Your Path to Success with Ruth Kearns Wollmann

In this episode, Ruth picks up the thread from Episode 1 with a closer look at two of the 6Cs — Calm and Compassion — and why they only really work together.She opens with a story from leading an organisation through uncertainty which became a turning point in how she thinks about what calm leadership actually requires.She unpacks what calm really means — not the absence of emotion, but emotion sufficiently processed that a leader can be present for others.Unfortunately, not all of us grew up in environments that modelled healthy emotion regulation. In fact, only 35% of Americans say that, as children, they knew a compassionate, nonjudgmental adult. The good news, however, is that this can be learned — and learning it starts with understanding calm's essential partner: compassion.Ruth draws a clear line between compassion and empathy, and explains why calm without compassion can land as cold or judgemental — especially to someone who isn't expecting it.The episode closes with a practical pathway: how the 6Cs offer a sequence for navigating strong emotions in the moment — calm, compassion, curiosity, clarity, connection and courage — so that leaders can hold space for others without losing themselves in the process.Reflection — for your journal or a quiet moment:In what situations do you most need to cultivate more calm?Where does compassion — for yourself or for others — need more space? What support or practice will you put in place to help you navigate your emotions when it counts?There is no right answer. The invitation is simply to notice.Take it further — Join Ruth’s free 90-minute mid-year guided reflection on Friday 26th June 2026It's a chance to pause, take stock of the first half of the year, and step into the second half with more clarity. Online, free, and open to all. Register here and choose your slot (8am or 12pm CET) to receive details of how to join.yourpathtosuccess.ch/eventsAbout RuthRuth Kearns Wollmann is an ICF-accredited executive and leadership coach and facilitator. Over the past decade she has worked with senior leaders and their teams across a wide range of organisations, helping them do the deeper inner work that creates lasting change — not just better behaviours, but a more integrated, grounded and courageous way of leading.Her path to this work has been anything but linear — but there's always been a thread. She started as a cognitive psychology researcher, fascinated by how people think, learn and change. That curiosity took her into the corporate world, where she spent 14 years at Procter & Gamble as a business executive — and where she discovered that the determining factor in her own success wasn't strategy or insight, but the ability to lead herself and others. That realisation never left her. It led her into a leadership role in the non-profit sector, and eventually into launching her independent coaching practice — bringing research, lived experience and over a decade of practice together in one place.She believes healthy leaders create healthy teams. And the world's biggest challenges need leaders operating from their truest, most integrated selves.yourpathtosuccess.chBook a curiosity call: yourpathtosuccess.ch/book-appointmentHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to Milestone Moments: Short extracts from my podcast interviews to inspire encourage and equip you on your path to success. My first ever interview on “Your path to success” 4 years ago was with P&G Chief Sustainability Officer Virginie Hélias.In this 10-minute extract you’ll hear Virginie talk about a Milestone Moment in her journey back in 2011 when in a 20-minute meeting with the CEO of P&G she laid out the rationale for appointing a Chief Sustainability Officer and proposed herself for the job. She explains the importance of having absolutely clarity on what you want and being brave not perfect when you want to have an impact!If you like this clip then you can listen to Episode 1 of Your Path to Success published on 26 November 2019. If you'd like to find out more about how coaching can help you create clarity on what's important for you and what you really want out of life, please visit my website or ask me about my my Reignite Your Purpose coaching journey: yourpathtosuccess.ch Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

By the age of 35 Marisa Kamall was a successful c-suite executive at a FTSE-100 company. Then in 2021 a series of challenging events caused her to stop and question what she really wanted from life, and particularly from her career. Motivated by a renewed sense of purpose Marisa now works as a certified coach and consultant driving cultural change within organizations and empowering individuals and teams to overcome barriers and realise their full potential. In this episode you'll hear us talk about how Marisa established herself in the first stage of her career, how she navigated challenging life events to emerge with a renewed definition of success and sense of purpose for the next stage of her career. As fellow Gallup strengths coaches you'll also hear us talk about how our strengths shape both who we are and how we show up at our best at work. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Rebecca Wardell is a former New Zeland Olympic heptathlete and extreme cyclist who currently works at the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne. Rebecca's career so far has been quite the ride, literally and metaphorically. Her story is one of pursuing her dreams and goals through passion, adventure, perseverance, and re-invention. Rebecca has always enjoyed sport, and competing in the Olympics was a childhood dream. After leaving school she focused on athletics, but it was only in 2004, having missed out qualifying for 400m hurdles in Athens, that she chose to pick up heptathlon. She rose to the challenge and competed in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Despite her doctor trying to convince her to retire in 2010 she insisted she wanted to give London 2012 a go, but unfortunately she tore a hamstring and couldn't qualify. Retiring from athletics at 34, she had to discover a new professional identity when most of her peers were already 10 years into their career. Her work led her to Switzerland to the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne where she continued to be connected into the sporting world and picked up road cycling for fun. It was on one of her road trips with 2 other New Zealand friends that they first started talking about cycling 20,000km home to New Zealand. And so in 2018 that Rebecca quit her job and set off for a trip