walking the talk in terms of being very intentional about, you know, what you choose to do, how you choose to structure your work.
And so I think for some people. The variety and the amount of work you do could be chaotic, but I think Systems and processes are so good that you have this very calming sense that, you know, everything's under control. And I'm not trying to say that it never feels, you know, like overwhelming or anything like that, but, but I would say that's something I definitely see in the way you work.
Yeah. Is that something you've had to cuddle, cultivate, or has it always come naturally to you? I think I've always been highly organized and had a good sense of process. I feel like the work and the environments that I love being transformed are, I think about things as a system. A system of work or a system of how things operate, and there's different parts of that system and levers, and so I'm quiet.
I spend quite a lot of time thinking about, well, how is it constructed or how could it be constructed a bit differently in order to get some of the outcomes that I want or have focus in certain areas? And that definitely helps and I think that's probably something I've always had. My mom was one of the most organized people that I've ever met, and I'm certain that rubbed off.
Yeah. However, I think it can also be built and learnt and lent into if it isn't, and my organization and system will look completely different to the next person. And I think it's just finding out what that is. Yeah. But you know, equally I try and. Be as authentic as I can be and vulnerable. And you know, I don't have it all together.
And by no means, I was just reflecting this morning. I did a really good job of pre planning some of the work when I was away. I was in Europe for three weeks recently, and since I've been back, I've just been running in terms of client work and delivery and all of my outreach, my marketing, all of those things have really dropped off.
I felt a little bit kind of disappointed by that, and I thought, you know what, this is just life, you know? Yeah. And it's what's the reset moment? And so that's this week, it's just getting back on that horse and yeah, picking certain things up and just realizing that it's okay. But my other learning is I am still absolutely in that transition of where does my business need me and where can I continue to get more support?
Whether that's through tooling, again, better systems or actually people. So, and that's interesting. Process to go through. As a business evolves or I have found, because my tendency is probably to do more. Instead of going, okay, does this actually. Is this the best use of my time and does this really require me or can I show up better?
Yeah. And be more impactful in a different way. So yeah, it's a learning process. Yeah. So another thing I'd love to share with the audience is that you have a real strength when it comes to building your network, your warm network. and I'm not even talking about warm outreach, although that's part of it.
But I mean like those deeply personal connections that become this community around us, and I see you doing that so well, and I was wondering if you could talk to us a little bit about, I guess, where that came from. Like what made you lean into it, what your practices look like, how you think about it.
Yeah, I mean, again, if I reflect, I think it's something that's always been important to me in terms of having relationships with others and not feeling like I'm going it alone. And I've probably lent into it even more being a business owner who is a solo business, like, you know, solopreneur or whatever the term is these days.
But I don't have a team. It, you know, what you see is. And that can be really lonely at times. And it's another reason that I do have a good cultivated community around me in terms of the accelerator and other communities of practice or things like that I'm part of. Because one, it's human connection, which is something I've always really valued.
Even as an introvert. I like to be with others. I'm interested in what they're doing. I'm curious, you know, I love seeing. How people are thinking about how they approach work life, you know? And the successes that I get, I get a lot of gratitude and interest out of that So I think that's, you know, probably a core kind of value that's always existed.
And then I've just. Potentially amplified it knowing that it's something that I have to cultivate for myself.Because I don't have the same natural environment that I do if I was working client side, you know, within an organization, within a team.I'm also very fortunate that, again, the type of work that I do is people, people based work.
It requires a lot of people to be involved in creating something and achieving success. So I'm naturally able to tap into that through my clients and the work that they do. They're all phenomenal about having me in their organizations. Yeah. I even, you know, spend one or two days a week every few weeks with some of my clients, even if I'm.
Not always just doing their work. If I'm working with a few different things, which I love, and so I've just been quite deliberate about designing for that. In terms of the more, the other aspects of, I guess what people might say is networking, for one of a better word, I think curiosity and desire to learn is what's driven it.
And then valuing relationships and seeing how I can be supportive, which is a core kind of coaching trait, sustains it. Yeah. I don't know if that makes sense in terms of, and the byproduct of that for coaching I think is, you never know. You don't I, well, I don't believe that a lot of people I know go into something within with a motivation for a particular outcome, unless it's really as directors, yes, we're talking about a proposal and it's, you know, it's already set out like that, but a lot of the time it's just meeting new people and learning about them, and so often something that you've had a connection about years later or months later ends up turning into.
Something that might then have a business sort of tie in in terms of, oh, can you talk to this person that I know who's a mutual contact? I think there's, you know, some value that you could give them. You know, they're looking and I don't think you can get that unless you're out talking to people and you're interested in the work that they do and you are looking to support and help them.
