Get in touch: hello@totalbalance.com.au
life coach melbourne
  • About
  • Coaching
    • Life Coaching
    • Business coaching
    • Career Coaching
    • Leadership Coaching
    • Mindfulness coaching
  • Workshops
    • Compassionate Conversations
    • The Confidence Course
    • Free Monday Talk & Meditation
    • Build Self-Belief Audio Course
  • Retreat
  • Freebies
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • 0 items
  • About
  • Coaching
    • Life Coaching
    • Business coaching
    • Career Coaching
    • Leadership Coaching
    • Mindfulness coaching
  • Workshops
    • Compassionate Conversations
    • The Confidence Course
    • Free Monday Talk & Meditation
    • Build Self-Belief Audio Course
  • Retreat
  • Freebies
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • 0 items

Leadership Coaching

Become a conscious & confident leader

Kate James is a leadership coach in Melbourne, working with current and emerging female leaders to build self-awareness, self-belief, resilience and overcome imposter syndrome. Her aim is to work with you so that you become a more confident, emotionally intelligent and purposeful leader.

  • Improve your confidence as a leader
  • Become more conscious of your leadership style
  • Get to know your innate leadership strengths
  • Overcome imposter syndrome
  • Build executive presence
  • Learn the art of effective communication (including having difficult conversations)
  • Cultivate inclusive and collaborative leadership
  • Understand and develop executive presence
  • Manage stress and the juggle of balancing work and personal life 

BOOK AN INTRO CALL

leadership-coaching

“I gained far more from the leadership coaching than I ever imagined.”
Samantha

Leadership coaching for women

As a leadership coach, I specialise in working with women who identify as introverts, perfectionists, or those navigating feelings of imposter syndrome.

Many of my clients share qualities and experiences that might resonate with you:

  • Your inner critic is vigilant, and you may identify with perfectionistic tendencies.
  • You see yourself as an introvert, a deep thinker, or someone who cares about ‘conscious leadership’.
  • Leading in alignment with your values is a priority for you.
  • You want your work to feel purposeful and authentic.
  • External measures of success matter less to you than staying true to yourself.

Through leadership coaching, I help women like you embrace their unique qualities and turn them into strengths, cultivating confidence, clarity, and purpose. Together, we’ll create a path that aligns with your values, empowers your authentic leadership, and brings greater fulfilment to both your personal and professional life.

BOOK AN INTRO CALL

leadership-coach

What people say

Samantha, Melbourne

I can’t recommend leadership coaching sessions with Kate James highly enough.  I was very sceptical before starting – imagining the sessions would be full of corporate psychology jargon.  But in fact, I gained far more from them than I ever imagined, on both a personal and professional level.  The sessions are interactive, conducted in a warm and positive manner that encourages honesty and self-reflection, and extremely practical in focus.  Their great strength is that they focus on your whole life and the way you live it, not just on your role as a manager.  I’ve learned a great deal both in terms of how I lead my life and how I perform in management, the one informing the other.  This holistic, down-to-earth approach has been the most helpful and realistic counselling/coaching I’ve ever had.’

Maria, Melbourne

‘When I began leadership coaching with Kate, I was at a very low point in both my personal and professional life. Kate’s thoughtful guidance has proved to be a turning point. She created an environment of complete trust that allowed me to provide information that was at the heart of the matter. In response, Kate was both kind and firm, as required. Her personal follow-ups created a clear set of practical action items, without losing sight of longer-term life goals. I have now emerged from my darkness, and Kate’s advice continues to guide me towards a more positive future. I strongly recommend Kate James to join your own personal team.’

Jennifer, Melbourne

‘My thanks to you for your leadership coaching guidance and direction over the past six weeks. You have provided me with the focus and tools to think deeply and broadly about where I am at and what I want to be and given me insights that have shone a light on what I need to do and how to go about it. It has been a truly rewarding learning experience.’

