Leadership coaching with Owen Ó Súilleabháin
Lead with a clearer sense of yourself.
Private coaching for people carrying responsibility—for an organization, a creative vision, or the chapter that comes next. A place to think deeply, renew your imagination, and find your own way forward.
Begin a conversation Deep listening. Thoughtful conversation. The life of the imagination.
The private life of leadership
Who sustains the person everyone relies on?
You hold a vision. People depend on your judgment. Much of what occupies you can be difficult to speak about with colleagues, friends, or even the people closest to you.
My coaching creates room for that conversation. Together we attend to the questions beneath the immediate demands: what matters to you, what is asking to change, and what will help you continue with clarity and conviction.
The work is personal. Its expression is practical—in how you listen, choose, speak, and lead.
What brings you here?
You may be building something, carrying a difficult season, or approaching a threshold. We begin with the life you are actually living.
The weight of responsibility
You need a trusted thinking partner outside the organization, with room for candor about the pressures, relationships, and decisions you carry.
A vision that needs space
The urgency of daily work has crowded out your imagination. You want to reconnect with the creativity and purpose that brought you here.
A different way to lead
You are examining recurring patterns—in yourself and in your organization—and seeking a more grounded, attentive presence.
The next chapter
You are considering a change of role, succession, or life beyond an organization, and want to discover what comes next in your own voice.
A conversation shaped around you
Listening.
Imagination.
Your own wisdom.
Listen for what matters
We pay close attention to your words, your experience, and the patterns emerging in your life. I bring questions, observations, and a listening ear; you bring the knowledge of your own world. Together we make room for a clearer response.
Bring the arts into the conversation
A poem, a story, a piece of music, or an image can open a question from an unexpected direction. Drawing on my life as an artist and my Irish cultural inheritance, I use these encounters to help you see your situation afresh and reconnect with your own creativity.
Let insight take its place in your life
We explore how reflection becomes a different way of being: greater care in conversation, more discernment about commitments, a private creative practice, and space to step back before you act.
“You are the expert of your own life - the virtuoso. Let the light of your artistry illuminate the way.”
Owen Ó Súilleabháin
Leadership Will Break Your Heart, forthcoming publication
Working together
A sustained relationship.
Room for meaningful change.
I work closely with a small number of leaders, usually over twelve months. The relationship develops through regular conversation, time together in person, and thoughtful reflection on the direction of your work and life.
Explore the questions
We begin with a series of conversations about your circumstances and what you hope to explore. I then develop a proposal shaped around you.
Time in East Aurora
Two days together in Western New York offer space to deepen the relationship, take stock, and look at your life from a different vantage point.
A regular rhythm
Our usual rhythm is a 90-minute conversation every two weeks. I often work by audio, giving our full attention to listening. Some clients walk while we talk.
Notice what is changing
A review midway through the year helps us revisit our direction. At year’s end, written reflections and an annual review bring the emerging themes into view.
We agree the timing, scope, in-person arrangements, and fees in your individual proposal.
From coaching clients
“The work I have done with Owen has helped me better understand this part of myself and how to bring a spirit and discipline of creating and imagining into my life and my leadership.”
“Owen balances the amount of listening and probing to hear your story. Then Owen’s background in creating and music gives him a harmony (pun intended) with hearing your individual creativity.”
About Owen
An artist’s ear.
A leadership guide.
I am an Irish singer, composer, and leadership guide. My work brings the arts, philosophy, and the wisdom of Celtic culture into conversation with the experience of leading.
For more than fifteen years, I have worked closely with poet David Whyte, exploring how poetry and the imagination can help us meet the realities of our lives. I serve on the faculty of Invitas: The Institute for Conversational Leadership.
I grew up among Irish artists and educators, with a close view of the devotion and demands involved in bringing a vision into the world. That experience continues to shape my coaching: a belief in the leader’s inner life as a source of judgment, creativity, and renewal.
I make my home in Western New York, where the village of East Aurora offers a setting for stepping back, taking stock, and imagining what comes next.
MA, first-class honours, Peace and Development Studies · University of Limerick
BA, Philosophy and Greek and Roman Civilization
A few questions
Do I need an artistic background?
Come with curiosity. We draw on the arts as a way to explore experience and awaken imagination. Any creative practice we discuss grows from your interests and the questions you bring.
What can we work on together?
Our conversations may explore relationships, organizational culture, personal patterns, creative renewal, purpose, or a transition. We identify the areas that matter to you and shape the engagement around them.
How do we decide whether to work together?
Start by telling me a little about yourself and what brings you here. We can arrange an introductory conversation, explore the fit, and discuss the shape of a possible engagement.
Begin a conversation
What is asking for
your attention?
Tell me a little about what you are carrying, what is changing, and what you hope might become possible. We can arrange a time to speak.
Get in touch with Owen owen@turasdanam.comIndividual engagements begin with a conversation about fit.