Louise Zawada

Lou Zawada is an executive leadership coach, facilitator and transformation specialist who helps senior leaders and executive teams lead with greater clarity, confidence and impact in complex environments.

Drawing on more than 20 years’ experience leading large-scale organisational change, leadership development and business improvement initiatives, Lou partners with leaders who are navigating high-pressure transformation, organisational growth, strategic change and cultural complexity. Her work focuses on strengthening leadership judgement, building influence, improving decision-making and helping leaders read the behavioural evidence that often sits beneath organisational performance.

Known for combining warmth with healthy challenge, Lou creates psychologically safe environments where leaders can think more clearly, have the conversations that matter and take meaningful action. She is an accredited PRINT® practitioner and integrates behavioural insight with evidence-based coaching to help leaders better understand themselves, strengthen relationships and lead others more effectively.

Alongside executive coaching, Lou designs and facilitates leadership programs, executive team workshops and strategic planning sessions that improve alignment, accountability and execution. Having personally led transformation portfolios, change teams and enterprise-wide improvement programs, she brings practical experience rather than theory alone.

Her experience spans mining and resources, government, infrastructure, health, aged care, education, wagering, agribusiness, not-for-profit and private sector organisations.

Lou believes every coaching engagement should be tailored to the leader, their context and the outcomes they are seeking.

Working as a thinking partner, she combines executive coaching, behavioural insight, leadership development and practical transformation experience to help leaders navigate complexity with greater confidence.

Sessions are highly reflective while remaining grounded in real organisational challenges, ensuring insight translates into meaningful behavioural change and measurable business outcomes.

Her coaching style is supportive, commercially minded and appropriately challenging; creating the conditions for leaders to strengthen their judgement, expand their influence and lead with greater intention.

Lou achieves the strongest coaching outcomes with executive leaders, senior leaders and experienced people leaders who are leading through complexity, organisational change or significant growth.

Many of her clients work within mining and resources, government, infrastructure, health, education, not-for-profit and other transformation-intensive environments where the technical challenges are matched by equally complex people and stakeholder dynamics.

Her coaching is particularly valuable for leaders who need to strengthen their influence, executive presence, decision-making and leadership confidence while navigating uncertainty, leading change, building high-performing teams or stepping into larger leadership roles. Drawing on her background in organisational transformation, Lou helps leaders turn insight into practical action that improves both individual effectiveness and organisational outcomes.

Lou has coached leaders across mining and resources, government, infrastructure, health, aged care, agribusiness, wagering, not-for-profit and private sector organisations.

Clients have included Rio Tinto, DEMIRS, Racing and Wagering Western Australia, Woodside, CBH Group, BGIS, Bethanie, City of Karratha, AFG, family offices and a range of privately owned organisations.

Her coaching experience spans executive leaders, senior leadership teams, functional leaders, project directors, transformation leaders and emerging leaders.