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