Step back and consider life coaching

Nowadays, people lead busy lives and are forced to constantly adapt to changes that happen in their lives; whether in their private lives or work lives.

Sometimes these changes lead to a lot of uncertainty where people don’t know whether they are coming or going. Many people are making big changes in their lives and doing what they love instead of venturing into the corporate world.

Life coaching is an option for people who need a little help to make a change in their lives, but it’s also a wonderful job for those lucky people who have a gift for listening and understanding.

Mr Leonard ‘Coach Leo’ Mashao is one of those who has the ‘street cred’ and the skills to back up his life-altering advice.

This Modderfontein Toastmasters Club member took some time out to share some of his wisdom in the hopes that he will inspire people to lead their best lives today.

Born and raised in Limpopo by his grandmother, Mr Mashao is a qualified and Award-Winning Life/Executive/Business Coach and Life Coach, as well as author. He never dreamed of being a Life Coach one day but as fate would have it, that is the direction his life took.

He came to Johannesburg in the late 1990s to pursue his studies in engineering. It was only after he joined the workplace that he realised what he wanted to do.

“It took me a while to figure out exactly what it is I wanted to do and it took me going into an engineering field and seeing how people are working to see what I was supposed to be doing. While working in the mining field, I realised how we become inefficient and how we ignore the people element in solutions that are implemented in the workplace,” said Mr Mashao.

He said working in engineering was an eye opening experience for him because that is when he started helping people and giving advice.

“While assisting the people I worked with, I received a lot of positive feedback from my peers and that made me think seriously about taking my life coaching skills to the next level,” said Mr Mashao.

He said travelling to different places in the country taught him a lot of things that he would not have learnt had he stayed in one place.

“I recommend travelling to people because when you travel, you don’t only enjoy seeing the places but you learn a lot about other people’s environments, cultures and that helps you understand them better. I believe that every master was once a disaster. When you learn, you get to apply the right knowledge and skills in the right sequence for what you want to achieve,” he said.

The year 2012 was the year he formally started his life coaching career.

“In that year I decided to take this seriously and did formal training in life coaching. That is also the year my book, “Living Life to the Fatest” was published.

The book is a study in fortitude, resourcefulness and desire to live one’s life to the fullest.

He advised that life coaching is an option for those people who want change in their personal or professional lives.

“When you’re at a place where you can clearly identify what’s not working and you know what you want instead, a life coach can help you in that journey. Your business and career will only grow to the extent that you do. Coaching is a tool to align and create focus for all of that and more.”