Equity Magazine April 2018

LOCAL STAR
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Dawn Metcalfe is an executive coach, facilitator, trainer, leadership advisor, and author of two books,
Managing the Matrix and The HardTalk Handbook. The HardTalk Handbook is accompanied by the
HardTalk training programme – a fully blended, customisable, certified, modular programme designed
to help individuals and teams to have difficult conversations more effectively. She is also the founder of
Dubai based PDSi, which helps individuals and teams get even better at what they do best
Tell us about yourself
I was born in Ireland, but left at the age
of 17 to study in Manchester. Since then,
I have lived and worked in Europe, rural
Japan and China, before landing in
Bangkok and then the UAE. When I
need to escape, I go to Sri Lanka and
allow the beauty to relax me and recharge
my batteries. Having worked in seven
countries, Metcalfe has had the privilege
of meeting leaders at all levels, around
the region and beyond, to change the
way they see the world, their behaviour
and impact on others.
How long have you been in the UAE?
I’ve been based in Dubai for almost ten
years which seems crazy given I didn’t
really know where it was in relation to
Abu Dhabi, when I first got here. I’ve
come to love living here. In particular, I
love the diversity of this young nation.
The fact that every day I learn a name
I’ve never heard before, and something
new about the various ways we’ve found
to navigate our journey on this planet
makes this a fascinating place to live. It’s
ambitious and I’ve seen so much change
in the short time I’ve lived here. I’m
looking forward to seeing (and being a
small part of) what happens next.
Tell us about your company PDSi?
I started PDSi in 2010 and we essentially
do one thing: we help individuals and
teams to get even better at what they do.
We do this through coaching, training
programmes and facilitated retreats. Our
clients are in every sector because people
are the same whether they’re running a
bank, an engineering firm or are in retail.
What field were you in before you
launched this?
I’ve pretty much always been in
education. Starting from when I was a
little girl, learning my Irish verbs (and
forcing my best friend to learn them with
me). I’ve been interested in how we learn
and how we change. After becoming ill, I
moved from the public sector to the
private sector and was quickly part of
building a business. It was an obvious
progression to marry my love of business
and my understanding of education to
build my own company. As for the
books? I never thought of writing my
first book until I realised I had clients
with the same questions and no answers.
The next thing I knew, I had written a
book proposal and accepted an advance.
After that there’s no going back. But it
just happened and Managing the Matrix
was published in 2014. My second book,
HardTalk, is different. I’ve been involved
with every single step along with a great
team of people. It’s my current obsession
and I guess I’ve gotten over my
impostor syndrome, with regards to
being an author.
Why did you write HardTalk?
In some ways, the book and the
accompanying programme are the results
of more than 20 years of thinking about
what it takes to communicate effectively.
I work in a diverse place: across a lot of
different industries, with people from
varied backgrounds, and from all over the
world. This brings many opportunities,
but it also makes it difficult for us to speak
up. And it’s already difficult enough with
our brains working against us more often
than not. When we choose not to speak
up, it has horrible consequences for
morale, then quality and turnover and
ultimately, the bottom line. All because
people are afraid or don’t want to or don’t
know how to have a difficult conversation.
I built HardTalk based on extensive
research and using techniques from many
disciplines, including neuroscience, to
give people the skills they need to engage
effectively in such conversations. It’s not
easy – as the name suggests – but the
benefits of successful HardTalk can be
transformative for individuals, teams
and organisations.
Why should companies hire an
executive coach?
Everybody needs somebody who’s on
their side but doesn’t have any personal
“skin in the game”. As an executive coach
your role can change from being a teacher
or cheerleader, to reflecting a client,
showing them how they are really
perceived by others. You’re the person on
the outside who wants them to win and is
okay with being “the bad guy” or the
“shoulder to cry on” or whatever that
person needs to get them to where they
want to go. We all need somebody like
that. The more senior you are, the harder
it is to find somebody who really doesn’t
have an agenda beyond yours. If you’re a
team then you need one person whose
role it is to focus on making that a great
team - on the intent and interaction rather
than the content. Somebody who forces
you to think about how and why you’re
doing what you’re doing as individuals
and teams rather than just “what”.
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