The Self-Led Era Doesn't Mean Doing It Alone
I'm a passionate advocate for coaching. I genuinely believe everyone with a human brain should have a coach at some point in their life.
But here's what I've noticed over the past two years: the coaching industry is having an identity crisis.
And most coaches haven't caught up yet.
Why the Coaching Industry Is Having an Identity Crisis
There's a massive shift happening.
The old way of coaching—where you're the student looking up for answers, waiting for permission, seeking validation—is crumbling in real time.
Because AI has democratised information so quickly that the old way of selling expertise doesn't work anymore.
People can get up-to-date frameworks, formulas, blueprints, and strategies in seconds from ChatGPT. Often better packaged than what most coaches are selling.
And here's the uncomfortable truth: most of what was labelled as "business coaching" was actually just information giving anyway.
Courses dressed up as containers. Templates disguised as transformation.
No wonder we're all feeling a bit burnt out on it.
The information era has peaked.
The new currency in coaching is transformation. The kind that doesn't come from information alone.
We're also deep inside a trust recession.
We've all had expectations that haven't been met. We've invested in programs that promised the world and delivered a Zoom link and a Slack channel.
We're more discerning now—which is applauded—but it also means some of us are bored as fuck of sitting on group calls listening to the same three people ask variations of the same question every week.
And here's the truth most people won't say out loud:
Some coaching containers keep you small despite good intentions.
Not because coaches are bad people. But because the structure itself reinforces the exact identity you're trying to outgrow.
The best coaches I know are already making this shift—they're tired of the old model too.
Let me explain what I mean by that.
Being successful in business requires leaning into the stretch. Getting uncomfortable. Facing your fears of being disappointed, being judged, failing - we both know the drill.
When you use your coach as a buffer—or worse, as an excuse for why you're not getting what you wanted handed to you on a silver platter—you stay in excuse maker mode instead of action taker mode.
You stay safe. You stay small. You stay waiting for someone to do it for you.
That's the identity that needs to die.
The one that needs permission. The one that outsources decisions. The one that wants a guarantee before taking a risk.
And some coaching containers? They accidentally keep feeding that identity instead of dismantling it.
This year feels different for me.
Last year? I thought other people knew better about my business than I did.
This year? I trust myself to make decisions about my business.
That's not arrogance. That's being self-led.
And if you're still checking in with everyone before you make a move—your coach, your mastermind, your business bestie—you're not leading.
You're following.
The False Binary Nobody Questions
You think it's either:
(A) Follow your business coach's every instruction and do exactly what they say
OR
(B) Figure it out completely alone because you're "self-led" now
But there's a third option nobody talks about.
Support that helps you back YOURSELF.
Not support that becomes your permission slip.
TWO Paths (And Why Only One Matters If You're Reading This)
There will always be people who want the fastest path to cash. They're not arsed about having their own IP. They just want to sell the coaching equivalent of Avon—proven products, proven scripts, proven systems.
And that's okay too. If that's your jam? Get it. Make your money. There's no judgment here.
But if you know that no one can do what you do the way you do it?
If you're a pioneer with your own ideas, your own approach, your own golden thread?
Then stop following someone else's playbook.
I love working with powerhouse women. But specifically, I love working with women who ARE powerhouses but don't realise it yet.
You know who you are:
You're grateful for crumbs when you're worthy of the whole fucking jar
You have amazing results but you forget about them (or cringe when someone brings them up)
You're not charging what you're worth because you feel like you should just be grateful someone's paying you at all
You have a to-do list as tall as your house and you don't know where to start
Your headspace is FULL of headfuckery—overwhelm, doubt, second-guessing every move
You're brilliant at what you do.
But you don't see it yet.
And because you don't see it? You outsource your power to someone who seems more confident than you.
My Own Self-Led Era Wakeup Call
I learned this the hard way.
In the first container I was in, I was told that the way to grow my business was to do these two specific things. They were "proven." They worked for everyone.
Except they didn't work for me.
I think it's because I lived in the UK and the program was based in the US. The advice didn't translate. The strategies didn't fit my audience.
So I had to come up with my own ideas.
And guess what?
I got fully booked.
Not by following someone else's golden thread. By pulling out my own.
But here's what made me STAY self-led:
I have a coach. My thought partner. And she reminds me who the fuck I am.
Because even I need reminders. Even coaches need coaches.
