Disillusioned with the cut-throat commercial sector, Annie Legge was pursuing purpose in her work and decided to carve out a career in the social sector aligned with her values. It was serendipity that Annie then met her future co-founder, Catherine Ainsworth working at a tech charity, and together they created Dot Project to drive confidence in technology in the non-profit sector.

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Client Case Study: Annie Legge (pictured left) with co-founder Catherine Ainsworth

Coaching Contract: From October 2019 to January 2020, Annie Legge worked with Jennifer Clamp for six 90 minute sessions.

Why did you choose to embark on business coaching?

I originally met Jennifer through a network contact, as we were both involved in community building in the tech sector in New Zealand where I launched Tech for Good New Zealand in 2018. At the time, she was undergoing her coaching training qualifications and she approached me to go on a learning journey with her and her coaching practice. I agreed, having worked with coaches before and knowing how much value there could be. For me, I knew I wanted to work on setting clear boundaries, as however well you’ve crafted your personal/work balance, life creeps up on you.

What's it like working with Jennifer? How would you describe her coaching style?

Jennifer has a very gentle and reassuring energy - this created a safe space and set me at ease from the beginning.

My co-founder Catherine Ainsworth was on maternity leave when Jennifer started coaching me, so I had the responsibility of managing the business on my own. I remember deciding that Dot Project would be in a good state when Catherine came back and that I wouldn’t let her down.

I knew however that I needed to turn my strong and sometimes overpowering work ethic into a positive force for the business and myself - that is where Jennifer helped me.

Together we found our natural groove as each coach and client’s energy is different.

What has been the most valuable exercise you’ve done in a session?

Definitely the strengths-finder tool, a psychometric test, which we did at the very beginning of our journey. It gave us a framework for all our discussions, I learned how to maximise strengths that I have and bring forward others I wasn’t necessarily creating space for - such as creative thinking. It was helpful for me to ground the sessions in something so practical.

I discovered my top unrealised strengths were; creativity, self-belief, being a change agent/catalyst and time optimisation.

I found myself growing into these strengths and changing the language I used about myself to match this - even on my LinkedIn profile! This exercise helped me shape in my mind what it is that I bring to the table.

A strength identified which I use very well was rapport building, and it was eye-opening to talk through the way that it is actually positioned as a strength and I realised that I should step into it and be proud. By contrast, my most unrealised strength was self-belief; as I sometimes judge myself on others’ strengths, such as presenting or facilitating workshops - but with Jennifer’s coaching I came to learn that I bring something quite different. Through my rapport-building I curate spaces and the connections that allow those workshops to take place.

What changes have you noticed in yourself over the course of your work together?

I can certainly manage myself better and that has such an impact on my business as it was founder-led at the time (up until April 2020 when we welcomed new members to the cooperative). As such, and as is a theme in coaching, founders can suffer from burnout and I can fall into this trap every few months, just from pushing too hard, doing too much or not understanding how to manage my own boundaries.

Jennifer worked through some practical exercises with me to help with this, including blocking out personal time in my diary. This had such a major impact because if I am strong and managing myself well then that enables me to have the headspace at work to respond creatively, whereas when you’re verging on exhaustion you tend to revert to task-based activities rather than contributing to something more strategic.

How did the coaching experience differ from or meet your original expectations of it?

Thinking back now I realise, unexpectedly, that some of the strategies we worked on together are now cemented in my subconscious! Subtle things, like time management. Jennifer helped me identify where to set boundaries and how to work to my own rhythm which then allows me to be at my best, fulfil my commitments and have a satisfying work day - all core principles within our business that I wanted to be an advocate for.

Also one of the challenges I brought to our coaching sessions was that I was finding it hard to delineate between what was work and personal life. As a founder of a purpose-driven business I have a mission, I want to see and bring about change in the world. It was by exploring this, that Jennifer helped me to create space and take time to do all those other things that make me Annie, which was refreshing for a business coach to place value on.

How do you measure 'success' as an outcome of coaching?

I think it’s about fundamental behaviour change. For me this doesn’t necessarily need to be anything monumental, some of the things I’ve spoken about that we worked on may seem small but they have created lasting behaviour change which impacts what I bring to my day-to-day work and how I connect to my business.

Who would you recommend Jennifer's coaching for, and why?

Definitely female founders working in fast-paced sectors, as Jennifer has much experience here, she understands how people operate during phases of rapid change and innovation. Jennifer really is a lovely person and character.

Client Case Study: Annie Legge