Wanuri
Kahiu

What do you like best about working with a coach?

This has been a year of growth on many fronts but mostly in my work. Working with a coach has not only helped me define my objectives but helped build confidence in my ability to speak to others in my field with strength and passion. She has helped me adjust my language, define the way I view myself, work on how to present myself and what language, body posture and the energy to evoke in order to communicate my goals and be conscious of the message I would like to leave behind.

Have you learned anything as a result of your coaching?

I have learned what my shortfalls are in communication and how to best address them. The coaching has taught me that asking for help/ support or a request to help build my brand is not only a necessary part of my business but is a service to others interested in helping you achieve career goals.

Has coaching changed the way you currently do anything in your life or career?

Coaching has taught me how to engage with curiosity, confidence and strength. It has reminded me to ask questions of potential partners, rather than sell ideas. It has taught me how to better communicate my vision and inspire others to be part of it.

Has coaching affected your long-term plans?

Coaching has taught me I need a coach to build long term plans. Someone to walk with you to question, poke holes at your ideas and keep you on track with your objectives and aspirations. Someone who objectively questions your choices and the why behind them. A coach helps define goals and help me work on how to be my best self in work and personal life. My long-term plans now include a coach.

What kind of person do you think coaching works best for? 

A person ready for growth, someone interested in being pushed beyond their comfort zone, and ready for introspection of self and their work.

Karen Curnow

What do you like best about coaching TED Fellows?

I am always inspired when I coach TED Fellows. TED Fellows, themselves world-changers, bring out the best in us as coaches and remind us of why we do the work we do: to bring about positive change in the world. Through their inspiring example, TED Fellows invite us to align with their big vision and enormous passion and boldly stretch ourselves as coaches as we invite them to do the same as leaders in their chosen fields. What I like best about coaching TED Fellows is that we are both “all in.” And when you are “all in,” insights and transformations and miracles are everywhere.

How do TED Fellows compare to your other clients in terms of their response to coaching?

TED Fellows play big.  Their focus is on the world and how to make it better.  TED Fellows never seem to need a reminder of their ultimate aim and purpose – something we often have to work to elicit from other coaching clients. TED Fellows are deeply committed to their vision and see coaching as a vehicle to enable them to achieve that vision more completely or quickly.  Sometimes, this means their focus in coaching will be on how to get out of their own way. Sometimes, this means that coaching will serve as a springboard for big leaps into new opportunities, where perhaps earlier they had held themselves back.  Often, coaching serves as both – impediment-remover and opportunity-opener.

What have you learned from coaching Wanuri?

Oh my gosh – so much!  I have been reminded – to the point of tears sometimes – that how one shows up as a leader is so much more compelling than saying the perfect words or having the perfect approach.  I have been struck by the enormous power of grounded conviction, clarity, and love.  Most importantly, I have been so touched by the beauty that Wanuri naturally sees and unapologetically points out to the world, not just in her work in film, but in her being.  She is remarkable.

Why do you think you and Wanuri work so well together?

I think it is our trust and care for one another as people, our respect for the experience we each bring to our craft, and our commitment to absolute honesty in our conversations.  Our communication and thinking styles line up as well.  It is not unusual for us to go from belly-laughing one second to a serious moment the next. It flows, feels natural and at the same time stretching, testing the edges in a good way.

Will you be coaching other TED Fellows in the future?

I sure hope so!  I really see my work as supporting leaders who are world-changers.  TED Fellows are among my favorite, most inspiring, world-changing clients!