Luizer’s Journey As a Manager
Luizer Makena is the Regional Manager of East Africa for SeamlessHR. Luizer is based in Nairobi, Kenya, where she has previously held a number of business development roles across talent development and recruitment companies including Fuzu, African Management Initiative and BrighterMonday.
Luizer Connects With Executive Coach with CoffeeChat
In 2021, Luizer had an opportunity to work with an executive coach through the CoffeeChat platform during her time at Fuzu. She appreciated the approach used by her coach which followed the philosophy of acting like a mirror to the participant to help them gain more clarity about how they are viewing their workplace challenges and opportunities. One important scenario Luizer worked through with her coach was how to deliver difficult feedback to a senior manager. Despite having a strong feedback culture at Fuzu, Luizer was concerned that because her feedback was personal in nature, it may be received poorly. Her coach helped her build awareness and confidence about the situation and resulted in a positive and effective experience.
Outcome from Coaching
During 6 sessions with her executive coach over 6 months, she used the conversations with her professional coach to discuss a range of topics, but a main takeaway was realizing that she herself has all of the answers inside of herself. It was helpful for her to have someone with whom she could think through the issues, possible solutions, as well as outcomes. She describes the experience as mind-blowing and plans to continue working with a coach going forward.
🎧 Listen to Luizer herself in the 6-minute audio clip at the top of this article for more details about her experience with executive coaching with CoffeeChat. And if you want to hear our full interview with Luizer about her leadership journey, listen to her episode of The Everyday Leader here.
Case Study: Luizer Makena, SeamlessHR