About Me

Most people have talent.

But clarity, execution, and consistency is where many people struggle, and that costs time, income, and opportunity.

I work with professionals, coaches, and emerging leaders who are capable of more, but are stuck between knowing what to do and actually building momentum.

My role is simple: I help you turn potential into performance.

That means:

Getting clear on direction and positioning

Building confidence in communication and leadership

Removing mental and strategic bottlenecks

Turning ideas into structured action and results

Helping you show up with authority in your field

My background spans senior IT project management, leadership, coaching, and complex delivery environments across retail, payments, cybersecurity, and digital transformation.

Across all of it, one pattern has remained consistent: the people who succeed fastest are not the most talented—they are the most aligned, focused, and decisive.

Today, I focus on helping clients build three things:

Clarity – what to focus on and what to stop doing

Capability – skills in communication, leadership, and influence

Execution – consistent action that produces measurable results

I also work with professionals transitioning into the AI era, helping them stay relevant, valuable, and ahead of change.

Alongside this, I facilitate Level 1 coach training aligned to the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and COMENSA, helping coaches, leaders, and professionals develop deeper listening, communication, and leadership skills.

What drives me most is seeing people unlock confidence, gain clarity, and realise they are capable of far more than they thought possible. I believe coaching creates space for reflection, growth, accountability, and real transformation—in individuals, teams, and organisations.

My experience allows me to bridge the gap between technology and people. I speak both the language of business and human development, connecting strategy with real-world execution.

Areas I work in:

• IT Project & Program Management

• Leadership & Team Development

• Coach Training & Facilitation

• Emotional Intelligence & Communication

• Digital Transformation

• Change Management

• Public Speaking & Workshops

• Stakeholder Engagement

• Agile Delivery & Collaboration

I enjoy working with people who are building, growing, learning, and creating meaningful change—whether through technology, leadership, or coaching.

Always open to meaningful conversations, collaboration, and opportunities to make a difference.

My Philosophy, My Story

By Gavin Dick, Founder of Level123coaching.co.za

I believe that every person is creative, resourceful, and powerful, yet often constrained by unseen patterns, assumptions, and pressures that limit their ability to act with clarity and confidence.

My role as a coach is not to provide answers, but to create a space where clients can access their own thinking at a deeper level, challenge what no longer serves them, and move forward with intentional action.

My coaching is grounded in the belief that transformation happens through awareness. When a client truly sees their thinking, behaviour, and underlying drivers, change becomes inevitable.

I partner with my clients to uncover these insights through presence, powerful questioning, and direct but respectful challenge. I am comfortable working in performance and personal scenarios, as the two are often deeply interconnected.

I bring a structured, adaptive approach to coaching. Drawing from my background in project management and high-pressure environments, I value clarity, outcomes, and accountability. At the same time, I remain client-led, allowing the client’s agenda, pace, and learning style to guide the process. I integrate reflective dialogue, pattern recognition, and where appropriate, somatic awareness, maintaining a clear boundaries between coaching, mentoring, and therapy.

Contracting is central. At the start of every engagement and session, I partner with the client to define what success looks like and what they want to achieve. I actively maintain this agreement throughout the conversation, allowing space for the client to shift focus as new insights emerge. I ensure clarity around roles, responsibilities, confidentiality, and expectations, creating a safe, transparent coaching environment aligned with the ethical standards of both the ICF and COMENSA.

I hold a strong commitment to ethical practice. I maintain confidentiality, respect client autonomy, and approach every interaction without judgment. I remain aware of my own biases and continuously work to ensure that my coaching is inclusive, culturally sensitive, and respectful of each client’s unique context. Where I identify that a client’s needs fall outside the scope of coaching, such as requiring therapeutic or specialised support, I address this openly and support appropriate referral or re-contracting.

I believe that coaching must lead to meaningful action and measurable progress. I support clients in translating insight into clear steps, while holding them accountable to their commitments in a way that empowers rather than pressures. Progress is defined by the client and may include shifts in thinking, behaviour, relationships, or results.

My own development as a coach is ongoing. I engage in continuous learning, reflection, and supervision to deepen my capability and ensure that I show up with presence, integrity, and effectiveness in every coaching conversation.

Ultimately, my intention is to create a space where clients feel challenged, supported, and fully responsible for their growth, enabling them to make decisions, take action, and create outcomes that are aligned with who they truly want to be.

From Contracts to Consciousness: My Journey Into Coaching

For most of my career, I operated in a world of structure, deadlines, and delivery. As a project manager, I was responsible for outcomes, managing complexity, aligning stakeholders, and ensuring results. It was fast-paced, high-pressure, and for a long time, it worked.

Until it didn’t.