that would last 385 days across 17 countries. It was a crazy, audacious goal that required courage, resilience, and a "nothing ventured, nothing gained" attitude. In this interview you will hear Rebecca talk about her "Long Way Home" as she calls it, including: Why she set off in the first place What she learned along the way and How it led her full circle back to Lausanne and her passion for the Olymypic movement. You can also watch Rebecca's 39 minute documentary of her trip here: The Long Way Home Video Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Bethany Foresman is a Director of Analytics & Insights at Procter & Gamble. A few years ago, Bethany was working in a team where she was well-established and respected by her business partners when she had a change of line manager. Her new boss was really good at what she did, and Bethany admired her. She both wanted to learn from her and impress her. However, her boss had a very different profile in terms of strengths, and Bethany found herself losing her confidence in her own ability to add value. It's not unusual to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to someone who is successful, but who has a completely different strength profile from you, and then trying to be a poor version of them rather than the best version of yourself. The question is, how can you step back from comparison, and step up to being your best self? In this episode, Bethany tells the story of how, with coaching support, she was able to turn her situation around. She stepped back to recognise her own strengths and her unique purpose. She created practices that enabled apply her strengths positively to show up at her best and add value. She intentionally sought feedback from people she could trust, built her confidence and turned the complementary styles of her and her boss from a lose for her, into a win-win-win for her, her boss and the team. If you'd like to find out more about how coaching can support you to show up from a place of strength, authenticity and purpose then please do contact me via my website yourpathtosuccess.ch/book-appointment Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Ruth is a Leadership Development Coach, Facilitator and Podcaster. She loves coaching established and emerging leaders to step up to new challenges in work and life from a place of strength, authenticity and purpose. In previous roles Ruth has been a postdoctoral research psychologist, a consumer insights leader, a business executive and a pastor. Ruth's career may have had its fair share of twists and turns, but there is core thread: Her passion for understanding people and empowering them to show up more fully, stand up for what matters, and step up to make the biggest difference they can make for good. Ruth has been through many transitions in her life, but 10 years ago she made 2 big changes within a few months: She left her corporate career to take on a pastoral role in a church, and she got married. In this episode Ruth talks to her husband Daniel about her experience of change and transition during that part of her journey. She shares how the inner journey of transition and the outer journey of change are like a dance. Sometimes our inner journey of growth leads and initiates an outer change. Sometimes an outer change or event, like moving house or job, starting or ending a close relationship initiates an inner journey of personal transition, adaptation and ultimately growth. At the end she summarizes 3 things we can do to help us navigate change and transition: 1. Seek Inner Clarity: Know yourself, your strengths, values, purpose and principles. These things act like an anchor and a compass to guide your choices. 2. Seek Outer Clarity: Face the reality of your current situation. Are you set up for success and growth? What needs to change for you to thrive? 3. Create your own support structure: This includes people, systems and processes that keep you healthly and productive, and provide compassionate perspective, feedback and accountability. If you'd like to find out more about Ruth's work and upcoming events check out her website at yourpathtosuccess.ch Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Lorraine Smith van Lin is an International Human Rights Lawyer who is also the Founder and Executive Director of "Tallawah, Justice for Women," an NGO that empowers women leaders and survivors of conflict and gender-based violence in the Global South. Lorraine started her legal career in Jamaica where she was born and raised. She went on to study international law, became a judge and later director of the international bar association in the Hague. As Lorraine continued through her legal career she became increasingly frustrated with well-intentioned systems that didn’t work for victims. Her passion drove her to speak up to find solutions that work for victims. Eventually it led her to create Tallawah, Justice for Women in 2021. In this episode Lorraine tells her story in her own words. She shares some influential moments in her life and talks about how her anger and passion led her to find her voice and empower victims to find theirs. You can find out more about the work of Tallawah in the podcast episode published on 8 March 2022 or via the website link below: https://tallawahjustice.com Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Silvia Cerolini works as a coporate director of analytics and insights. She is also the founder of Through Vicky's Eyes. Silvia's daughter Vicky was diagnosed with a rare congential disease that causes progressive blindedness at the age of 2. Silvia committed to do everything she could to help her to see for longer. 4 years ago Silvia founded "Through Vicky's Eyes" a charitable organisation dedicated to helping Vicky and children like her see for longer. Silvia's journey is a remarkable one. She has raised more than 1 million US dollars for research projects. She has organized an international conference bringing together scientists, drug companies and patient groups as well as the FDA. She has even had a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal. She has done all of this on top of her busy corporate role, and she is thriving professionally and personally. How is that possible? Listen to this episode to hear how Silvia has been able to apply her professional and leadership skill to have an impact for the greater good. And how her charitable work has pushed her to grow her leadership skills and become a better manager. You can follow Through Vicky's Eyes on social media #vickyseyes or donate via their website: https://vickyseyes.org Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.