So, you know, my tip for any new coaches would be to look at how you can offer. Value without expecting anything in return because it's the right thing to do and it's a good human quality to have. Yeah. Help where you can. I love that. Yeah, I love that. And so growing a business, like what have the challenges been for you?
Like what have the hard bits been? The balance between working on the business stuff versus sort of. Around balancing delivery and actually delivering work and Yeah. And even because I enjoy variety, you know, just being really deliberate and purposeful and not over committing. Coaching is amazing in terms of if I do one to one coaching more so than sort of group or team coaching and.
You know, you can have coaching clients sort of sprinkled throughout your week, which is really awesome. Like it's an amazing touch point to have that. And then I might have, you know, facilitation on one day and then I'm doing some teaming work and some more kind of strategic work on a different day.
So I think just managing the load of that is something I've really had to learn around, not overcommitting, because again, We like to help. You know, there is yes, sometimes that risk of over helping and overcommitting being okay with the lumpiness of Business and, you know, I'm responsible for the revenue that I bring in and the work that I take on, and always having that line of sight of what's coming down the runway.
And how do you keep the pipeline full? But again, balancing that out against not over committing and saying yes to everything out of fear and still holding true to working with the people that you wanna work with and doing the type of work that you do, which is the whole purpose of why I set up. My business in the first place.
Would you say that's something you've grown more comfortable with over time, that like in the early days it felt like there was a lot more pressure to say yes to everything because you didn't know when it might dry up, but now do you feel sort of more confident that you know? You know, it will continue?
Yeah, definitely more confident. I don't know that I'll ever get away from that fire that is lit within, to continue to drive just to you know, yeah. To maintain that confidence. I, I, I feel like that's always gonna be there and as far as I can tell, talking to other people who run their own businesses, whether that's coaching or not, it's pretty.
Consistent kind of theme, and it's one that could be really potentially damaging if you don't recognize it. Get a grasp on that and be realistic about how it drives actions. 'cause then I think it would be more of things happening to me rather than me feeling like I've got a degree of influence and control, which I have developed.
The longer that you're in business, the more reference points that you have, the cycles, you see how that goes. You're obviously building even more credibility, your networks expanding. All of those things lead to. More successful outcomes and more consistency of work and income, but they're not a given if you don't keep nurturing them and having focus on that.
So I'm conscious of that, but probably don't wake up at night as often as I did in the early days around. Oh my goodness. What am I doing? Yeah, this is insane. Go back and get a job. Yeah, just sometimes. Just sometimes. Yeah. Very rarely. Which is so wonderful, and I think it's a good indicator of continuing to do the things that I'm already doing.
I think I would get a signal pretty quickly if something, you know. Okay. I had reset and I didn't feel like that and that lack of confidence was creeping through. That would be a signal to me that either I need to change something or something's fundamentally shifted in, you know, the business that I thought I had.
So, yeah. Yeah, just being aware of those things. And what are you most proud of in terms of what you've built in your business? Wow. God, I haven't ever really thought about that. I didn't ever think I was gonna be a business owner, to be honest. So probably the pride in sort of seeing the potential of something and following it through and actually.
Delivering on it. And I know you, I've heard you speak before about even just those micro moments of being consistent about certain things, you know, and you've got the podcast weekly for years now, that when you set out, you're like, oh, this is my intent. But I wasn't sure. I wasn't too flaky for that. But yeah, here we are.
I think it's the same mindset. It is like, oh wow, you know, I actually made a decision. I put some. Building blocks in place and I've continued to put building blocks in place and that it's an actual real life thing that allows me to do work. I love having flexibility. That's really important to me for my family, and that I think has a high degree of impact over and above what I would be able to do.
Yeah. in an organization. If I was. An employee or doing different type of work, and that's rare, so probably pride in that, in creating that. It's really rare. I think that impact is extraordinary. And I'm also hearing about the impact on clients. Yes. But impact on your family and you know all the people in your orbit as well as Yeah.
I love that. I love that pride. Not necessarily the outcome, but just the fact that you've grown it and what you've done and the consistency and, and the building. Yeah,and you know, I've reflected a bit more recently around timing and so I'm not a huge one for looking back and you know, what ifs and having regrets.
Reflection is helpful. And I was wondering, I was like, if I had this opportunity in my twenties or earlier in my career, would I have embraced it? And I'm not sure that I would have no, for different reasons. You know, some of them personal, like where I was at with my family and what we kind of needed then.
But also. The experience that I've been able to gain along the way that I think allows me to have the business that I have today and make the impact that I have, and so to anyone who's thinking about it. I don't think there's a right time or a perfect time or the same time for anyone, and that journey could look quite different.
