252: Authentic Leadership & Building Courage in Business with Katie O'Malley

In this enlightening episode, Katie O'Malley offers her insights as a counsellor who has worked with MBA students and empowers minorities in the workplace. She introduces ideas from counselling to coach clients on their authentic career paths and be more courageous in workplace cultures. Katie is a board-certified coach with a master's degree in counselling. She's a career coach and workplace strategist with 15 years of professional experience serving the nonprofit, corporate, and educational sectors.  Since 2018, Katie has worked alongside more than 200 clients as the CEO and principal coach of (en)Courage Coaching, founded on a mission to elevate more women, people of colour, and LGBTQ+ folks to the rooms where decisions are made.    Key Topics Lego Serious Play: People are intrinsically tied to their identity; some are fearful or opposed to new ideas that mess with their familiarity. A great way to introduce new ideas is by stacking the new ones with what they identify or are familiar with, much like different legos stacked onto each other. Profit Follows Leadership: Investing in leadership development and education creates more business leaders who are self-aware, accountable, and responsible in the workplace. Non-maleficence in Leadership: Non-maleficence–often used in counselling–is the principle of causing no harm to clients and making them feel safe. Leadership must also reflect on non-maleficence to encourage operating from a place of consistency and authenticity. Life-Changing Question: Katie asks herself and her clients, "What is the next best step you can take?" Focusing on an overall goal and aspiration can help one progress and look back at their struggles with confidence.   Resources:  Katie's LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/kateomalley) (en)Courage Coaching's website (https://encouragecoaching.org/)   If you want to create a reliable cash flow for your business, I have some tools and resources that can help. Take the Profit Scorecard (3 minutes) and identify where you are leaking profit now – click here.