About Us

Metis Coaching and Training is committed to exceptional public service – to make Australia a better place to work and live.

Metis was the Greek goddess of wisdom, representing intelligence, good counsel, skill and sound thinking.

We know good leadership and management, and we constantly strive to ensure we are at the cutting edge of research to ensure our clients become world-class leaders.

Our training programs, coaching, mentoring and facilitation services are fully informed by our extensive Australian Public Sector experience.

We have worked at every APS level, from graduate through to SES Band 2, with a combined 20 years in the SES.

We have worked in fast paced, high profile policy, program and corporate areas across a range of large and small agencies. We know what it’s like to work and lead in a busy public sector role.

We are also mothers, with decades of experience managing demanding professional lives with our parenting and other caring responsibilities.

We love assisting individuals, teams and organisations thrive in the contemporary public sector.

Louise McDonough

Director

Louise is an accomplished and engaging public speaker and facilitator, qualified Trainer and Assessor and Executive Coach. She is a member of the Career Development Association of Australia.

Louise works with individuals and teams to address challenges, identify strengths and build confidence so they can achieve success.

She offers practical tools for her clients to apply in the workplace, and their lives, to enhance resilience, performance and wellbeing. Louise particularly enjoys working with women seeking promotion or working in senior positions.

With over 35 years’ experience in diverse agencies in Australian Government and international organisations, Louise’s expertise is in public policy, international relations, workplace relations, human resources, work, health and safety and work/life balance.

She has a passion for contemporary leadership, excellence in public service, and assisting individuals and organisations reach their full potential.

Louise has held a range of senior management and diplomatic positions. As a Senior Executive Service Officer for over 10 years in the Australian Public Service, she managed demanding and politically sensitive workplace relations policy responsibilities.

Louise also worked for two years with the US Department of Defense in the Pentagon and for a year with US Pacific Command in Hawaii.

She was appointed to the Australian Embassy in Paris for three years as the Minister-Counsellor (Employment) with the Australian Government Permanent Delegation to the OECD.

On return to Australia Louise managed the Australian Government’s international labour function, representing the Government over 3 years at the International Labour Organisation, United Nations in Geneva. More recently she drove a major agenda of cultural change with Safe Work Australia.

Louise has a Bachelor of Economics (Australian National University), a CERT IV in Training and Assessment and a Level 2 Certification in Organisational Coaching from the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership (IECL) Australia – a member of the International Coaching Federation.

Contact Louise

Helen Innes

Senior Consultant

Helen partners with her clients to bring out their best, taking a strengths-based approach to help her clients set goals, overcome roadblocks and achieve success in the workplace and careers.

She works with teams to achieve peak performance, focusing on embedding communication and collaboration skills and building on strengths and capabilities.

Helen’s special areas of focus are women seeking promotion or working in management positions, parents and carers looking for a better balance of their work and life responsibilities, and people looking to diversify their career experience.

She works with leaders and managers to assist and support them in successfully managing performance and change.

Helen is also an accredited Hermann Brain Dominance Index (HBDI) practitioner and can provide profiles and briefing sessions for individuals, teams and branches.

Helen draws on a 25-year career in the Australian Public Service, including over a decade of policy, program and corporate experience in the Senior Executive Service.

Helen stepped into the world of coaching in 2020 after 25 years in the Australian Public Service including 11 years at the Senior Executive level.

Commencing her career in the Office for Women, she has since worked on many complex public policy issues, including social security, women’s workforce participation, homelessness, disability, migration and employment.

Helen also has human resources management experience and was First Assistant Secretary (SES2), People, Communication and Assurance at the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business.

Helen has a Bachelor of Arts (University of Adelaide, 1991), Master of Arts (University of York, UK, 1993), Cert IV in Workplace and Business Coaching (Open Door, 2020) and is a

Certified Herrmann Brain Dominance Index Practitioner, 2020.

Contact Helen