CH, Lawyer, Melbourne

‘Hi Kate, it’s a while now since I’ve seen you, so I hope you remember me. I came to see you when I was working at a big corporate law firm and trying to work out what to do with my life – primarily in a career sense, but, of course, that led to all sorts of other questions. As you may remember, with your encouragement I eventually applied for a different role which fit much better with my personal goals and values. I was so ready to change directions, but I just couldn’t find a way to do it without that support. And the conversations that we had and the resources you gave me – the questions about values and the books you referred me to – were so helpful then and are still helpful now. I really value the experience of working with you, it has made me appreciate the choices I have so much more and realise that whenever I feel like I’m not where I want to be, I can do something to change it.’

Leadership coaching that’s supportive, empathic and forward-focused

My leadership coaching approach is based in kindness, empathy, encouragement, and unwavering support. Our coaching sessions will prioritise what’s most important to you as a leader. At times, our discussions may feel reflective and even similar to therapy, particularly when unravelling complex challenges however the emphasis will always be on forward momentum rather than dwelling on the past.

Action-oriented sessions with valuable resources

In every coaching session, we’ll collaborate to identify actionable steps that align with your leadership goals. Following our meetings, I’ll often provide supplementary tools such as worksheets, guides, or relevant resources to deepen your learning and support your development as a leader.

Getting started with leadership coaching

To ensure we’re the right fit, we’ll begin with a short phone consultation. Afterward, I recommend starting with a single coaching session to explore your leadership objectives. Before our meeting, you’ll complete a brief questionnaire designed to help you reflect on what you aim to achieve through coaching.

Once we’ve established your goals, we’ll discuss whether a structured coaching program would benefit you. While many leaders find value in a tailored program, others opt for ongoing, flexible coaching sessions to fit their evolving needs.

Sessions are held either via Zoom or in-person on the Mornington Peninsula.

Flexible coaching frequency

Leadership coaching is typically conducted weekly or fortnightly during a program, depending on your preferences and goals. Many of my clients choose to continue their leadership journey with monthly or quarterly sessions after completing their initial program, ensuring consistent growth and support.

If you’re ready to enhance your leadership skills, gain clarity, and unlock your full potential, this coaching process is designed to help you thrive.

BOOK AN INTRO CALL

About Kate

Like many of the leaders I work with, I spent my early years striving for perfection and often prioritising people-pleasing over my own needs. At the time, I hadn’t yet discovered the transformative power of mindfulness, the strengths of introversion, or the importance of self-compassion in effective leadership.

I pursued coaching to create a space where I could merge my business expertise with my passion for psychology, creativity, and mindful leadership. This journey allowed me to combine a love for meaningful conversations with the drive to support others in leading with purpose and intention.

Today, my leadership coaching practice attracts like-minded women — those who value kindness, connection, and curiosity. They are leaders seeking to create lives and careers rooted in purpose, meaning, and authenticity. Together, we work to cultivate their unique strengths and inspire leadership that transforms both their lives and those around them.

MORE ABOUT KATE
Kate-James-author

Coaching options

Single session

Begin with a 60-minute appointment, held online via Zoom or in-person on the Mornington Peninsula.

Fee: $275 AUD (includes GST)

BOOK INTRO

Three session program

3 x 60-minute appointments held online via Zoom or in-person on the Mornington Peninsula.

Fee: $795 AUD (includes GST)

BOOK INTRO

Five session program

5 x 60-minute appointments held online via Zoom or in-person. Option to pay in instalments.

Fee: $1,250 AUD (includes GST)

BOOK INTRO

Get in touch

Get in touch to ask a question that hasn’t been answered here or book a call
to tell me what you’re hoping to get out of coaching.

GET IN TOUCH

Frequently asked questions

What is your leadership coaching experience?

Two years after starting my business, I moved to an office in Collins Street, Melbourne and began coaching lawyers, bankers, partners in consulting firms and leaders in government. My work focused on helping professional people in service-based roles to build self-belief and executive presence, become more conscious leaders and use their innate strengths to become effective and purposeful leaders.

I obtained a PCC Level Certification in 2002 with International Coach Academy and in 2005, achieved a PCC accreditation with International Coach Federation. I also have taken trainings in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Russ Harris, Mindful Self-Compassion Intensive for Professionals (developed by Kristin Neff & Christopher Germer) and Internal Family Systems by Dr Richard Schwarz.

