COACHING TESTIMONIALS

Coaching with Mel during a difficult period in my professional and personal life has helped me to gain clarity, see things from different perspectives and make sound decisions. She is an excellent listener and her wise and well-placed questions have enabled me to shift my thinking and experience break through’s that I would not have without her guidance. Jo

Thank goodness for Mel. After listening to her at an HR conference years ago, I started to follow her on LinkedIn and enjoyed the pragmatic, useful and authentic wisdom that were in her posts. So, it was only natural that when I had reached a bit of a crossroads in my career, getting some support via coaching from Mel was a natural and easy step. From the get-go, Mel made me feel at ease and it was easy to connect and open up about what was going on for me. The strategies she gave me to help with feelings of “not being enough” and ruminating on things have been invaluable, and really helped me through an incredibly stressful period. Mel’s action oriented and organised approach, coupled with timely session notes and clear guidance, meant that we maintained momentum with our coaching sessions and I got the most out of my time with her. I had a number of breakthrough moments and gained valuable insights, that have helped informed my next steps. Thoroughly recommend Mel as a coach – it was an investment worth every penny for me. I will certainly be using Mel again. Beks

After being appointed into my first role as a Chief Executive I realised I needed support to build a strong relationship with the Board. Mel helped me clearly and succinctly define key result areas including trust development and communication methods. In my recent performance appraisal the Board gave feedback which demonstrated all of these key result areas are now in place. Mel’s independent perspective has really helped me to achieve success in this area. Jonathon Hagger

In her coaching, Mel teaches leadership by modelling leadership with equal amounts of head and heart. Throughout our sessions together I’ve found her to be relatable, open and flexible, and together we’ve reached a great outcome.  Catherine Jones, Creative HQ

I can’t express how much Mel has helped me both professionally and personally and I hope you have both seen some of the results in my work performance of late.  In all honesty with the workload that has come in over the last couple of months, I don’t actually know if I would have shown much resilience at all if I had not worked through some of her strategies!  I can’t believe that spending 4 hours with one person can have such an impact on my thinking and how I see things so differently now. RK

I've been working with Mel for the last few months, and she has been an ideal leadership coach to me. She's helped me understand what I'm working through because she has genuine empathy for my experiences, having been through the unique journey of having started and grown a business before. Having someone who's been steps ahead of you is invaluable. And she doesn't do jargon or bullshit, so I believe what she's saying. I respect Mel a lot for her authenticity and her knowledge of people. I've already learnt a lot from my time with Mel already and recommend her to all. Barney Chunn, Conqa HQ

I have worked with Mel for a number of years, and have got a lot of value from the balanced and holistic way that she approaches leadership and personal development. I really appreciate that she always tackles problems from a perspective that encourages you to reflect inwards, and create change within yourself to help support and inspire those around you. I have found that as a result, not only are you able to understand others and yourself a lot better, but you also develop a range of strategies in your toolbox which helps you to manage future issues you may face.

I really resonate with the way that Mel understands how to work and help people from a deeply human level, which at its core is the thing that can really help you to develop as a leader in your workplace, and in your life. She has extensive experience working with a range of different people and companies, and will work with you to find ways to move forward in a way you are comfortable, but also that challenges you to grow.

If you want to improve and get better results, and you’re looking to take yourself to the next level then she can help you to get there. Lauren Kiri, Conqa HQ

I've had the pleasure of working with Mel for almost a year, whilst she provided me with coaching during a role transition. It has been an excellent experience; Mel is a highly successful executive and a very experienced coach, and was able to relate relevant experiences from her own work which provided a fantastic reference point for mine.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Mel as an excellent coach for any executive looking to develop into new areas, and enhance performance day to day. Sam Pickles, CTO/COO and Co–Founder, Redshield

CONSULTING TESTIMONIALS

Our new values “Stronger Together”, “It’s Personal” and “Expect the best” have had a positive impact on our business results, our resilience when dealing with change and our culture. Because Mel’s process was so thorough we are constantly reminded of the values and they have formed part of everyday life at The Icehouse. Liz Wotherspoon, Director of Growth, The Icehouse

We have achieved so much in so little time, everything we have thought about doing but unsure how to do it is suddenly getting done. Fiona Park, ARC Vets

If you’re looking to take control of company culture, I cannot recommend Mel highly enough. She is perfect for the job. Ben O'Brien, CEO, Stretchsense

FACILITATIon TESTIMONIALS

I just wanted to share how much of a win the leadership programme is. The changes I’m seeing in myself and the Engineering Coaches are mind blowing. Ben Gracewood, Vend

We could have done a million different courses, but I had great confidence that Mel was the right choice, and this built over time as we got to know her and she got to know the business. This was validated from my perspective with the engagement that we got from the team. I knew that a few people would be fine with whatever we did, while some people would be skeptical. Mel had to earn their trust and she did. Nick Churchouse, General Manager People & Practice, Creative HQ

If you’re looking to improve your skills in smart leadership, I highly encourage you attend one of Mel’s workshops. Jonathon Hagger, CEO Rotorua Hospice

Mel Rowsell was amazing, I found this applicable both personally and also from an HR/work perspective.

