286: The Long Game: Persistence, Resistance, and Cultural Fit in Coaching Cultures with Sandra Cullen
Release Date: 03/16/2026
293: Coaching Psychology in Health and Wellbeing: An Educational Perspective with Lizana Oberholzer
The AC Podcast
In episode 5 of our Coaching for Health and Wellbeing series, co-hosts Christian van Nieuwerburgh and Ana Paula Nacif, are joined by Lizana Oberholzer, a coaching psychologist with specialist expertise in education, to explore how coaching psychology can become a powerful part of an individual's wellbeing toolkit. Together, they unpack the distinctions between coaching for health and coaching for wellbeing, and how a psychologically informed coaching approach can help people navigate life's challenges - from managing chronic health conditions to coping with the pressures of a demanding...
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292: Ethics in Health and Wellbeing Coaching: A Provocative Deep Dive with Professor Aaron Jarden and Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener
The AC Podcast
In episode 4 of our Coaching for Health and Wellbeing series, hosts Ana Paula Nacif and Christian van Nieuwerburgh are joined by Professor Aaron Jarden and Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener for a rich, provocative conversation on what it truly means to practice ethically as a health and wellbeing coach. Rather than treating ethics as a set of rules to follow, the guests invite coaches to think of ethics as a set of principles that infuse every part of their practice — a way of being rooted in the character of the coach and a genuine commitment to doing right by clients. They challenge coaches to...
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291: Mental Health and Wellbeing: Scope, Ethics and Human Connection with Andrew Parsons
The AC Podcast
In episode 3 of our Coaching for Health and Wellbeing podcast series, hosts Ana Paula Nacif and Christian van Nieuwerburgh, and guest Andrew Parsons — a biomedical scientist turned Master Certified Coach — explore what it truly means to coach in the mental health and wellbeing space. Andrew brings a rare blend of clinical knowledge and coaching expertise to a nuanced conversation about supporting people living with long-term health conditions. A key starting point is understanding health and mental health not as a fixed state but as a dynamic continuum, shaped by life circumstances,...
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290: Health Coaching and Lifestyle Medicine with Dr Pádraic Dunne
The AC Podcast
In episode 2 of our Coaching for Health and Wellbeing series, hosts Christian van Nieuwerburgh and Ana Paula Nacif are joined by Dr Pádraic Dunne to explore the integration of lifestyle medicine with coaching and positive psychology. Dr Dunne brings the pillars of lifestyle medicine — healthy eating, physical activity, sleep, stress management, avoiding risky substances, and social connectedness — to life with characteristic warmth and clarity, framing them not as clinical prescriptions but as common-sense foundations that generations before us simply lived by. Grounded in robust...
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289: What's the Difference Between Health Coaching and Wellbeing Coaching? with Christian van Nieuwerburgh and Ana Paula Nacif
The AC Podcast
In this opening episode of the new Coaching for Health and Wellbeing podcast series, hosts Christian van Nieuwerburgh and Ana Paula Nacif set the scene for what promises to be a rich and thought-provoking conversations. They introduce a central theme that runs throughout the series: coaching is not simply a tool for wellbeing — it is a wellbeing intervention in its own right. Drawing on their extensive experience, Christian and Ana explore how coaching empowers individuals to take greater agency over their health and lives, fostering self-responsibility and a deeper sense of flourishing. ...
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288: A Day in the Life of Selana Kong: The Art of Balancing Passions and Cultural Identity
The AC Podcast
In this episode of A Day in the Life Of, host Maxine Bell sits down with Selana Kong — coach, mediator, and music educator — whose life has woven together the cultures of Hong Kong, Canada, and the UK into something truly unique. Selana shares her refreshing perspective on embracing multiple passions without losing yourself in the process, reminding us that progress, not perfection, is the real measure of a life well lived. Her guiding philosophy — "one step at a time, one foot in front of the other" — is a quiet but powerful antidote to the pressure we all feel to have everything...
