About Elisabeth Gortschacher

Elisabeth's life has shown her that when people commit to bringing the deepest and best parts of themselves forward, they connect to a capacity for leadership beyond what they had ever imagined. . . .

Elisabeth grew up with foster parents on a farm in the Austrian Alps, where education was considered secondary to working on the farm.

From a very young age Elisabeth’s life taught her about leadership and self-determination. She used every opportunity to learn and grow, which became the currency for navigating the direction of her life.  On the day she arrived at her foster parent’s home she decided she was not going to stay in this village. At the time this was like saying ‘I want to fly to the moon.’  It seemed totally out of reach.

Elisabeth had a thirst for knowledge and an inner drive to succeed. Whenever she could, she spent time with her neighbor, a wise woman who taught her so much, including the alphabet that allowed her to read before she started school.

At school her teachers supported Elisabeth’s thirst for knowledge and learning in many ways.  Her first primary school teacher’s leadership had a profound impact on her.  He praised where praise was due and challenged and set the stakes higher where he felt she was capable of more. When she completed the class work early she was given the privilege to read in the school library.

By the time Elisabeth left school she had read every single book in the school library and dreamed about the big world out there and how she could break free from the oppressing home environment.

Elisabeth passionately wanted to become a teacher but this was not supported by her foster parents. At age 14 ½ she left home and ventured out in the big world on her own.

In her teens Elisabeth spent endless hours to figure out why she was the way she was and why she strived so hard to be the best she could be when her foster parents seemingly didn’t care. Reflecting back now it is evident to her that she always had a vision where she wanted to head next and what it would take to get there. 

A major driving force was to regain the feeling and of freedom she experienced briefly at the age of four where she felt like the center of the universe.

Elisabeth started out working in guest houses where she was made to feel part of the family.  She loved the interaction with people and listen to their life stories and far away places. With every new job Elisabeth moved further away from home.

At age 16 Elisabeth landed a job at a luxurious guest house in Salzburg, Austria where famous musicians, actors and diplomats and other wealthy people stayed.  This gave her an insight into a totally new world and how the rich and famous lived.  She saw two sides of wealthy people – the wonderful side of creativity and beauty and the ugly side of alcohol abuse and adultery and the emotional turmoil related to it.

At age 17 Elisabeth applied to became a nursing student. Her school leaving certificate with top marks in all subjects got her into a profession that demanded high school as a prerequisite.  This confirmed for Elisabeth the importance of taking personal responsibility for one’s life as a way of creating choices.  

Nursing was not Elisabeth’s first career choice and yet it provided incredible opportunities she could have never imagined in her wildest dreams. She loved the interaction with people and the helping nature of the profession.

It was not unusual for Elisabeth to have three jobs in addition to her full-time work. At night she often worked as babysitter predominantly for children of Diplomats.  It fascinated and inspired her that children as young as five could speak five languages. 

Her work as a silent partner with a private detective taught her some of the marital challenges wealthy people were facing and also provided opportunity to have a taste for the good life, going to operas, concerts and fine restaurants while tracking and observing the person they were hired to follow and report on.

On days off she frequently worked for the Red Cross blood collections service. This work gave her an inside view of how high ranking Army personnel live and operate.  Elisabeth always had a passion for people and was fascinated with what made them ‘tick’ and become the person they are.

After becoming a registered nurse Elisabeth moved to Vienna where she studied for her Beautician Diploma.  After a painful relationship breakup she went on a two week vacation to Spain. This was a major turning point in her life.  When the plane landed in Barcelona, Elisabeth felt ‘I am home.’ 

She loved everything about Spain - the people and their relaxed and content way of life, the ocean and the climate. Elisabeth felt free again. She started to learn Spanish via correspondence and over the next four years spent all her vacation time in Spain. Her dream was to live in Spain and work as a tourist guide. English was a prerequisite.

At age 25 Elisabeth decided to take advantage of the assisted fare that Canada, South Africa and Australia offered in return for a two year contract to work in these countries. Australia offered the most appealing option. Elisabeth’s aim was to live and work in Australia for two years, learn English and see as much of this part of the world before returning to Europe and living in Spain.

Six months before her departure she joined an English course for Migrants where the only way to communicate with others was through the limited English she just learned.  Her mastery in spelling has been most helpful and still is now when her accent at times proves challenging for other people.

Elisabeth came to Australia alone and was determined to make it a success. She loved and appreciated the infinite opportunities to study and the freedom to spent time on the beach and experiencing other cultures and ways of thinking and being. All those things she had dreamed of since the age of five now were a reality. She fell in love with the country and stayed.

Elisabeth fervently resisted people’s pressure to settle for work in a factory.  Her determination and commitment to work in her profession secured her work in a Private Hospital one week of arriving in Australia.

Within one year she became recertified as a registered nurse in the new country.  Two years later she graduated from the Intensive Care Course coming top in the course.  This marked her transition into formal leadership roles and study at College and University and part-time teaching in business administration at College. 

A major achievement was her graduation from Teacher’s College 20 years later on a different continent and in a different language.

Elisabeth’s positive attitude, initiative and commitment to giving her best provided many and varied professional opportunities within the healthcare system in both autocratic and participative management structures. 

