Vanessa Coultas
Vanessa Coultas
Life Coach
Vanessa is a leader - both at home and in the workplace. She is continually inspired to work with people to reach the greater potential they seek. Her psychology degree led her to focus first on effective parenting and subsequently on life coaching. Her charity work, beginning with the Samaritans in her 20s and progressing to setting up her own charity some 15 years ago meant a focus on leadership where financial reward isn't the key motivator.
Using her skills at home - bringing up four children - she transfers them to the workplace. Equally, leadership skills in the workplace can be transferred to your home life. Vanessa found that the advantage of transferring these same skills reduces your mental load leaving you freer to focus on yourself. Which in turn leads to improved well-being.
Vanessa will focus on helping you grow your leadership skills by creating unity, cohesion and belonging in your team.
Giving you and the team members the foundation building blocks from which to learn and grow.
Vanessa will also guide you to work concurrently on leading yourself in your own life.
The latest from Vanessa Coultas
When to Stop and Take a Break
In today's busy go-go world we all know we need a break. But how, why, when and…
In today's busy go-go world we all know we need a break. But how, why, when and how much? A break is not about just stopping, it's about its purpose - resetting to recharge. So, how can you make a break count? And what does it count for?
Ending Ineffective Communication
Ineffective communication is about your message not being received as you…
Ineffective communication is about your message not being received as you intended, we have all said things that have been misunderstood. It isn't just whether we articulate well. We can be astounded that either they didn’t understand, or incorrectly interpreted what we said. After all, we know what we meant and we know what we said, so we think surely it wasn't our fault, it was them. However, there are two parties to communication - us as the sender and them as the receiver. Therefore it’s a team and both can take responsibility for a misunderstanding. It’s helpful when we learn what we can do on our part to create as much clarity as possible. We don’t always have awareness with regard to giving ourselves feedback in order to improve.
Planned Ignoring and Macromanaging
Planned ignoring and macro-managing is not about implying something is…
Planned ignoring and macro-managing is not about implying something is acceptable. It’s about choosing what's important to address at the time. At home, there are many behaviours that aren’t acceptable. Some are minor and in fact are only used to get our attention. It is wise to learn when we need to pay attention or when we gain more by ignoring it. It can become a negative cycle if we are always telling our child what not to do. In fact we never want to tell them what not to do, we always want to tell them the behaviours we like. This is called positive parenting. The same is true of the workplace. Your team doesn't want to hear what they have done wrong. They don’t want you continually monitoring them. They want your approval and to hear what is good.
How to Handle Broken Rules or Boundaries
Rules are guides and boundaries. We are all used to them, from childhood we…
Rules are guides and boundaries. We are all used to them, from childhood we learn the ground rules of expected behaviour. These can vary slightly depending on culture or workplace culture. We are from a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, education, ethnicities, etc so we may have differing ideas as to what’s acceptable. At home, we have ground rules. In the office, it’s culture and the expected norm. It is best to be overt and explicit about these norms, ensuring they are clear and easy to follow. By setting them out there is a reduction in the chances of misunderstandings, mistakes and disagreements.
Incidental Modelling
Incidental learning is unintentional or unplanned. It is often not noticed or…
Incidental learning is unintentional or unplanned. It is often not noticed or recognised. It happens through observation, repetition, social interaction and problem-solving and is often a byproduct of the main learning intention. Much lifelong learning in organisations increasingly takes place on the job, often through informal or incidental learning that is integrated with work. It can be implicit - without the learners' awareness. One of the fastest ways to get the results you want is to model behaviours that set an example for your team.
Keeping Stimulated
As a leader you may think - I can’t constantly be responsible for providing…
As a leader you may think - I can’t constantly be responsible for providing suitable stimulating and exciting work for every team member. However, maintaining stimulation is NOT about providing constant exciting activities. ‘Stimulating’ means inspiring, new ideas or enthusiasm. It’s about facilitating and allowing: room for growth, the variety in skill and task; and the problem-solving demands. This video looks at how higher mental stimulation at work is associated with improved cognitive functioning in both young and older workers.
Showing Compassion
Showing compassion is about understanding and responding to a person's situation…
Showing compassion is about understanding and responding to a person's situation with a desire to help. Compassion is shown to improve health and wellness because of its ability to drive meaningful connections and facilitate problem-solving. Thereby reducing anxiety, the pressure of achieving, and enhancing our resilience to work stress and burnout. This video includes examples of showing compassion in the workplace and some exercises to help you show compassion at home and work.
Praising the Effective Way
Praise is about encouraging and rewarding a specific behaviour. If you are going…
Praise is about encouraging and rewarding a specific behaviour. If you are going to praise someone you want it to have the desired effect - which is to encourage the behaviour - to increase the chances of that behaviour happening again. Others need to feel the praise and know what it’s for to really gain from it. Praise is a motivator that lifts energy, delivers confidence and assurance to our team members.
Making Time Count: Quality Time
As a workplace leader, you aren’t keen to waste time. Your focus is on ensuring…
As a workplace leader, you aren’t keen to waste time. Your focus is on ensuring both you and the team get the job done to the best of their ability as quickly and efficiently as possible. Quality time however is not about the length of time, it’s about what that time means to you and the other person. This video explores how to get the most out of the time we have with people and the importance of creating quality time.
Introduction to Vanessa Coultas
Vanessa is a leader - both at home and in the workplace. She is continually…
Vanessa is a leader - both at home and in the workplace. She is continually inspired to work with people to reach the greater potential they seek. Her psychology degree led her to focus first on effective parenting and subsequently on life coaching. Using her skills at home - bringing up four children - she transfers them to the workplace. Equally, leadership skills in the workplace can be transferred to your home life. Vanessa found that the advantage of transferring these same skills reduces your mental load leaving you freer to focus on yourself. Which in turn leads to improved well-being. Vanessa will focus on helping you grow your leadership skills by creating unity, cohesion and belonging in your team. Giving you and the team members the foundation building blocks from which to learn and grow.