What's the cost of the program?

A five-session program is AUD $1,250 (inclusive of GST).

How does the leadership coaching process work?

We begin by clarifying what you want to achieve from the coaching process and I may invite you to undertake a few strengths assessments. Together, we’ll identify some clear objectives for your coaching and explore the obstacles you perceive as barriers to your growth as a leader. I’ll help you identify beliefs and assumptions that may be limiting your potential and ask questions to expand your thinking and open new possibilities.

During each coaching session, we’ll agree on action steps that will keep moving you toward your leadership goals. I’ll share a range of resources and tools to help deepen your self-awareness and provide insights and learning.

My coaching style has been described by other clients as professional, kind, supportive, wise, practical, intuitive and transformative. The coaching relationship is completely confidential and my approach is to be open-minded and non-judgemental.

I'm not sure if I need life, leadership, career or business coaching.

The truth is you don’t really need to choose but you can find out more about what we’d address in each of these programs by following these links: career coaching, business coaching, leadership coaching or life coaching.

I take a holistic approach and believe that it’s important that we spend a bit of time looking at the whole of your life. Having said that, the coaching sessions are your time so I encourage you to direct the content. You’ll complete some questionnaires when you make your booking to let me know what you’d like to achieve.

What is your cancellation policy?

I ask for 48 hours notice to change or cancel an appointment to give me time to find someone else to fill your place.

“If you’re lucky enough to be different, don’t ever change.”