But for me and the type of work that I do and who the leaders that I mostly work with, I felt like all of that was a natural kind of progression to get to this point. And then. You know, the universe said like, now's the time. And you know, I was just spending more and more time coaching. And I think that was the catalyst, like, okay, if I'm doing more of this work, why, and I can see that gap, why don't I do something about it?
So that's kind of how we got. I mean, it's completely inspiring. Just as we sort of start to wrap up, what are your tips for new coaches who are starting their business? What will you tell them that you wish you'd known when you started? Tips would be really clear around why. Why you want to be a business owner is different.
Model of coaching. 'cause you know, I'm also conscious that there are different models. And even in my journey I almost maybe didn't have the label of coach.But probably the last part of that journey was ultimately coaching. 80% of the time. And so for some people that might be what they wanna do and you know, or it might be actually being a coach, but you know, being a coach within an organization either.
Directly or as an associate. And so I'd say get really clear around why, first of all, why you wanna be a coach, and then why you might wanna have a business. And then how quickly can you tell people about that and start to seed it and. Gauge their support to a degree in terms of making that pathway to transition.
If that's what you're doing transitioning out of an organization and into owning your business, how quickly can you accelerate that process by leaning into the people who already wanna support you and how, who are strong in your network. Yeah. And can help you get there because ultimately. They're your clients and that's how you're gonna make money.
And you know, there is that very real practicality. Do it for the right reasons, but also be realistic about it. How that's gonna work and what you need. I did probably in reflection, like a lot of coaches spend too much time procrastinating on stuff that doesn't add as much value, but in the moment it seems like what you need to do because it's what normal businesses do.
And I think coaching is a little bit different in terms of, it's nice to have a website, it's nice to have, you know, presence on LinkedIn, but it's not. It can be built over time. It's not a stage gate to Yes. Starting to get clients and be successful, and which may not be the case for other businesses.
So I think we can sometimes fall into that trap of, well, how would you run a different type of business? And I don't think it's exactly like for like totally in the space where it's so relationship driven. It's so trust driven, like, I mean, trust is the number one thing that I think coaches need. So, and you're gonna get that from your existing network and the people who know you.
Yeah, I agree. And I always say if there's one thing you do, make it warm outreach because you can build your website at the same time and you can build your LinkedIn, but the thing that's gonna turn the dial is actually talking to real people. Okay. And it's scary. Yeah. You know, I mean, I, I don't wanna put anyone off and I, you know, but I think the reality is it is scary.
So how can you have support and things in place to make that less scary. That's what I did. I had good supportive people in my network that I knew would have my back that I talked to about my aspirations that I already knew were kind of gonna be there to assist how they could. And I very quickly reached out and got a community like a more sort of formal community because that's, nobody else knows it.
Like somebody who's been through it. Yeah, agree. And that's, I mean, totally behind why I've built, and I know you built your business long before you joined us in the accelerator, but that's what I'm really hoping we have is this, you know, ready made container full of coaches in this same boat to build that network.
What would you say to someone who was considering joining the accelerator? Like what would. Advice or reasons why they should join or not join, what would you say? Ooh. I mean, I don't think not joining is really an option. I think if people can work in terms of this, what's really interesting to me, and I don't know if I think you know this story, but I don't know how, or how much others do.
When I first started out, I worked with more of a, what I would call a traditional type business coach in terms of more like a tacky, more style, you know, really focused on high numbers of clients and you know, and did some amazing work with them in terms of getting clear around my offer and, you know, making sure that the focus areas in terms of my niche.
So there was that. A good element of it. But what they really didn't understand, and what I find a lot of people don't understand in this space is the nuance of executive coaching and the tie into corporate. And I think if you're someone who wants to work in that space, and we know there's coaches.
There's wellness coaches, health coaches, business coaches, all these different types of coaches. But executive coaching and corporate coaching is its own beast. Like there's a whole organism of how an organization operates. And thinking about that from a client perspective and how you wanna add value and the relationships that you have, that is just not well understood.
And in my opinion, there's really no one out there other than you that's doing this work that's providing that. Specific insight of how you would set up this type of a coaching business as opposed to Or just a general coaching business. So I think if they're clear around that's what they wanna do and they wanna get there faster, and this is the space that they wanna play in, then that should be a massive motivator.
And because everyone in there has been there, we are all from corporate backgrounds. We don't do the same things. You know, I've always found that fascinating. We've got healthy people and not for profit. It's really varied and yeah, that is actually cool how, yeah, so much we all understand corporations and we understand the machine of corporations and how that work gets done and so yeah, I'd say that would be a real consideration if that's the space that they wanna play in.
