International Coach Week: Your chance to hear from an inspirational leader

This year, the International Coaching Federation (ICF) marks its 30th anniversary – 30 years of inspiring change through coaching and setting the standards for our profession.

It’s the perfect week to celebrate who we are as coaches – and to recognise the difference each of us makes as part of the Open Door Alumni.

In terms of making a difference, this year we have the opportunity to learn from Hayley Goldsmith from who is currently serving as a Clinical Team Leader at Victoria Police.

Join Natalie as she interviews Hayley on her remarkable career and how she has applied coaching in very different contexts, from ANZ Bank to her current role at Victoria Police.

 Join us for the special presentation for International Coach Week.

About Hayley 

With over 22 years of professional experience and a decade specialising in leadership coaching, Hayley is passionate about empowering individuals and teams to reach their full potential. 

Currently serving as a Clinical Team Leader at Victoria Police, Hayley brings a unique blend of leadership, coaching and clinical expertise to her work. Hayley is passionate about coaching, mental health support and initiatives and the well-being of others.  

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Is the annual performance conversation season a chance to turn around engagement?

Last week kicked off our new Coaching Café Podcast series by unpacking the newly released Gallup State of the Global Workplace Report for 2025.

But the headlines are hard to ignore:

• Is the global workplace at breaking point?
• Employee engagement on the brink (of collapse)
• Management engagement falls from 30% to 27% (no other worker category has experienced as significant decline).

This round of Coaching Cafés Podcasts we are focusing on enabling effective performance conversations. Understandably, this might feel worrying for some managers, given low engagement scores.

However, we believe there is a real opportunity. If done right, the annual performance conversation season could be a chance for many managers to begin the turnaround of employee engagement.

Therefore, join Natalie and Paula as we explore:

💡 How to approach performance conversations as a catalyst for engagement
💡 Why traditional performance reviews often miss the mark
💡 Coaching strategies to make annual conversations more meaningful

Let’s focus on enabling effective performance conversations …and see how coaching can make a difference.

If you are a regular, you know the vibe and the great contribution that you make to our discussions; so we look forward to welcoming you back and offering you a value-packed 30 minutes each Tuesday.

If you’ve not joined us for a Coaching Café Podcast, now is your opportunity to schedule this time for your professional and personal development. In no time at all, you’ll be looking forward to Tuesdays, just like we all do!

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other people.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

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The Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2025 report has just landed.

Call us nerds, but we dropped everything to download it. Like many, we hoped to see improvements in global workplace engagement. After all, increasing engagement feels like a shared crusade among leaders, coaches, and organisations alike.

Now join Natalie and Paula as they kick off a new series of Coaching Cafe Podcasts. This series will focus on enabling effective performance conversations - which may be a worrying time for some, given low engagement scores. But first let’s get a handle on the current state of our workforce in today's podcast.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other people.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

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This week Natalie reflects on ANZAC day.

For those unfamiliar with the day, ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and the day commemorates the 25th of April 1915, the day the Anzac's landed in Gallipoli in the 1st world war. While the day was originally intended to honour the over 8,000 lives lost in the campaign, the day now honours all service people who have lost their lives to war.

Lest we forget.

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Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

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Over the past few weeks, we’ve explored ethics in coaching through the lens of the ICF Core Competencies - not just as a checkbox for membership renewal, but as a lived practice.

We’ve explored:

✔️ Our own ethical decision-making as coaches
✔️ Stakeholder agreements & confidentiality
✔️ The ethical use of AI in coaching

Now join Natalie and Paula our final Coaching Café Podcast in this series, as we open the floor to your biggest ethical questions in coaching.

💡 What are the ethical dilemmas you’ve faced in your coaching practice?
💡 How do you navigate ethical grey areas (if any) when coaching in organisations?
💡 What questions do you have for us?

This is a chance to reflect, challenge, and strengthen our ethical coaching practice. Let’s make it an insightful, engaging, and valuable conversation!

If you are a regular, you know the vibe and the great contribution that you make to our discussions; so we look forward to welcoming you back and offering you a value-packed 30 minutes each Tuesday

If you’ve not joined us for a Coaching Café Podcast, now is your opportunity to schedule this time for your professional and personal development. In no time at all, you’ll be looking forward to Tuesday lunchtimes, just like we all do!

