Performance coaching
For leaders in business
Founded by Cleo Shortland, the Wā Programme is real one to one work exploring how leadership and business are continuously evolving, blending that with your own organic strengths to build systems that make change happen from the inside out, with high output on your terms.
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.
“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
The experience
Through a guided structure, you drive desired outcomes more efficiently, with real confidence, even when there's no precedent to lean on. You stop carrying every option in your head at once, because you have a clear structure to sort through what actually matters. You get your energy back, because a lot of what's draining you right now is a thinking problem, not a doing problem, and once it's untangled the load gets lighter. You build a pace you can actually sustain, so growth stops costing you your health or your relationships. And you walk away from every session with something concrete to act on, so the change shows up in your work within weeks, not eventually.
Curious how this actually happens? What is performance coaching, and how can it help your work?
Wā
(noun) time, season, period of time, interval, term, duration.
What you receive
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Expert coaching & facilitation including tools & architecture
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Fortnightly one to one video calls, structured to keep you moving
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An open communication line for when you need
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Strengths map to harness intelligence & creativity
Investment: US$2,000 per month (cancel anytime)
“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
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 best from 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, driving great performance in teams of two through to two hundred, raising a family, and maintaining my own personal wellbeing. I use these threads to support my clients to understand what's truly important, then we work together to build intelligent and creative strategies that make action aligned and alive. It forms a bridge between vision and better outcomes.
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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Performance coaching is dedicated space to look inward and understand what's really driving your decisions.
It helps you work through what's getting in your way, and make better decisions as a leader.
Often what's really going on is people get stuck on one way of solving a problem, without seeing that what they actually need underneath could be met a completely different way. Just seeing that clearly changes what's possible.
Most founders are so deep in the day to day that they never get time to step back and see it. That's what these sessions give you, room to think properly with someone who has the expertise to support you to get there.
This is a dedicated profession, with its own methodology.
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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 chapter.
If the cost would strain your business or family, wait until it won't.
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This is where the prepared thinking work happens. We reflect, reset your focus areas, and challenge unhelpful 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 focus for what's ahead. 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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The methodology draws on a few different frameworks. There's a goal-setting structure called GROW, which helps map out where you are now and what you actually want.
There's work drawn from CBT, cognitive behavioural approaches, which looks at the thought patterns driving your decisions.
Mindfulness is woven through, building your ability to notice what's happening in the moment rather than reacting on autopilot.
I also offer karakia, a Māori incantation, which helps set a clear intention and frequency for the work we're doing.
And there's Nonviolent Communication, which helps you get clear on your real underlying needs versus the strategies you've been using to meet them.
This is coupled with my own experience starting and growing businesses, and working in the regulatory change space as a professional project manager, leading and advising teams of two to two hundred.
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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.