Susan Thomas is one of the coaches that we found this month and we did a little interview with her. She impressed us with her innovativeness and experience.
She is guiding leaders through the intricate landscapes of personal and professional development. With an impressive 28 year career dedicated to enhancing soft skills, she empowered thousands of leaders to rise to new heights, blending emotional intelligence, effective communication, and the vital acceptance of failure as a stepping stone to growth.
She champions the creation of coaching cultures within organizations, which can dramatically reduce turnover rates by 72%, resulting in substantial savings and a more motivated workforce. Her innovative Inspire Network membership offers a treasure trove of resources designed to alleviate stress, boost motivation, and foster a harmonious work and life integration.
She reveals how early experiences with a demanding coach instilled limiting beliefs, which she has transformed into empowering mantras through years of introspection and personal growth. This just proves how important it is to have the right coach by your side. Her unique coaching approach, which marries mindfulness with the complexities of business needs, aims to create balanced, motivated leaders who inspire their teams. Here is what she said.
Meet Life Coach Susan Thomas:
Name: Susan Thomas
Pillar: The Mind
Who is this coach for: Any leader who wants support and guidance to become the best version of themselves that they were born to be, an inspirational guide.
How they can help: By using various coaching tools and techniques, and a membership platform called Inspire Network where you can find knowledge, tools, and resources to reduce stress, increase motivation, boost self care, and improve work life integration.
First of all, how are you and your family doing after these Pandemic times?
Pandemic was a great way to pause, reflect and reframe and send me on my current journey.
It did come with some challenges (Son’s cancer) but a lot of insight and learning, which I am grateful for.
How did the coronavirus pandemic affect your clients? Did it affect you at all?
During the pandemic, I worked with employees to ensure they stay connected with their wellbeing as well as the group (battling the isolation) and came up with innovative ways to fulfil their 6 human needs (remotely).
What are the biggest lessons that you learned in this pandemic?
Communication: The Impact of Emotional Intelligence (Active listening, listen to understand not to reply, self reflection, self awareness, empathy and the connection of relationships to our happiness.)
The Origin:
Tell us about you, your career, how you started with your coaching career?
Think of me as Gandalf for leaders…
I work my soft skills magic to create environments for thriving, happy teams!
Over the past 28 years, I’ve helped thousands of leaders climb to their next level.
One of the most common questions I hear is, “What now? Where’s the manual on being a great leader?”
Traditional training often misses critical soft skills like Emotional Intelligence, effective communication, and embracing failure as a growth tool.
It’s frustrating to see latent talent lost to overwhelm and stress because leaders feel unequipped emotionally and mentally for the next step.
Did you know 1 in 3 employees leave due to bad management?
Organisations with a coaching culture have 72% fewer leavers, that’s big money saved!
What was your biggest obstacle that you had to overcome in your life that made you who you are today?
Biggest obstacle: The Power of words and the impact they can have on our lives
In my case: My coach from the age 13 to 19 demanding me to be the winner or the first loser.
This resulted in some huge limiting beliefs of not being good enough and not achieving.
I have spend the last 3 years through my human needs to get to know me and to reframe some of those limits to create new empowering beliefs.
The Coaching Style:
How do you innovate with coaching your clients?
That’s why I created the Inspire Network membership.
For a fraction of a Netflix membership, I promise to provide the knowledge, tools, and resources to reduce stress, increase motivation, boost self care, and improve work life integration.
Imagine a happy workforce inspired to come to work with you!
I work with organisations too, who want to be creating a coaching culture for their teams.
The Inspire Network is a 5 step concept for inspirational leadership:
- Learn the building blocks to understand yourself and others.
- Build trust and excellence.
- Foster belonging.
- Cultivate leadership presence through pausing, reframing, and reflecting.
- Lead with a forward mindset Imagine a sanctuary of leaders of any level, a place where you’re not just a member, but part of a vibrant community.
Here, individuals driven by a shared quest for personal growth, balance, and support come together.
Picture this space as your personal empowerment hub, a treasure trove of soft skills mastery, where you learn, apply, and connect with like minded souls.
With resources at your fingertips and brainstorming sessions galore, this is where dreams take flight and journeys are transformed.
Welcome to the soft skills haven you’ve been searching for, join us and let’s embark on this journey together!
What’s unique about your coaching approach?
I combine mindfulness with the complex needs of the business.
I am all about Integration and Alignment through communication.
What benefits do your clients get after working with you?
Feeling in control of their leadership journey, balanced, motivated and supported to be creating environments where employees feel inspired to work for you.
Be the CEO of tomorrow that makes the workplace feel like a hobby.
Do you use any specific tools to be efficient with your clients?
Concept of the Mansion of the inspired Leader.
The Impact:
If you had a super megaphone that, when you speak into, the whole world will hear your message, what would you say?
Be present, truly listen with no judgement, and see the world through others’ eyes.
What is the greatest lesson you have learned in your life?
To trust my values and judge achievements through my lens.
Your final thoughts?
Without a coaching leadership style in your workplace people will waste valuable resources, talent and time as well as a lack of desire to be a leader in the future, creating a progression void.
Where Can You Find Susan Thomas?
If you liked this interview and you would love to get support on your journey of becoming a leader, go to https://www.awakenthegiantcoaching.com/ and see how coach Susan can help you.
If you’d like to connect with her, you can find all her links here.
Or, you can connect with her more personally through LinkedIn or by sending her a direct message on her Email [email protected]. It was an honor having this interview with her.