Performance coaching
Vision to see it. Capacity to build it. Courage to do it.
Founded by Cleo Shortland, the Wā Programme is real one to one work where we explore what modern leadership and business means to you, and support you to create something that aligns with your desire for more from yourself.
Designed with you in mind
You're moving into new territory. Something is ending. Priorities are shifting. What is needed from you is changing.
You may be:
Stepping up in your role, into leadership or directorship
Stepping out of your industry, or an area you've spent a period of time in, into something new
Restructuring your role or business to work with your life
The self you built to succeed in the past is still running the show. It was enough. But it’s time for something more modernised and focused to be successful today.
“My time working with Cleo was alchemical. I had never felt so deeply held and understood, a natural gift she holds. What stayed with me was a connection that transcended the surface and the ordinary. You could always tell that holding space energised her as much as it uplifted us both.
Through ritual, contemplation, deep enquiry and a focus on creating the future, Cleo sped up my personal evolution in a way only very few people can. Blending the rational and the creative, her structures and frameworks create a safe container for deeper magic to come through.
There is a true element of belief and magic in working with Cleo that goes far deeper than the mind, and you have to experience it to understand what can be created together. I made so much progress in those years, having Cleo hold my visions with unwavering faith. Cleo is the real deal.”
Rhea James Fox, Writer
The experience
Working one to one, this programme will support and strengthen you as you build your greatest work.
We start with what's most important to you and what you're holding. From there, the work turns to rewiring old thoughts and beliefs, moving from time and effort as the measure of worth, into the value you actually provide. Because this is new territory, we create the personalised maps and processes where none existed before, ones that hold steady through uncertainty and decisions yours alone to make. Working with your strengths, we harness your natural intelligence and creativity, set goals, run experiments and observations, and refine continuously.
You're left with a personalised model built to turn what you're working toward into what actually happens:
Decisions with clarity and confidence
Even without precedent to lean on.
Vision bridged into reality
Grand ideas distilled into strategy you can apply, learn from, and grow.
Momentum that holds during disruption
Because all great plans have disruption, it's factored in from the start.
A pace you can sustain, with real progress
Energy and alignment between how you work and live.
Belief in what you're capable of
And the confidence to go after it.
Wā
(noun) time, season, period of time, interval, term, duration.
“Your positivity wasn't just uplifting, it was empowering. You have a way of helping people see what's possible rather than focusing on limitations, and helping them recognise their own strengths and potential. That gave me greater confidence in my own abilities, and I always left interactions with you feeling energised, capable, and more willing to back myself and take the next step forward. The lasting impact for me was a stronger belief in what I could achieve and the confidence to go after it.”
Aime Carter, South Island Super Yacht Services
What you receive
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Expert coaching & facilitation including tools & architecture
02
Fortnightly one to one video calls, structured to keep you moving
03
An open communication line for when you need
04
Strengths map to harness intelligence & creativity
Investment: US$2,000 per month (cancel anytime)
Kia ora, I’m Cleo Shortland
I partner with leaders and business owners who are really going for it. It's your time to create something great. You need the space, freedom, and fluid structure to get the most out of yourself, without impacting your integrity and personal wellbeing.
My work applies visionary, ritual, and strategic delivery methodologies together with my own lived experience of starting and growing businesses, raising a family, and maintaining my own personal wellbeing, all at once. I use these threads to support my clients to understand what's truly important, then build intelligent and creative strategies that make action aligned and alive. It forms a bridge between vision and outcome.
Book a curiosity call to learn how we can build one together.
Step into the Wā Programme
Book a curiosity call with Cleo to learn how to step into the experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
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You're moving into new territory. Something is ending. Priorities are shifting. Your body and energy levels may be changing shape too. You may be:
Stepping up in your role
Stepping out of your industry
Restructuring your role or business to match your life
A bomb has gone off and you need support as you ride this next wave
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No, just like you don't need a nutritionist or a fitness coach. But this journey you're on, or about to start, is bloody tough. The value of the programme is having an expert coach and facilitator there with you throughout, for as long as you need, placing strategy and focus into the actions you take toward your next creation.
If the cost would strain your business or family, wait until it won't.
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This is where the thinking work happens. We reflect, look at your big vision, and challenge limiting beliefs while promoting healthy, innovative ideas. From there we move into fortnightly planning, breaking down and prioritising what matters most.
You leave with a clear plan of what's ahead for the fortnight. And the communication line stays open between calls, for disruptions, celebrations, and re-setting yourself.
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Unlimited messages, voice notes and phone calls between the fortnightly video call.
Plans will always be disrupted. When something big comes up, we get on a call. When you don't have it, because you won't always have it in territory you haven't been before, this is a non-judgemental space to work through that.
Wins don't wait for the next fortnight either, let's celebrate them as soon as they happen. It also means I can stay immersed in your journey, rather than needing to be brought up to speed every time we meet.
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Coaching moves you forward. We work with where you are now, capable and ready, and build toward transformation, your vision, and what's next. Therapy looks back, working through past experience and emotional healing with someone trained to hold that ground.
Both matter, they just serve different moments. If something surfaces in our work together that calls for therapeutic support, I'll raise it with you.
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The length is tailored to you. We discuss what you're likely to need based on your goals, and the programme runs monthly from there, with no lock-in contract. Because value is built in every fortnight, you always walk away with something gained, whenever you choose to stop.
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It keeps this work reachable across time zones and travel, and keeps a full season possible regardless of where we’re both based.
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Everything shared stays between us. This is a private container for thinking something through, held with the same discretion you'd expect from your own profession.
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This work is built on individual attention and discretion, better suited to conversation than broadcast. Find more through the podcast, or start with a curiosity call.
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My coaching is inspired by over a decade of leading organisational change and delivery on projects of 2 to 200 people across multiple industries, Marshall Rosenberg's needs-based compassionate communication, Anoushka Florence's circle facilitation and holding space with safety, Bruno Cayoun's Mindfulness-integrated Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, and Jessica Sepel's balanced, non-restrictive approach to wellbeing.
I have threaded each of these into the design of the programme to form a considered approach to supporting you to pursue your greatest work.
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Yes. We'll agree your monthly rate together upfront, converting from USD to your local currency where needed, NZD, AUD, CAD, and others available. That fixed amount is then billed as a regular subscription, and you can cancel at any time from your account.
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Yes. Sessions run over video, so you can be anywhere in the world. Clients are currently based across New Zealand, Australia, and North America, and your monthly rate is billed in your local currency where needed.