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other people.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

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• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

AI in Coaching – A Practical Demonstration

Following our thought-provoking discussion on the ethical use of AI in coaching last week, it’s time to take the conversation further.

Can AI really improve coaching?

Can it assess coaching conversations against the ICF Core Competencies?

Can it even coach us on a topic?

In this Coaching Café Podcast, Natalie and Paula will move beyond theory and demonstrate AI in action. We will focus on:

✅ Using AI to enhance coaching – How AI can analyse coaching conversations and provide feedback based on ICF Core Competencies.
✅ AI as a coaching tool – Can AI hold a coaching conversation? Let’s put it to the test.
✅ What AI can’t do (yet!) – The limits of AI, why it won’t replace human coaches.

This session will be practical, and thought-provoking, giving you firsthand experience of AI’s role in coaching—while reinforcing the irreplaceable value of human connection.

Join us as we explore the possibilities… and the boundaries!

If you are a regular, you know the vibe and the great contribution that you make to our discussions; so we look forward to welcoming you back and offering you a value-packed 30 minutes each Tuesday.

If you’ve not joined us for a Coaching Café Podcast, now is your opportunity to schedule this time for your professional and personal development. In no time at all, you’ll be looking forward to Tuesda just like we all do!

You can also tell us the topics you want to hear about this year. Do this using the channels below.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other people.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials
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• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

Ethical use of AI in Coaching – is it cheating?

I had just finished writing the new coaching assignment Ethical Use of AI in Coaching for our Certificate IV in Workplace and Business Coaching (11314NAT) program. The assignment requires students to analyse a transcript using an AI tool with the aim of improving the coaching.

And suddenly, the thought hit me: is this cheating?

As professional workplace coaches, we must stay ahead of industry developments. At the same time, we are deeply committed to ethical coaching practices. How do we balance both?

Join Natalie and Paula in this week’s Coaching Café Podcast as we kick off a new series exploring AI in Coaching. We’ll discuss:

✅ How AI can enhance coaching conversations
✅ Ethical considerations and boundaries in using AI
✅ Practical ways to integrate AI while maintaining professional integrity

Let’s navigate this evolving landscape together. See you there!

If you are a regular, you know the vibe and the great contribution that you make to our discussions; so we look forward to welcoming you back and offering you a value-packed 30 minutes each week.

If you’ve not joined us for a Coaching Café, now is your opportunity to schedule this time for your professional and personal development. In no time at all, you’ll be looking forward to the Tuesday release day, just like we all do!

You can also tell us the topics you want to hear about this year! Email us or contact us on social media if you'd like.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other people.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

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Thanks for listening!

The meeting was between myself, the HR Manager and the coachee’s manager and I was taking a brief about a potential coaching opportunity. The question was asked ‘so what kind of reporting do you do?’. I offered my standard response regarding confidentiality and who reports the outcomes of the coaching to whom.

But to be frank, since we have our standard responses, it is not something that we spend a lot of time thinking about. And at the same time, it made me realise how we never take for granted the nature of the confidential relationship between coach and coachee. And how important it is to navigate the requirements of stakeholders whilst maintaining confidentiality.

As professional workplace coaches, this is an important part of setting up the coaching agreement. In fact, it is written into the ICF Core Competency: Demonstrates Ethical Practice.

So this week on the Coaching Café Podcast, join Natalie and Paula as we continue our deeper dive into the ICF Core Competency of Demonstrates Ethical Practice and explore how to:
✔️ Maintain confidentiality in coaching
✔️ Navigate stakeholder agreements
✔️ Set clear expectations in coaching contracts
✔️ Respond to common questions about reporting

We’ll also provide a practical framework for handling conversations like the one above.

If you are a regular, you know the vibe and the great contribution that you make to our discussions; so we look forward to welcoming you back and offering you a value-packed 30 minutes each Tuesday

If you’ve not joined us for a Coaching Café Podcast, now is your opportunity to schedule this time for your professional and personal development. In no time at all, you’ll be looking forward to Tuesdays, just like we all do!

You can also tell us the topics you want to hear about this year by emailing us using the email below.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other people.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
• Check out the YouTube Video of this podcast.
  • YouTube
• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!