Welcome Coaching Centre
Coaching Centre has joined IPAA Queensland to support its commitment to strengthening leadership capability across the public sector. The Centre partners with Queensland Government departments to provide coaching for leaders at all levels. CEO Slaven Drinovac discusses the value of coaching, who it benefits, and how it helps public sector leaders thrive.
Why has the Coaching Centre joined IPAA Queensland?
The public sector plays a critical role in shaping the future of our communities. It operates in a space where competing demands, limited resources, and high expectations are constant. We joined IPAA Queensland because it brings together people who are committed to doing this work well. It is a place to share ideas, learn from others, and contribute to conversations that influence leadership, governance, and public value.
Our aim is to bring our expertise in coaching psychology into that community to help leaders think clearly, act decisively, and stay grounded under pressure. We believe the challenges ahead for government, whether driven by rapid technological change, shifting community expectations, or increasingly complex policy problems, require leaders who can adapt quickly while holding true to their values. By joining IPAA Queensland, we are committing to contribute to that capability and to ensure coaching is part of the broader conversation about strengthening leadership across the public sector.
What is coaching?
While coaching is now common across many organisations, it is important to understand the distinction between two levels of coaching. The first is leaders or HR using coaching skills to support their direct reports in finding their own solution to a problem.
The second is what most people mean when they talk about coaching. This is deeper. It is about mindset. Coaches use coaching psychology to help leaders see what is driving their decisions, challenge the stories they tell themselves, and develop the mental flexibility to lead in tough, complex situations.
In these engagements, leadership identity surfaces layer by layer, revealing the choices they make in life and leadership, what they prioritise, what they trade off, where they play small, and where they go bold. Leaders’ transformation becomes visible in the way they think, decide, and show up, not as a different person, but as a clearer, more intentional version of themselves.
Does coaching mainly benefit executives?
It is not surprising that many people think coaching is mainly for executives, as it has not always been easy to scale or to make access to high-quality coaches straightforward for organisations. Coaching benefits anyone who wants to lead more effectively, regardless of position or title. While senior executives often work with coaches because the stakes and complexity are high, leaders at all levels are accessing coaching in growing numbers.
Some of the fastest-growing areas are coaching for middle managers and frontline leaders, who together form the critical link between strategy and execution. This growing demand reflects exactly why the Coaching Centre exists and why it is committed to making high-quality coaching available across the leadership spectrum, whether for executives or any other leadership level. The benefits are not confined to the individual, because teams and organisations also shift when leaders operate with greater clarity, intention, and presence.
How does coaching help public sector leaders navigate complexity?
This depth of work becomes particularly valuable when leaders are working in complex environments. In the public sector, complexity is the norm. There are few simple problems and even fewer straightforward solutions. Coaching gives leaders a space to slow down their thinking, test assumptions, and see situations from different perspectives. It builds the capacity to hold competing priorities without being paralysed, and to make decisions that balance short-term needs with long-term impact.
Consider a leader managing a high-profile infrastructure project. On one side are political deadlines, on another are budget constraints, and at the centre are community concerns about environmental impact. There is no perfect answer, only choices, trade-offs, and consequences. Coaching provides a thinking partnership in these moments, helping leaders test scenarios, anticipate risks, and make decisions they can stand behind. Over time, this develops resilience, adaptability, and the ability to lead with both confidence and humility in uncertain conditions.
Based on your experience, what is one behaviour or mindset that public servants should develop as a priority?
The ability to listen without an agenda. It sounds simple, but in practice it is one of the hardest disciplines to master. Too often, leaders listen only for information that confirms what they already believe or for points they can counter.
Listening without an agenda allows them to understand context, uncover what is not being said, and build trust with those they serve. In workplaces inundated with complexities, the quality of listening often determines the quality of decisions, and ultimately the trust and outcomes leaders can create.
Membership supports the professional development of your workforce, particularly senior leaders and emerging leaders. It supports leaders to be at the cutting edge of thinking and practice in public administration, and to build their networks with others engaged in the profession or who support public purpose work – industry and community organisations, tertiary institutions and local, state, and federal government agencies.
Organisational membership supports IPAA Queensland’s vision of an independent, thriving and trusted public sector profession in Queensland. It makes a strong statement. It says that your organisation is genuinely committed to making an important contribution towards achieving better outcomes for Queenslanders. Membership achieves this by supporting growth in thought‐leadership within your organisation and the public purpose sector more broadly.
Our organisational memberships are open to government departments, agencies and statutory bodies at local, state and federal levels throughout Queensland, as well as non-government organisations engaged in public purpose work.
Find out more about IPAA memberships for organisations.