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287: Small Steps, Big Impact: Why Building a Coaching Culture Is a Marathon with Dr Peter James
The AC Podcast
In the final episode of our inspiring series on Building Successful Coaching Cultures, host Rosie Nice is joined by CEO of HCG Strategic Solutions, facilitator and executive and leadership coach, Dr. Peter James for a rich conversation on the behaviours, mindsets, and leadership qualities that turn coaching from a buzzword into a business-critical culture. Drawing on his extensive consultancy experience, Peter offers a nuanced definition of coaching culture as a living set of behaviours and mindsets woven into everyday leadership and communication. Central to his philosophy is self-awareness...
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286: The Long Game: Persistence, Resistance, and Cultural Fit in Coaching Cultures with Sandra Cullen
The AC Podcast
In episode eight of our Building Successful Coaching Cultures, host Rosie Nice, interviews Sandra Cullen, Vice President of Training and Customer Experience at Air Astana, about the airline’s inspiring 15-year journey in building a coaching culture. Sandra shares her extensive international experience in shifting organizational leadership from directive approaches to empowering employees through coaching. The conversation explores the strategic, patient work required to embed coaching at every level of an organization, offering practical insights for leaders and HR professionals seeking to...
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285: From Judgment to Growth: Building Sustainable Coaching Culture in Education with Sue Smith
The AC Podcast
In episode seven of our Building Successful Coaching Cultures podcast series, host Rosie Nice interviews Sue Smith, Learning and Development Manager at East Lancashire Learning Group, about the transformative power of embedding coaching culture within large education organisations. Sue shares her experience of moving away from traditional, judgmental observation-based performance management toward a more supportive, developmental coaching approach. Through practical strategies including learning walks, professional learning conversations, and action learning sets, East Lancashire Learning...
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284: A Research-Led Perspective on Coaching Culture with Professor Jonathan Passmore
The AC Podcast
In the 6th episode of the Building Successful Coaching Cultures series, host Rosie Nice, is joined by Professor Jonathan Passmore to explore what it really takes to embed a coaching culture within organisations. Drawing on decades of research and practice, Jonathan unpacks how a coaching culture goes beyond individual interventions, becoming a default way of thinking, leading, and interacting. He highlights the value of aligning leadership intent with everyday behaviours, and the importance of extending coaching principles across all levels of an organisation—not just within formal...
info_outlineIn episode eight of our Building Successful Coaching Cultures, host Rosie Nice, interviews Sandra Cullen, Vice President of Training and Customer Experience at Air Astana, about the airline’s inspiring 15-year journey in building a coaching culture. Sandra shares her extensive international experience in shifting organizational leadership from directive approaches to empowering employees through coaching. The conversation explores the strategic, patient work required to embed coaching at every level of an organization, offering practical insights for leaders and HR professionals seeking to foster a supportive, high-performance workplace.
Sandra details the challenges of implementing cultural change, including overcoming resistance from both managers and employees. She discusses how coaching has been integrated into daily management practices and leadership development, emphasizing the importance of understanding and adapting to local and organizational cultures. Sue reveals how Air Astana has sustained its coaching practices at all levels of leadership, as the organization has grown, including a focus on "coaching on the go"—informal coaching moments embedded in everyday work interactions rather than relying solely on formal programs.
Throughout the conversation, Sandra highlights the measurable impact of coaching culture on employee engagement, performance, and retention. She emphasizes that building a coaching culture requires patience, persistence, and clear demonstration of value, while also exploring practical strategies for leaders to develop coaching competencies within their teams and scale these practices sustainably.
You will learn:
· Why cultural context is critical and successful coaching culture implementation must be adapted to local and organizational cultures.
· Why ‘Coaching on the Go’ is as important as formal coaching programs embedding coaching into daily management interactions creates lasting behavioural change, - making coaching feel natural and accessible to all employees.
· Patience and measurement drive long-term success – building a coaching culture is a long-term investment requiring consistency and persistence.
'I am convinced our engagement scores are the highest they’ve ever been because of the shift over the years in how departments work with their people through coaching.'
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