And it's a pretty obvious connection point. Thank you. Now I wanna do one sort of a hot seat, quick question without notice, you know, if you game and we can edit this out if it doesn't work out. So my first one, I'll ask a few questions. First one, if you could coach anyone in the world, who would it be? Oh gosh, everyone says I should give notice on this one.
Really? I don't know. This is gonna sound like such a cop out, but I'm not a big person for having like people on pedestals and kind of these ideal sort of, yeah, I have an ideal client in terms of the type. Features, but not an individual in mind. So I'm not giving you a great answer there. No, that's fine.
I genuinely can't think of many in business that I'm like, okay. I feel like they've got some really amazing public aspects of their personality that I could think could be hugely amplified by the coaching that I do, and particularly 'cause my work is kind of unusual in that transformation space.
Let me reflect on it, so you might Yeah, no, that's, that's fine. That's fine. The next one is, if you had to recommend one book or podcast to a coach, what would you recommend? Oh gosh. Again, too hard for someone who loves to read all the things and little things. I've got a few going on.
There is another executive coach podcast, gosh, I can't remember her name. She's American, that I listened to with yours. I tend to not listen to as many true coaching podcasts and more kinds of business and leadership. Yeah. I feel like he's got such, it is gonna sound so generic as well, but he's got such a great style.
But in the diary of a CEO, he gets some super interesting guests. Yeah. And I think his way of engaging and drawing information out from them is really quiet. Especially since he's quiet, this is gonna sound odd as well. He has some feminine qualities around how he engages, which I think is quite different in that space with men.
He's very regulated, very and very in tune with his feelings and that kind of comes through and he has got a really empathetic style. 'cause I find that, yeah, some men who have podcasts that I listen to, it can be a bit blokey. Which is not so fun. But I mean, look, this is literally the book. These are the books that I have sitting next to me right now.
Yes, please. Okay. We love it, like because I see things or someone recommends them and then I order them and then I have to find a time to read through. I've got this one. The coaching habits say, say less. Ask for, and change the way you lead forever. That's quite cool. Who's, who's that author? Michael Michael Bunia.
Brunette. I've got the, I've got the filter on just because I wanted to read it to see if it was something that my clients might like. Yeah, I think for a coach, there's a lot in here that we obviously know or could. Relate to. But it's such an easy read. So I think if you're looking for one client, typical conversations, how to discuss what matters most.
Oh my God's good. It. I'll put it in front of your face. There we go. Your face, Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen.In change, a lot of what sometimes comes into play is fear. With fear, it can be the avoidance of conversations. So this one was recommended. I have only just read the first chapter, so too early to say, but it looks quite good and it looks also, I love anything that's laid out really easy to read.
Me too, at night. And then the bull shift, because I've had a few clients. I do a lot of facilitation, but I wouldn't say that. It's what I always lead with. I feel like I'm a coach and I do leadership development and facilitation becomes a vehicle of how I often do that. But I'm with my naturally introverted style, and I'm not the big rah person that sometimes corporates are used to.
But these guys get such an amazing rave from anyone who's ever used 'em. And I was just really curious. They're Perth based. Oh, who's the author? It's Andrew bin. He runs the company bullshit. Yeah. What a great name. You know, it's heavily focused on communication and storytelling. Perfect. And yeah, I'm super fascinated by anything to do with storytelling at the moment and better understanding about the value of that.
Yeah. And I believe. I don't know if this is actually true, but I believe in the Whopper. They're starting to expand out their program for corporates around, they do the storytelling piece and the value of that. Within an organizational setting, which obviously involves actors and those sorts of things, but really cool.
That is so cool. Fantastic. Look, thank you. I really appreciate that. And I know as coaches, we just love any suggestions, resources, books, so appreciate that. We'll put those in the show notes, so if someone wants to work with you or connect with you, Louise, how are they best to get in touch? Either DM me on LinkedIn, my surname is unusual and so I'm very easy to find.
So Z-A-W-A-D-A. Yeah, we'll have that all over the show notes and the title? Yeah, or, or my website, Louise writer leadership.com. And yeah, I've got a way of contacting me there and just reaching out to someone who knows me anyway. Such as me. Yes. Yeah. And email me. And that's how I randomly get a lot of my clients. They'll just drop into my inbox and say, Hey, I heard about you.
Can we have a chat? I'm like, always, always. Yeah. No, I love it. And so thank you so much for your time today, Louise. I really appreciate it and I know that coaches are gonna get so much out of your insights 'cause your, yeah, your story is very inspiring. Thank you.
