Private Executive Mentoring with Yvonne Cohen
The Strategic Edge You Didn't Know You Needed
You arrive in the boardroom with complex challenges others can’t see. You’re used to delivering under pressure, but there’s no one you can fully confide in, no peer who holds space for your deepest questions. Yvonne’s role is to be that thinking partner: someone who hears the nuance, pushes your thinking gently, and helps you emerge with direction and resolve. Many clients arrive feeling stuck or overloaded; they depart with actionable insight, renewed focus and confidence in what to do next.
What Brings Leaders to Yvonne?
Executives come to this mentoring space for many reasons. Perhaps you feel you have no genuine sounding board in your organisation. Maybe you sense that your workload is drowning strategic thinking, making it hard to prioritise or reset. You may have received feedback but find yourself uncertain how to act on it. You might be stepping into more visible leadership or preparing for a board or CEO appointment. In every case, the common thread is a desire for clarity, trust, and grounded accountability.
Decision Point: Executive Mentoring Guide
Gain clarity before your next critical leadership decision. Inside this guide, you’ll explore seven pivotal questions every executive must ask to move confidently and strategically through high-stakes choices. From aligning decisions with your core values to evaluating risks and stakeholder impacts, discover how clear, thoughtful reflection transforms uncertainty into purposeful action, driving your executive journey forward with certainty.
This is the Work We Do Together
Guided by your goals, we engage in core activities such as the following to give you the ability to solve challenges. Mentoring is personal and always tailored to your outcomes:
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Sounding-Board Strategies
We navigate your most urgent decisions, organisational dynamics, and confidential challenges together, helping you act from clarity rather than reaction. -
Executive Communication
You’ll refine your messaging, elevate alignment across teams, and lead high-stakes conversations with composure and impact. -
Structured Growth & Legacy
We build a bespoke framework for your leadership growth, ensuring not just short-term results but long-term wellbeing, influence and legacy.
How This Mentoring Works
You won’t find one-size-fits-all formulas or rigid frameworks here. Instead, you’ll experience attentive, active listening; the kind that reveals blind spots and new paths forward. Every engagement is highly personalised, completely confidential, and shaped around outcomes, not mere activity. With roots in real-world executive experience, this work is grounded, pragmatic and consistently focused on creating momentum rather than generating more work.
CASE STUDY
CEO Shaping a Vision for Company Turnaround
Challenge
A CEO of a retail firm was tasked with leading a company turnaround after consecutive years of declining performance. The board demanded swift action, and the CEO was under pressure to revamp the company’s vision and leadership approach. However, the CEO felt stuck, overwhelmed by legacy systems and resistant leadership teams.
Approach
We began by assessing the CEO’s current leadership practices and how they communicated their vision to the broader team. Through in-depth strategy sessions, we refined their vision for the company and developed communication plans to secure buy-in from the leadership team.
Solution
We worked on a three-phase plan: first, restructuring the leadership team to include forward-thinking executives; second, establishing a clear company-wide vision; and third, implementing communication strategies to rally employees around this vision. Leadership development for key stakeholders was also essential in ensuring sustained transformation.
Experience
Within a year, the CEO led the company through a successful rebranding and operational overhaul. Employee engagement improved, new leadership brought innovation, and the company returned to profitability. The CEO credited the coaching process for providing the clarity and support needed to push through challenging periods.
“Working with Yvonne transformed my leadership from overwhelmed to strategic clarity. Her guidance reshaped my vision, secured buy-in, and energized our entire organisation. Within a year, we reversed performance declines, boosted engagement, and returned to profitability.”
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Real stories of change across industries
About Yvonne Cohen – Executive Mentor
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between executive mentoring and coaching?
Executive mentoring is less about a set curriculum and more about having a trusted partner to help you think, decide, and act with clarity. Coaching often focuses on building specific skills or behaviours. Mentoring, as I practise it, combines that with long-term perspective, ensuring you’re not only effective in the moment, but also shaping the kind of leader you want to become. For many Australian executives, it feels like having both a confidential advisor and a practical strategist at your side.
How do I know if Yvonne is the right mentor for me?
The most important factor is fit. You’ll know after an initial discovery conversation whether my style resonates with you. I’ve worked with CEOs, C-suite leaders and directors across Australian corporates, government and not-for-profits. If you’re seeking someone who will listen deeply, challenge respectfully, and provide practical, results-focused guidance, you’ll likely find our work together valuable. If it’s not the right fit, I’ll tell you honestly and, if possible, suggest another direction.
What outcomes or results can I expect from this engagement?
Every leader comes with different challenges, but outcomes are typically clear. Many clients leave with stronger decision-making confidence, sharper communication under pressure, and a renewed sense of focus. In organisations, this translates into higher performance, better retention, and improved alignment across teams. Importantly, results are not abstract, you’ll see tangible progress in the areas that matter most to you and your board.
How long does the mentoring process usually take, and how often do we meet?
Most executives commit to three or nine months, meeting either fortnightly or monthly. That cadence allows enough time to reflect, act, and build momentum between sessions. Some leaders engage intensively for a shorter period during a transition or high-pressure moment, while others continue for years as part of their leadership rhythm. The structure is tailored to your needs and the realities of your role.
Is everything I share with Yvonne kept strictly confidential?
Yes. Confidentiality is absolute. Leaders often come to me precisely because they cannot share openly with their board, team, or peers. This is a private, independent space where you can speak without filter. Many executives say it is the first time they’ve had a conversation where they can be completely candid without political or organisational risk.
What sector or leadership experience does Yvonne bring to the table?
I’ve worked with senior leaders across ASX-listed companies, federal and state government departments, and large not-for-profit organisations throughout Australia. My approach draws on more than two decades of mentoring and facilitation experience, combined with thousands of hours in confidential executive conversations. This means I understand both the pressures of corporate leadership and the cultural nuances of leading in Australian organisations.
How do you measure progress and impact in a mentoring engagement?
At the outset we define the outcomes that matter to you and your stakeholders. Together we track progress against those goals, whether that’s improved board communication, successful succession planning, or resilience during organisational change. I also provide regular reflections back to you on observed growth, so the impact isn’t just felt but seen and documented.
What happens if the mentoring pairing isn’t working for me?
Sometimes the best outcomes come from trying different approaches. If you feel the engagement isn’t meeting your needs, we’ll review it together early. I make this process simple and respectful: no lock-ins, no drama. Most executives appreciate the opportunity to recalibrate rather than push on with something that doesn’t serve them.
How does private mentoring integrate with internal leadership development and training?
My work complements, rather than competes with, internal programs. Many Australian organisations have strong leadership frameworks, but they don’t always provide the confidentiality or independence senior executives need. Private mentoring bridges that gap, reinforcing internal initiatives while giving you a safe space to explore challenges that may not surface inside a group program.
When is the best time in my career to seek executive mentoring?
Executives typically engage when they’re at a transition point: stepping into a new role, preparing for board or CEO appointment, managing a crisis, or navigating cultural change. But the truth is, mentoring can be valuable at any stage where clarity and confidence are essential. If you’re asking the question, it’s likely the right time to begin the conversation.
Invitation to Work Together
Yvonne Cohen works by invitation or referral.
To get invited to have Yvonne as your mentor, she will first invite you to answer 7 questions so she can review and understand your challenges, your goals and objectives, and your timing for when you’d be able to start mentoring together—plus the timing for accomplishing your goals or objectives.
She will respond within 24-hours via email and provide you a booking link for you to choose your best date for a private first conversation.
Looking forward to achieving your goals together,
Yvonne