Like many professionals, I hit a point where contracts ended, the market shifted, and the certainty I had relied on disappeared. What followed wasn’t just a financial challenge, it was an identity challenge. I had to confront a difficult question.

Who am I when I’m not delivering projects?

That question changed everything.

Discovering a Different Path

During that period, I didn’t rush back into the same career path. Instead, I gave myself space to think, really think. I had been studying coaching for years as a parallel interest, but now it became something more serious.

Not as a backup plan, but as a direction.

What drew me to coaching wasn’t the idea of helping people in a surface-level way. It was the ability to sit with someone and explore how they think, what drives their behaviour, and what’s really getting in their way.

I realised something powerful.

People don’t need advice. They need clear thinking.

That insight became the foundation of my work.

How I Coach Today

Today, through Level123coaching.co.za, I work with clients in a way that is grounded in professional standards from the International Coaching Federation and COMENSA, but shaped by real-world experience.

I don’t see coaching as giving answers or fixing problems. I see it as creating a space where clients can step back, reflect, and see their situation with clarity.

My role is to:

• Ask the questions they haven’t considered

• Challenge thinking that no longer serves them

• Help them connect insight to action

I bring structure from my project management background, clarity, outcomes, accountability, but I stay client-led. The client decides what matters, where we go, and what progress looks like.

The Importance of Contracting

One of the biggest shifts for me was understanding the power of contracting.

In my work, every session starts with a simple but critical question:

What would make this conversation valuable for you?

As the conversation unfolds, things change. New insights emerge. Priorities shift. And when that happens, I don’t hold the client to the original plan, we adapt.

Real coaching is dynamic.

This approach aligns with how both the ICF and COMENSA define professional coaching, not as a rigid process, but as a partnership that evolves in real time.

Working at the Deeper Level

Often, clients come in with clear, practical goals. Career decisions, leadership challenges, performance issues.

But underneath those goals, there’s usually something else.

• Fear of getting it wrong

• Perfectionism

• The need for control

• A disconnect between who they are and how they’re showing up

This is where the work happens.

I stay within the boundaries of coaching. I don’t avoid depth. I help clients explore what’s driving their thinking, while being very clear about where coaching ends or other support may be more appropriate.

That clarity matters, ethically and professionally.

Turning Insight Into Action

Awareness without action doesn’t create change.

At the same time, forced action doesn’t create ownership.

So my role is to help clients find the balance, to move forward in a way that feels aligned, not pressured.

For some clients, that might mean making a long-delayed decision. For others, it’s a shift in how they think or show up in their relationships or leadership.

Progress looks different for everyone. But it must be real.

What This Work Means to Me

Looking back, what felt like a setback in my career was actually a turning point.

It forced me to step away from what I knew and move toward something more aligned with who I am.

Coaching allows me to do what I value most.

• Work with people

• Help them think more clearly

• Support real, meaningful change

And perhaps most importantly, it allows me to create impact at scale, one conversation at a time.

Where I Am Now

Through Level123coaching.co.za, I continue to work with individuals who are looking for clarity, direction, and growth.

Not through advice. Not through pressure.

But through better thinking.

Because in my experience, when people truly see what’s going on, in their thinking, their behaviour, and their choices, they don’t need to be pushed forward.

They move. shift. transform.

Gavin Dick - Founder of Level123coaching.co.za

Ethics in My Coaching

By Gavin Dick

Ethics is central to my coaching practice and the way I show up in every conversation. I follow the ICF and COMENSA Codes of Ethics not as a checklist, but as a lived commitment to integrity, respect, and client-centred practice.

I am transparent with clients about what coaching is and what it is not. My role is not to give advice or solve problems, but to support clients in thinking more clearly and finding their own insights. I remain honest in my communication and will openly acknowledge when something falls outside my scope or competence.

Confidentiality is a core part of my work. I ensure that what is shared in coaching stays private, except where legal or safety requirements apply. This creates a safe and trusting environment where clients can speak freely and explore openly.

I deeply respect client autonomy. Clients are the experts in their own lives, and I do not impose solutions or direction. Instead, I support them in exploring their thinking and making their own decisions with greater awareness and clarity.

I maintain clear boundaries between coaching and other professions such as therapy, consulting, or mentoring. When appropriate, I will encourage clients to seek additional professional support if their needs fall outside the coaching scope.

I also work with cultural sensitivity and respect for each client’s identity, values, and context. I stay curious about their world and avoid assumptions, ensuring that coaching remains relevant and respectful to their lived experience.

I am committed to continuous professional development and reflective practice, ensuring I grow as a coach and remain within my competence. Where needed, I will always prioritise client wellbeing and make appropriate referrals.

Ethics for me is not separate from coaching . It is embedded in how I listen, speak, and hold space for every client in every interaction.