Welcome to our corner of the coaching world! We’re excited to introduce you to Leigh Gauthier, PCC, one of The Academies’ distinguished coaching instructors. With her extensive experience and certifications as both an executive/leadership coach and career coach, she’s truly an inspiration for all coaches-in-training on their journey from certification to mastery — and beyond!
In this blog post, we’ll explore Leigh’s professional journey into the world of coaching and why she believes so passionately in its power to create lasting change. With a deep understanding of growth, change management strategies, and coaching techniques that are rooted in neuroscience, Leigh can show you how to develop better, more sustainable client outcomes. Join us as we learn more about her work and why she’s driven to make a difference and change minds, for good!
What Got Leigh Into Coaching
I was working in a university career centre setting, taking a course on career assessment. As I sat there and watched the facilitator coach through an assessment tool’s results, I knew I wanted to do more than resume reviews!
I started researching “coaching,” found a coaching school, and never looked back. My whole career prior to this had been focused on human capital development (training and consulting), and coaching was a perfect complement to what I knew I already loved; I just didn’t know “coaching” was a “thing” back then.
Leigh’s Coaching Education
My path to ICF-PCC certification was through the Coaches Training Institute. I am a proud alumnus and am very grateful for their pioneering work in this space. I’d be remiss, though, if I didn’t give a shout-out to The Academies, as Susan Britton was pivotal to my learning of how to be a great career coach. I found The Academies so compelling; I hired them to come and teach all of my career coaches at the University of Toronto.
Leigh’s Experience With, and Her Approach to, Coaching
I have been coaching professionally now for 15 years. Much of my approach is a combination of learning by leading — my own leadership development path, learning by receiving — being coached by others and learning by doing, and coaching professionals in their executive leadership development or career path explorations.
Having worked in human capital consulting at Accenture, working in training and development at The Ken Blanchard Companies, as well as coaching literally thousands of MBAs at the Career Centre at the University of Toronto, I have had a lot of exposure to some of the best and brightest — and it is always an honour to learn and grow together in a co-created coaching partnership.
A Little More About Leigh
In my private practice at coachleigh.com, I focus mainly on mid to senior-level executives who are looking for breakthroughs, either in their current roles, through promotions, or through new opportunities. I am fortunate to have exposure to a wide array of functions and industries and have been able to support leaders/managers in many many different verticals and roles. This variety is what keeps it exciting and each coachee leaves an indelible impression and is a constant beautiful reminder to me of why I am on this planet!
I’ve also had the great fortune to connect with Impro.AI, a fabulous Canadian startup focused on using Generative-AI to augment human coaching through our micro-coaching platform. I lead the cadre of coaches there as well as the business intelligence work that we deliver to clients to help elevate their company’s performance.
It’s an Honor to Have You at The Academies, Leigh!
Thank you so much for sharing your coaching story, Leigh! Leigh brings an extensive amount of knowledge, compassion, and expertise that will help take your coaching skills to the next level. Leigh, we’re honored to have you as an instructor, and we’re grateful you’re a part of The Academies family.
If you would like to learn more about Leigh, please check out her instructor bio. You can also connect with Leigh on LinkedIn, and keep up with her on her coaching website, as well as Impro.AI to see her powerful impact on the wider world.
Be sure to check back regularly to meet more of our amazing coaching instructors. If you’re interested in starting or continuing your own coaching journey, explore our coaching courses to discover if The Academies is the right fit for you! We invite you to schedule a no-pressure call with our team to explore your questions and curiosities.