I enjoyed all of the speakers but I would say in particular Mel Rowsell (I ordered her book that night), she was very insightful and relatable, really got me thinking about the way I respond to situations.

Mel Rowsell: Clear approach to teaching. Innovative way of thinking. Very mind provoking. A lot of 'ah ha' moments! Great strategies for dealing with life events - Personal and at work! I've been RAINing my can't be bothereds ever since (without feeling guilty)! I'm also going to buy her book!

Mel Rowsell - amazing presenter, very relatable and engaging.

I really liked Mel's honest approach, not easy to blend alternative ideas into a business world - I thought she did this effectively and with credibility. Would like to hear more from her.

Mel was. Really engaging speaker and content that tackled real challenges in a different way.

“I attended Mel’s workshop ‘OnPoint Conversations’. It was hugely insightful and made me realise that actually its not always the conversation matter that’s daunting, its how you approach it. With the right tools you can really master it and get the result you want. Mel’s workshop really helped me reframe the particular conversation I was wanting to have, so that the other party was able to see things from my point of view without me being overpowering about it. Its easy to see these conversations as just too hard but you have a choice and a chance to learn with every conversation and this workshop really helps understand the basics of where to start with this. Highly recommend, thanks so much for a hugely insightful day.”

“Mel has helped facilitate a change of mindset to have and understand the tools needed to have difficult conversations.”

“I now have a very useful set of tools to help me thorough some tough conversations I need to have. Thank you!”

Even after 20 years of corporations, I feel I have learned a lot in this programme. I see myself and see others from a different angle and different eyes which will help me to do things differently.

Thank you very much for the really insightful four weeks and definitely a lot of learning and a lot of insight into myself. I have a better view of what what I need to concentrate on.

I feel courage to try new things I’ve learnt here. Continuing to learn and grow. This is part of me evolving as a leader and learning not to be so hard on myself.

I feel so energised and filled up. I’ve been really tired at the start of every session but finished every session positive, energised, filled up. I’ve enjoyed having the time and space to be able to reflect and hearing people sharing their journeys, stories and learnings has been awesome - its been a pleasure to be part of the group.

Thank you Mel - it's been fantastic! I have come away each week just buzzing with inspiration. I have learnt heaps and really filled my tool kit.

Thank you for the professionalism and inspiration - lots of reminders and as you say the practice is the hardest thing :)

It has allowed me to open up to conversations I would not have had before which is really great. You’ve a great enabler in helping everyone share openly.

Thanks for coming in to speak to the group. They absolutely loved it especially your authentic stories both personal and business. They were buzzing when they left.

Mel had a great teaching style which was very non intimidating and open. I liked how she allowed us to open up for discussion, but kept things on track. I found the online courses very helpful for reflection, and will use this as a resource as I grow my leadership skills.

I enjoyed the opportunity to discuss aspects of the learning with my colleagues, under the supervision of Mel, this allowed for us to grow and problem solve together. The timing and length of the sessions allowed enough time to learn, and put our learning into place.

I liked the way I felt Mel really understood our organisation and made the course really relevant to us. Especially by using the 360 at the start to see were we needed to work.

We covered a lot of great concepts that could be applied to day to day operations as a team leader from day one, there were a lot of "ah ha" moments throughout the course.

The delivery of the course by Mel stimulated a lot of really engaged discussion.

The pre-reading on Ruzuku helped set the scene for the training days. The debrief at the start of each session was useful and in a team environment helping see other's successes and thoughts on certain aspects. Mel’s delivery was excellent and allowed us time to go through new skills during the sessions.

I liked all of the small tips, bullets of info. All of these nuggets were and are gold! Plus, having 3 weeks between sessions helped put into practice new learnings.

I liked the relaxed manner of the program but also how the team had opportunity to open up.

This training has opened me up to so many new skills that I will need to hone over the coming years. I have taken so much from the small ways of turning phrases around to larger scale skills of coaching and how to communicate with other personalities. I have been told that I am too nice and could be taken advantage of. Tricky conversations will now become easier given the frameworks you have taught so now I want to have them and see changes in my team. Thank you Mel!

I liked the open forum and continued follow through from Mel to prompt our thinking and understanding to allow us to grow and learn :)