Testimonial

“Louise facilitated our agency’s first strategic planning session in many years. Her background in working in a number of Australian Government agencies and her ability to understand the complexities associated with our work meant that she was able to connect with the agency as a whole. She has a wonderful way with people and the ability to keep the energy levels high while keeping the session on track. We all found the day to be a very rewarding and constructive – many commenting it was the best strategic planning session they had attended.”

“Louise brings a warm, empathetic approach to her coaching which for me fostered trust and built the foundation to challenge and guide the next steps of my career. Louise’s own extensive professional experience provided an endless source of wisdom to each session and inspired the progress in my journey. I highly recommend Louise as a coach.”

As a very small agency, whose effectiveness relies heavily on staff capability, the CGC was keen to map out how to support skill development over the next few years. We engaged Metis to design and develop a ‘capability roadmap’. From the start, it was clear that Metis was committed to providing a bespoke product that would reflect the CGC’s unique needs.

Metis leveraged our planning day to deepen its understanding of the organisation’s needs and to bring staff on the journey. Staff completed Metis’ tailored skill development self-assessment tool, and Metis used the findings to identify training priorities.

Metis provided a strategically-anchored roadmap, which will position the CGC to proactively manage the capability challenges ahead

I can’t recommend Metis Coaching more. Louise’s wholistic approach has enabled me to unlock exciting new opportunities at work and also find more balance with my family commitments. I no longer feel I am hitting the same barriers I was before as an ambitious professional with a young and growing family. Louise has helped me navigate enormous life and career transitions and set me on a long term career path that I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams. The huge range of tailored support Louise has provided me includes long term personal and professional goal setting, resume and interview preparation, leadership training, professional networking opportunities, and mentoring advice to help me problem solve and overcome specific workplace issues. Louise has help me not only see my value, but also capitalise on my unique skills and experience. The impact has been immediate with a career change into a team where I am appreciated and can excel. I no longer feel limited but rather am asking myself, what more could be on the horizon?

“Helen has not just provided me with great insights how I can present myself in an interview for a senior executive role, build on my strengths and showcase my experience, but provided me with emotional support and strategies to deal with stress and nervousness, which are unavoidable during the interview process. It was great to have an executive coach who you can relate to and who has such extensive public service experience to provide practical examples and suggestions. Helen’s approach to coaching is very supporting, guiding and non-judgmental. I have great appreciation of Helen’s ability in a short session to explore a variety of options and lead you to the very best solution to address your issues and concerns.”

“Louise’s advice, guidance and wisdom have been invaluable in helping me grow and adapt into the leader I am today. Her balanced, considered approach to managing difficult situations and insights into how to get the best out of your team have been key to shaping my leadership and management style. I anticipate Louise’s support will only become more important as my career progresses and look forward to continuing to work with her.”

Our chat this morning has given me so much clarity – I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I don’t have that awful knot in my stomach. In fact I feel very positive about the decision and my plan moving forward and this is all because of your advice!  You didn’t just tell me what I wanted to hear – you really listened to me, shared your knowledge and helped me reach a position that was best for me and my family. You are one in a million Louise, I can’t thank you enough!!

My experience with Metis coach Louise was such a wonderful experience for me, both professional and personally. The coaching I received has helped me so much, I have been successful in new employment opportunities and it simply has come from that one on one coaching.

Louise was able to help me identify my strengths and show me how to show case those well at an interview.  Her caring nature and constructive advice really gave me a confidence that I didn’t previously have. Thanks Louise and the Metis team keep doing the amazing work you do

I can’t recommend Louise highly enough. She is resolute in her encouragement and insight. I’m grateful for the sessions we had together, in terms of value for money and her incredible wealth of knowledge. Louise has such a personable and relatable approach, that what was a daunting and overwhelming time (with the possibility of losing a job you really liked as an RSO last year), made the work easy and even enjoyable! Louise created a comfortable space to be open, reflective and to build self-awareness of my core values, my future career aspirations, interests and skills. I think Louise is more than a career coach, she is a life coach and I enjoyed sharing my life auditing ideas with her.

