The COACHpreneur Journey

From CEO to Coach: What 30 Years Across Cultures Taught Me About People | Farhaz Farouk | The COACHpreneur Journey #13

What happens when a former CFO and CEO who has lived across four countries decides to become a coach? In this episode, I sit down with Farhaz Farouk — Life & Business Coach based in Sri Lanka, former CFO and CEO, and a fellow alumnus of our very first coaching cohort — to talk about how a career spanning Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, and Bahrain shaped the way he sees people, why titles and appearances tell you nothing about who someone really is, and why coaching skills belong in every leader's toolkit — not just something you pick up after retirement. What you'll learn: → Why growing up across cultures makes it easier to coach without judgment → The real story behind "never judge a person by how they look" → How Toastmasters training transfers directly into coaching presence → Why your past career — whatever it was — is never wasted when you become a coach → What separates a coach from a mentor, and why that distinction matters for leaders → Why coaching skills should be learned in your 20s, not after decades of leading One line from this conversation that stayed with me: "A coach is not an expert. He's just a facilitator." 🕒 CHAPTERS 00:00 – Introduction and podcast overview 00:51 – Who is Farhaz Farouk? 02:48 – Growing up across cultures: Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Bahrain 05:49 – Seeing the human, not the label 07:43 – Never judge a person by how they look 11:09 – Bias, the ICF Code of Ethics, and our common humanity 14:46 – Toastmasters: building confidence and communication 20:38 – Why your past experience is never wasted in coaching 22:25 – The defining moment that led to coaching 26:56 – How a master's in professional coaching changed his practice 30:25 – The reflective practice that surfaced a hidden pattern 35:11 – Who are Farhaz's clients? 38:40 – What companies are really looking for 41:13 – Conflict, communication, and the marathon analogy 43:37 – What individual clients struggle with 45:41 – A corporate coaching success story 47:19 – Why every leader needs coaching skills 53:03 – Where to find Farhaz 🔗 CONNECT WITH FARHAZ FAROUK LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farhazfarouk/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH JOERG SAUER LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joergsauer-coach/ Instagram: @joergsauer_coach Web: https://joergsauer.coach --- Doing more won't fix what doing more created. I work with leaders ready to become more. #LifeCoaching #BusinessCoaching #ExecutiveCoaching #ProfessionalCoaching #ICF #LeadershipDevelopment #CoachingPsychology #CoachingEcosystem #COACHpreneurJourney #Leadership

Ep. 12 — Emmanuel Zara, Jr.: Flourishing Leadership in a Complex World

Most leaders are excellent firefighters. The problem is when constant firefighting becomes the culture — and nobody goes up to the balcony to see why the same fires keep appearing in different locations. Dr. Emmanuel G. Zara, Jr. is an Executive Coach and Leadership & Organizational Development Consultant based in Manila, Philippines. With a PhD in Leadership Studies and 20 years working with senior leaders across sectors, his research focuses on what it takes to flourish — not just survive — in a complex world. He serves as adjunct faculty at Golden Gate University. In this conversation: the difference between thriving and flourishing, why firefighting is physiologically addictive, the square wheels most organizations never see, why the leader you are today mirrors the leader you once reported to, and how mindfulness research is changing the tools available to leaders in crisis. Connect with Emmanuel Zara, Jr.: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanuel-zara-jr-phd-984515a/ Instagram: @emmanueljr.zara About Joerg Sauer (host): Transformational coach, ICF ACC, MSc Professional Coaching & Entrepreneurship. Country Leader, Morphosis Coaching Indonesia. Jakarta, Indonesia. Instagram: @joergsauer_coach | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joergsauer-coach/ About The COACHpreneur Journey: Conversations with coaches, coach entrepreneurs, clients, and service providers in the coaching ecosystem. Hosted by Joerg Sauer, Jakarta.

The Listening CEO: Why the Best Leaders Speak Last | Ryan Charland | The COACHpreneur Journey #11

Most leaders are hired to have the answers. Ryan Charland — CEO of Manulife Japan — learned that speaking last is a more powerful leadership tool than speaking first. In this episode, Ryan shares how coaching shaped his approach to leadership across three cultures — Canada, Indonesia, and Japan — and why alignment, listening, and psychological safety aren't soft skills. They're the hard work of leadership. What you'll take away: → Why leaders who speak first quietly bias every decision their team makes → The 30 priorities trap and how to escape it → How to choose between internal and external coaching → How to build a values-driven team that holds itself accountable → What coaching across cultures taught a CEO about directness, face, and respect "I tried to be the last one to speak. If I spoke first, it would just naturally — human nature — bias the conversation in that direction." — Ryan Charland Connect with Ryan Charland: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ryan-charland-b884b741 Connect with Joerg Sauer: Instagram: @joergsauer_coach LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joergsauer-coach

The Coaching Leader: Using Coaching Skills Without Being a Full-Time Coach | Pascale Feldmann | The COACHpreneur Journey #10

What if coaching skills could make you a better leader — even if you never become a full-time coach? In this episode, I sit down with Pascale Feldmann — biologist, project leader, and internal coach at a multinational in Ghent, Belgium — who came to coaching by chance and never looked back. What you'll take away: → How the shift from telling to listening transforms leadership impact → Why slowing down counterintuitively makes you more productive → The real difference between a coaching leader and a professional coach → Why internal coaching reaches people that external programmes never can → How to give every voice in a team a genuine chance to be heard "I do more if I slow down." — Pascale Feldmann Connect with Pascale Feldmann: LinkedIn: see show notes Connect with Joerg Sauer: @joergsauer_coach

The Art of Facilitation: Making Difficult Conversations Possible | Nami Ishihara | The COACHpreneur Journey #9

Most teams don't fail because of strategy. They fail because nobody creates the conditions for an honest conversation. In this episode, I sit down with Nami Ishihara — IAF Certified Professional Facilitator and founder of HappyTeams in Jakarta — to explore what skilled facilitation actually looks like inside real organizations. We go into the uncomfortable stuff: why leadership teams build kingdoms instead of collaborating, why emotions belong in the boardroom, and why the best facilitator in the room is often the one who knows the least about your industry. What you'll take away: → Why leaders who try to have all the answers are the biggest obstacle to team performance → The invisible foundations of accountability that org charts and Gantt charts miss entirely → How to navigate emotions at work without calling it therapy → The Drexler/Sibbet Team Performance Model — a practical diagnostic for stuck teams → Why facilitators, coaches, and consultants are not interchangeable → The one question to ask before your next leadership retreat "People already know what needs to be done. They just need a safe space to say it." — Nami Ishihara Connect with Nami Ishihara: happyteams1.com | @happyteams1 | linkedin.com/in/nami73ishihara Connect with Joerg Sauer: @joergsauer_coach