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About your coach

About your coach

Lisa Curtis-Wendlandt knows how the academic world works. The former postdoctoral researcher with Monash University has authored academic publications in numerous top-tier international journals, earning her several prizes, fellowships, and awards. Since founding her academic coaching and consulting business Mind Your Way in 2011, her passion has turned to helping others achieve their own personal and professional goals. “Coaching is ephemeral, but so powerful,” says Lisa, a nationally and internationally accredited coach and member of the International Coach Federation (ICF). “It’s about transcending the self, connecting with another person and becoming positively transformed by that process.”

Lisa has coached individuals and teams for media appearances, television and job interviews, and for various high-level funding body presentations. She was elected onto RMIT’s Executive Coaching Panel in 2015, has coached on leadership development initiatives such as Monash University’s Advancing Women’s Research Success Grant and Monash’s Faculty of Arts Emerging Research Excellence Fellowship scheme, and works with a diverse private client group.

Recent studies in Narrative Coaching with Dr David Drake, and in Conversational Intelligence® with Dr Judith E. Glaser, have allowed Lisa to deepen her understanding of the psychology of effective communication, audience engagement, and personal and team empowerment. “The stories we tell about our life – our challenges, our desires, our happiness – shape the meaning we attribute to our experience. Change those stories, and you change that life.”

It was the way the coach focused on meeting my needs that impressed me so much. Right from the start, she worked out what approach I liked (pragmatic and structured) and embraced it. What’s more, she found ways to incorporate elements of coaching that I wouldn’t have expected (e.g. visualisation, emotional anchoring) but which proved extremely beneficial – opening up outcomes that stretched far beyond my career context to encompass home life, personal wellbeing and self-empowerment. Just terrific.

Deb Anderson, Lecturer, Postgraduate Coordinator, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University

So what kind of coaching can you do with me?

I am a very practical coach: I like concrete challenges that arise from difficulties in communication. My highlights over the last few years have included coaching senior academic teams to deliver strong funding pitches for their research centres, and seeing them win, and watching a frazzled and overwhelmed young academic, who could not say “no”, turn into a leader who knows how to delegate, and who suddenly has the time to do the work that recently secured her a promotion.

Many of the women I coach lack assertiveness skills, or want to better “act the part” of a leader, many question whether their academic careers align with their life values, and others are keen to accelerate their publication track record and grant success through text-based coaching. We can explore any of these areas together. As an accredited consultant of the psychometric profiling tool Extended DISC (EDISC), I also offer clients the opportunity to take a behavioural profile of their strengths and development areas, which can be very useful to explore during coaching.

My role as coach is that of a facilitator: I like calling myself a “cognitive midwife” – I think that captures the essence of coaching well! I will be there to help you identify your priority goals and challenges, and then explore with you the best way to achieve or overcome them. It’s a collaborative process – the more you put in, the more you will get out of it. I look forward to working with you!

Get in contact today for a confidential chat about your coaching needs.

I was pleasantly surprised about the depth of the discussions we had. The situation was open and there was enough room to express even unusual opinions and play with a variety of views. The coach had good ways of illustrating certain problems (mental mapping). It was helpful to work with sketches, particularly when trying to dissect communicative processes. I enjoyed being offered alternative ways for looking at specific challenges/tasks. There was never just one “right” or “wrong” but we discussed (and once tested) a variety of perspectives to approach a challenge, carefully considering a series of pros and cons. I also liked that we often laughed out loudly; despite lots of difficult issues that came up for discussion, there was usually a feeling of relief at the end of the session.

Lecturer from the School of Social Sciences, Monash University

ICF credentialing explained

The International Coach Federation (ICF) seeks to advance the art, science, and practice of professional coaching. It is the leading global organisation dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high standards, providing independent certification, and building a worldwide network of trained coaching professionals.

ICF offers the only globally recognised, independent credentialing program for coach practitioners. ICF Credentials are awarded to professional coaches who have met stringent education and experience requirements and have demonstrated a thorough understanding of the coaching competencies that set the standard in the profession. Achieving credentials through ICF signifies a coach’s commitment to integrity, understanding and mastery of coaching skills, and dedication to clients.

 

Lisa is a fantastic coach. I gained many insights about how I work and how I can work better through my sessions with her. She listens and creates a space for critical reflection, but also intervenes with perceptive comments when needed. She tailored the sessions to my needs and set creative tasks that I found beneficial. I would definitely recommend her as a coach.

Dr Olivia Khoo, Senior Lecturer, Film and Screen Studies, Monash University

Coaching

Types of Coaching

Behavioural Profiling

Interview Coaching

Women’s Leadership