She has brought clarity to my career goals and has filled me with the confidence and most importantly, practical knowledge of how to obtain a fulfilling career and how to write that succinct cover letter and much, much more. Louise’s extensive and sound understanding of the APS system, and her own work experience was invaluable. She has equipped me with lots of useful tools and resources to help me long into the future. Thank you Louise and I wish you much continued success that is well deserved.

Helen’s extensive experience as a senior public servant in policy and people functions combine to provide a complete package in a public service workplace coach and facilitator. Helen worked with me as the Senior Executive  to facilitate HBDI workshops, and then delivered personalised coaching sessions for each team member of our Tuition Protection Services team. The feedback from the workshop and coaching sessions was overwhelming positive from all team members with two particular members going on to individualised coaching programs with Helen to work with them during their transition into Executive Leadership roles. Our team particularly enjoyed Helen’s clear understanding of public service work environments, the demand driven nature of our workplan and Helen’s experience in small and large team people management. I would commend Helen to others seeking any workforce capability and team culture support.

Helen has provided me with valuable independent coaching. Her knowledge of the broader APS and NEMA’s place within that framework, and of senior leadership capabilities and cultures has enabled me to find clarity and identify my own strengths, motivators and challenges.  The Metis coaching has helped me create a pathway toward overcoming barriers and achieving my career goals

I found the coaching sessions with Louise to be very helpful, providing me with a fresh perspective for career development opportunities and helped me build my confidence to identify skills I should not shy away from presenting to others.

The training has provided me with invaluable skills and the confidence to thrive in the public sector. It has been almost four years (three job changes in between) and I still regularly reflect on the core principles taught

Louise, I never had the opportunity to thank you for demonstrating what empowered female leadership looks like. It sparked something in me and helped me along my professional journey.

Graduate Training – How to Impress in the APS

Louise delivered a session on ‘How to Impress in the APS’ on my first day as a Graduate in the APS. The session was a fantastic start to my APS career, as the session went beyond the standard introduction and provided me with invaluable knowledge about what really matters and what’s really important in building a career in the APS. Louise has a wealth of knowledge and experience, and provided practical guidance and advice on a range of things including how to interact with people at all levels of the APS, how to have confidence to voice your views in meetings, the importance of working for inspirational people and the importance of work/life balance. This was a fantastic session which Louise presented with professionalism, energy, enthusiasm and a good sense of humour. I highly recommend this session!

Louise brought gravitas and a depth and breadth of policy experience to her facilitation of the How to be a great policy officer training course, reflective of her lengthy and varied APS career. Her deep understanding of government business enables her to see policy issues from a range of different perspectives and unpack them with clarity and curiosity. Her people skills enable her to design and lead engaging courses and inclusive productive discussions. I also had the good fortune of working directly with Louise on a national strategy, with the added benefit of her informal coaching on the side, which I value to this day.

I found the training to be practical and gave me fundamental skills to not only achieve my goals in the public sector, but to also take these learnings with me throughout my career. I felt that my transition into different roles in the public and private sector would not have been as successful if I didn’t have the confidence in the skills I gained through the training.

When I commenced on the APS as a graduate, I was very fortunate to benefit from some excellent training from Louise about how to impress in the APS. Her training went beyond the standard introduction to working in the APS to reveal the range of soft skills, behaviours and top tips for how to have a successful career. I have relied on her advice many times during my career to date and am always grateful for the great foundation it gave me. I highly recommend this training for all new graduates!

Helen enables me to perform more effectively in my role, whether it’s dealing with a difficult situation now or building a strategic approach for longer-term challenges. I am empowered and equipped by her coaching, and value the perspective and experience she brings together with her knowledge of technical tools.