Khoudia Diop

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM

Uncertainty has been a consistent theme in my life at the moment. With clients, friends, family and even for me at a personal level.I feel hugely grateful for mindfulness practices during times like these and I’ve also found the following five steps to be helpful.1. Find pockets of certainty, wherever you canTidy the house, sort your finances, clean out your wardrobe, organise your paperwork, plan your meals for a week. Making the small things around you feel ordered and beautiful will help you to feel a little more at peace.2. Appreciate the things that make your life beautifulOne of the things I became aware of while we were on holiday in Tassie was how much natural beauty was around us every day. Try engaging your sense of gratitude with every meal you eat, every friendly encounter, every interaction with nature and every opportunity you have to experience or engage in creativity.3. Make time for practices that are genuinely soothingIf meditation isn’t your thing (and it isn’t for many people), try a different form of mindful relaxation. On a recent Insight Timer Live we explored this topic together and came up with dancing, singing, reading, walking, yoga, pilates, gardening, playing, sketching, painting, skiing, paddle boarding, surfing. The most important thing is that you make time for whatever it is that brings you some calm. 4. Acknowledge your feelings and offer yourself compassionMake room for all of the emotions – the fear, anxiety, worry, sadness, anger, frustration and powerlessness. Notice where you feel those emotions in your body and offer yourself genuine compassion.5. Make peace with uncertainty, as best you canWe won’t feel uncertainty every day but it’s likely that we’ll experience it often in our lives and we’ll probably always find it difficult. Remind yourself that nothing will stay the same forever and you’re strong enough to handle this. ✨
“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” Nelson Mandela ✨
“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” John Muir ✨
A follow on from last week’s post about aspiring to simplicity. I’m on holiday in Tasmania where I was lucky enough to live for ten years. Yesterday, as we drove through the countryside, I was struck by a lovely memory. At around the age of 12, I spotted many abandoned little cottages, very much like this one. I knew at the time that the simple beauty was all that I would ever want and need in my lifetime. A humble home surrounded by plenty of nature. I had a picture of myself planting a garden, reading by the fire, writing at a little wooden desk and baking in an old fashioned kitchen. Maybe one day having my own children and sharing my love of nature with them. Almost 50 years later, it’s still all of these things that fill me with joy and give my life meaning. I think most of us knew ourselves well at that age yet often, we lost trust in what we believed in and started shaping ourselves to please other people. Can you remember what it was you dreamed of? ✨
An invitation to go a little more gently this week. To let go of some of your striving. To notice the things that you already have. And to make sure that you really do treasure them. ✨💛
Since writing last week's post, I've had my value of 'inner harmony' front of mind, because it's something I don't always find easy.I've been a worrier all my life, so even after years of meditation practice, I sometimes find it hard to create a quiet mind – unless I'm immersed in nature. When Chris encouraged me to try paddle boarding a few years ago, I had no idea if I'd be able to do it. I'm not naturally sporty so things like this don't come easily. But something magical happened when I first stood on that board and looked into the beautiful clear water.I felt (and still feel) transported to a place that removes me from all of my worries. I become immersed in the wonder beneath me. The forests of seaweed, the schools of fish, the way the sunlight creates patterns on the seabed and once, we paddled with dolphins. All of it is truly magical (and quite miraculous that I can keep my balance). I didn't mention last week that one of my other values is courage, which is the one I embraced when I first went out onto the water.The irony is that some of the moments that bring the most peace are made possible when I do something that scares me. ✨
One of the things I do with almost every new client I work with is a values exercise. It's such a powerful tool to help you identify what really matters in your life. Once you've chosen your personal values, you begin to understand why certain choices, places or relationships, feel so right. And why others really don’t. Your values will help you make meaningful choices that shape how you live every day. And as soon as you start living in alignment with your values, your life immediately becomes more meaningful.Do you know your top three values? I’d love you to share them if you do. Mine are inner harmony, kindness and connection. As well as connection with others and myself, this includes a deep sense of connection with nature which is why we live where we do. 🌿 If you’re interested to discover your values, I’ve included a link in my bio to an easy exercise that will help you gain clarity on yours. It really can be life-changing. ✨
This morning on @insighttimer Live, I spoke about the practice of gratitude and how research has found it to be an antidote to many physical and psychological challenges.It can improve sleep, reduce fatigue, and lower levels of cellular inflammation. One study found that those who practice on a regular basis experience less depression and are more resilient following traumatic events.Another called it “the mother of all virtues”, in that it encourages other virtues such as patience, humility, and wisdom.In my own life, it has been a daily practice for a few decades now. At the end of each day, an app on my phone called Grateful sounds a reminder and allows me to add a few words and photos.The best thing is that I now have a collection of my favourite memories that I can scroll through at any time. I took this pic just over a week ago at our local beach. At the end of an afternoon of swimming and paddling with Meg and me, Oscar said, “Grandma, that was the best day ever.” I love that he’s already grateful for the simple pleasures. ☀️
Five ways to be more true to yourself this year.I spent so much of my time in my twenties and thirties doing things to please other people instead of trusting myself and listening to my heart. It wasn't until I found the courage to accept that I might be criticised no matter what I chose that I found the courage to be true to myself. And I can honestly tell you, it's life changing. I hope the following quick tips help. 1. Let go of the idea that you need to do what’s expected of you. In Bronnie Ware's book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, number one on the list is, "I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."2. Believe that you’re strong enough to handle some criticism. It might still be hurtful but after a short amount of time, that hurt will pass. The more you're being real, the less critical you'll be of yourself, and that's energising.3. Trust that you already know what fulfills you. Often when I meet a new client they tell me they don't know what they want. Once we get talking, it turns out that they do, but like all of us, it can be confronting to be really honest with themselves. 4. Give up one thing that hasn’t been serving you. This can be literally anything. Whatever it is that you choose, do it from a place of self-love not from a place of self-criticism.5. Take one courageous step towards the life of your dreams. It doesn't need to be huge but when you want something to change, there has to be some action taken. Make the phone call, update your profile, send (or accept) an invitation, join a class...it doesn't matter what you choose, just do something. ✨
© Kate James 2025

Menu

  • About Kate James
  • Kate’s ideal client
  • Life coaching
  • Career coaching
  • Business coaching
  • Leadership coaching
  • Workshops & courses

 

  • Kind words
  • Freebies
  • Giving back
  • FAQ
  • Terms & conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Get in touch

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands we live and work on, the Boonwurrung people of the Kulin Nation and pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging.

FOLLOW US

Cleantalk Pixel