Recognized as an entrepreneurial leader with a big picture view and an ability to turn vision into reality, Elisabeth was asked to set up and commission several new health care services within the division of nursing and develop the services to a level where they were well established and could be handed over to managers.

One of her passions is creating learning environments within her sphere of work where individuals can exercise their personal leadership while growing and developing as a team that honors and respects diversity.

Elisabeth’s thirst for knowledge, independence and freedom continued throughout her life and made her life colorful and varied and constantly moving against the current of expected norms. When everyone focused on specializing she became a generalist learning anything and everything she felt she needed to master her craft and getting ready for the next opportunity.

Leadership development of staff became an integral part in every management and leadership position Elisabeth held. To expand her sphere of knowledge, experience, expertise and perspective, she frequently put her hand up for volunteer leadership roles and opportunities.

One of Elisabeth’s gifts is her ability to see ahead where the industry and the world are heading and preparing herself to lead the change by being ready to take advantage of new opportunities that invariably present themselves.  Her ability to see trends made her get an MBA when it wasn’t obvious to anyone else in the industry. 

Elisabeth’s credibility in health care, study towards her MBA, and her “Can do’ attitude made Elisabeth the preferred applicant for a major change facilitation role in healthcare that impacted 5000 employees.  In that role Elisabeth started to intentionally develop the leadership in people who were affected by the change. She inspired and supported them in becoming leaders of change vs victims of change.

In 1996 Elisabeth moved out of healthcare and into Organization Development in Local Government, where she led major change through leadership and management development programs of staff at all levels. Overcoming adversities and getting to the essence of things were strong driving forces that brought her to where she is today.  

Her thinking and way of being has been influenced by a small number of profound role models. They were like beacons on the horizon and kept her spirit alert and alive and moving towards her bigger vision in life. These role models strongly counter-balanced the harsher and painful realities of her childhood and together shaped her into being the congruent person she is today.

Elisabeth’s personal and professional journey took her much further than she could have ever imagined at the age of five when she first decided to leave the village she grow up in. One professional experience served as a stepping stone for the next and in 1998 led her to becoming a coach and founding her international coaching and training company, E.E.G. Coaching Pty Ltd. 

In her early days as a coach Elisabeth joint an inspiring team of coaches who established the International Coach Federation Australasia, and over three year period she held three pioneering leadership roles.

Becoming a coach and a faculty member of CoachInc.com, a major virtual global coach training school, opened the door to virtual alliances and synchronistic encounters.

One synchronistic encounter was her voluntary work with women in regional Australia during the devastating drought associated with increased depression and suicide.  Women who attended her workshop ‘Staying in Charge of Your Direction’ consistently commented on the greatest benefits they gained from participating – getting centered and connecting with their authentic self.

This sparked in Elisabeth the question  ‘How do I know when I am my authentic self?’ that took her on a journey of discovery and brought her to Personal Branding DNA™ and the discovery of her soul’s purpose and work in the world. Her own validating experience and work with people from all walks of life over the past five years has clearly shown her that everyone is on their destiny path irrespective of whether they see, feel or know it.

Feeling grounded in her soul-inspired leadership gives Elisabeth clarity, focus and direction and a quiet inner confidence to be and do what she came here to accomplish. It is this clarity of purpose that inspires her daily to fully step into her soul-inspired leadership, aligning her actions, words and choices with her soul’s purpose and guiding others in doing the same.

In 2006 Elisabeth received the Master Certified Coach designation (MCC), the highest professional coach credential awarded by the International Coach Federation, the professional body for coaches.

The essence of what she stands for hasn’t changed over the years.  The words she uses and the clarity in how she expresses it to the world has changed significantly.

Elisabeth’s varied and diverse experiences and insights into people’s privileged lives showed her both the masks and the reality of being in a position of greater visibility in the world.  It clearly showed her that having a position of power did not automatically make one a leader in the deepest sense. 

Curiosity and a love for simple elegance made her continuously focus on taking the complexities out of life and get to essence of our being.

With founding World Leadership Day in March 2007, Elisabeth turned her passion for leadership development into a global initiative to inspire, connect and transform leadership thinking across generations and nations. 2008 saw World Leadership Day being celebrated in six countries around the world. Elisabeth’s vision for WLD is a world that recognizes, engages and nurtures the expression of the innate leadership in every person. 

In addition to her initiative through World Leadership Day, Elisabeth offers a range of unique and exclusive Specialty and Breakthrough Programs.
 
The programs provide leaders, professionals and people from all walks of life with a solid leadership foundation and a customized Application and Destiny path that best aligns with how they choose to express their soul-inspired leadership and leadership brand to the world -- whether they are redesigning or transforming their life or career, creating or transforming their business, or moving into political, corporate or global leadership. 

With Elisabeth’s extensive and diverse experience and expertise in all aspects of personal, professional, business, organizational, leadership and management development and a keen interest in the discoveries of ‘new physics’, she brings a holistic, integrated and leading edge approach to her work that accelerates clients’ growth and development, in any arena, in time and cost-effective ways.

Elisabeth’s formal qualifications include:
MCC, MBA, BEd (Nursing), Grad Dip Administration

In March 2004, Elisabeth became the Strategic Partner of Personal Branding DNA™ for the Pacific Region that now extends worldwide.