Leadership Coaching & Development
Take your leadership to the next level
We specialise in partnering for growth – for CEOs, Executives, Emerging Leaders, People Managers and Board Directors.
Our executive coaching helps leaders to navigate the real challenges of leadership so that you’re having impact whilst also growing yourself and the people around you. Whether you’re in the first 90 days in a new role, going through a career transition, or stewarding organisational change – our executive coaching supports you to be more authentic, effective, confident and sustainable.
Our development programs are tailored to the needs of you and your people. We support social purpose leaders to become better people managers, developing their skills and confidence in performance feedback, coaching skills, and supporting change.
From early-stage leadership to seasoned leaders we walk beside you bringing deep sector expertise, systemic insight, and practical tools.
– from clients surveyed in our Impact Report 2025
“Your steady presence and gentle yet firm nudges have helped me push past my comfort zone into the places where real growth happens. Thank you so much for your support.”
Kristen Lark
CEO, The Funding Network
“There was a critical piece missing for us and that was in the leadership. The work with Leadership Space was more than a standout moment, it was a turning point for our organisation.”
Bernie Shakeshaft
Founder, BackTrack
“Through a process of reflection coaching helped me learn more about myself and my strengths and gaps as a leader, at a critical time of joining a new organisation and setting the strategy for increasing impact. It assisted me to stay focused on my goals and helped me determine the steps that I could most effectively take to achieve them.
Barb extended this support through a facilitated session with the Policy and Advocacy team, enabling us to clarify as a group how we progress UNICEF Australia’s goals and responsibilities in working with Governments to uphold the United Nations’ conventions on the rights of the child. I would recommend this to anyone seeking to stretch themselves as a social purpose leader.”
Nicole Breeze
Director of Policy and Advocacy, UNICEF Australia
“My coaching with Barb provided me with the impetus to set aside time and head space for working on my own professional development. My sessions are always insightful and enjoyable but above all they give me greater clarity and confidence in the robustness of my leadership decisions. It provides a supportive environment to test my assumptions and reflect on my approach to complex situations and I walk away with a much clearer pathway forward. Invaluable!”
Marnie Karmelita
Head of Programming, New Zealand Festival
“I’m so glad I had career coaching when I did. It took a process that would otherwise have been hit and miss and emotionally stressful, and made it focused, supportive and successful."
David Stewart
Foodbank
"Working with Elise as my coach has been transformative. She helped me prepare for the transition to the CEO role and supported me through my first 90 days and beyond.
I felt that I could be vulnerable and open and she engaged with curiosity and encouragement. This transition was the steepest learning curve of my career and Elise was there to support me through the ups and downs. After every session I walked away with plenty to think about as well as clear actions to put into practice. I would highly recommend this program."
Suzie Riddell
CEO, Social Ventures Australia (SVA)
My coaching with Elise has been deeply transformative and helped to shift how I saw the relationships between myself as a leader, myself as a partner/daughter/mum, and most importantly myself with MY SELF!
She is able to know which string to pull to help you gain true insight, be it intellectual exploration, body-sensing, or using observational data and reflection. However uncomfortable the moment may be, she helps you invite it in and learn from it. Her coaching a gift of warm accountability.
Melodie Potts Rosevear
Teach For Australia
Executive Coaching
Unlock your next horizon of growth
Take your leadership to the next level by accessing space to pause, reflect, and lead more intentionally.
Our executive coaching provides a trusted partnership where you can think, feel, and navigate the messy reality of leadership.
We bring a systemic lens, supporting not just you personally but also helping you to steer through change, lead strategically, and strengthen how you, your team, and your organisation operate.
It’s a place to reconnect with your clarity and confidence, to thought partner and problem-solve — ensuring you can lead sustainably and make the difference you’re here to make.
Career Coaching
Successfully make your next move
We help you to get clear on what you want next in your career and capture your aspiration in materials that are authentic and compelling. This includes your CV, elevator pitch, cover letters, and LinkedIn profile.
We then support you to develop and implement a practical and multi-layered game plan that will help you secure the role you want.
As the process moves forward, we provide you with a space to practice for interviews, workshop decisions, and ultimately land the role you want.
Our career coaching allows you to turn one of life’s most confronting professional experiences into a space to be vulnerable, engage in growth, and access the skills and accountability you need to stay the course and succeed.
First 90 Days
Thrive from the start
Support your incoming CEO with a private and skilled executive coach who specialises in executive transitions in the social purpose sector.
Our first 90 days program provides a framework to guide this sensitive period. Leaders use this intentional reflection space to digest and make sense of their new environment, think through the sequence and sensitivities of building key relationships, and secure early wins.
By providing a confidential sounding board and confidante that brings organisational as well as adult development expertise, incoming leaders are given the best chance to land well in their new role.
Bespoke Programs
Programs that lift skills, culture and capability
Support an uplift in leadership across your organisation with programs that strengthen your culture and the skills and mindsets your leaders and managers most need.
We partner with you to understand where the gaps and opportunities are, and to shape a program that creates sustainable and embedded behaviour change with the rhythm and approach that suits you.
Options include:
- Kicking off with a strengths-based leadership profile to stimulate interest and self reflection
- Leading with the Executive Team to support a train-the-trainer mindset
- Modules and sessions that are interactive, experiential and practical across the topics that matter
- Establishing peer learning practices that strengthen relationships and endure post-program
Leader by the Fireside
Grow with Peers
Gain a like-minded network of colleagues, in a safe space where you can share innovations and challenges, test ideas, and access new tools and resources to support you and help you grow.
Each “Leaders by the Fireside” session is facilitated by organisational coaches who bring innovate ways of sharing, learning and engaging, along with decades of experience helping social purpose leaders and teams through change and growth.
Group sizes are kept small with 6 – 12 participants to allow depth and focus on the issues and contexts.
Come away refreshed and recharged after every session with a cohort of fellow leaders walking beside you.