But she doesn't tell me it’s her way or the highway. Her frameworks are there if I need them. She is not my validation vending machine.
She helps me think through my own decisions. She amplifies MY voice. She pulls out MY golden thread.
That's what made me self-led: having support that backs me instead of replacing me.
And that's the model I now use with my own clients.
I don't give you MY golden thread and say "work with that."
I pull out YOURS.
Because that's the only way you build an amazing fucking business that actually feels like yours.
‘JANE’: Identity Shift Over Strategy Every Time
‘Jane’ works with VIP clients—men who trigger all her old conditioning.
Every time someone gives feedback, she spirals. She looks at all the things that are really good and then decides how one of them is gonna go tragically wrong.
She said something brilliant last week:
"I think I'm probably just giving my power away."
So now? She schedules "Big Deal Activation" hours every Friday.
Not to get more strategy. To remember who she is.
She said: "At every new level, this keeps coming up. We have to remind ourselves to come up for air and breathe and remember who we are."
Jane works WITH me. She earns more than me. I’m her thought partner (and her ‘secret weapon’) , but she's self-led.
She doesn't need me to tell her what to do. She needs me to help her remember she's the expert.
The Difference Between the Old Model and the New Model
Here's what's actually happening in the coaching industry:
THE OLD MODEL (Information Era):
The coach tells you what to do. You need their validation before you move. You're following their framework. You check in constantly. They become your permission slip.
You stay dependent. You stay uncertain. You keep coming back for the next fix.
And here's what nobody talks about: this model doesn't work for the COACH either.
Most clients never become the type of woman who trusts herself to move.
That's why most courses go unfinished. The client buys, but doesn't implement. And if you're a coach who actually cares about results? You feel responsible.
You overdeliver trying to get them over the line. You burn out trying to compensate for their lack of action.
Or you hold solid boundaries—and then squirm when you get the same piece of content to review for the third time because they still haven't moved. You watch them stay stuck. You start to resent the clients who keep coming back with excuses instead of results.
Either way? You burn out. You question if coaching even works.
Nobody wins in this model.
THE NEW MODEL (Transformation Era):
The coach helps you remember who you are. They amplify YOUR voice. They help you back yourself. You make your own decisions from Big Deal Identity. They help you trust yourself MORE. You feel courageous around them.
You become self-led while staying supported.
See the difference?
One makes you dependent. The other makes you powerful.
If You're a Coach Reading This
Here's what I need you to hear:
AI has democratised information. Your clients can get frameworks from ChatGPT. They can get meal plans, launch strategies, content calendars, all of it—in seconds.
The future isn't about teaching more. It's about helping clients transform.
This isn't the death of coaching. It's the rebirth of it.
The coaches who will stand out now aren't the ones shouting the loudest online.
They're the ones creating the most resonance.
Because in a world where everyone has access to information, transformation is what people will always pay for.
So here's the question:
Are you pulling out THEIR golden thread, or giving them yours?
Are you helping them back themselves, or making them dependent on you?
Are you amplifying THEIR voice, or replacing it with yours?
The self-led era is here.
And the coaches who help their clients become self-led? Those are the ones who'll build legacy businesses while everyone else is left scrambling to adapt.
The Self-Led Era Isn't About Doing It Alone
Let me be clear:
You need support. You need someone who sees your blind spots. You need someone who calls you on your headfuckery.
But you don't need someone to think FOR you.
You need someone to help you think for yourself.
Not paying attention to what everyone else is doing has given me more freedom than any strategy ever did.
Not following someone else's "proven path" got me fully booked.
And that's what I want for you.
The self-led era doesn't mean rejecting support. It means having the RIGHT kind of support.
Support that helps you remember:
You're worthy of the whole jar, not just crumbs
Your results are fucking brilliant even if you forget about them
You're the expert even when your inner critic says otherwise
You're a powerhouse. You just don't realise it yet
The self-led era doesn't mean doing it alone. It means having support that helps you back yourself.
Activate Your Big Deal Energy
Two audios. One for the high vibes. One for the hard days.
Because the next level of your business? It's not about knowing more—it's about how you move, how you think, how you show up.
🎧 High-Vibe Activation – Start your day like the powerhouse you are. Walk into the room like it was made for you. Make bold moves, no second-guessing.
🎧 Low-Vibe Reset – When doubt creeps in, when things wobble—this is your comeback. Recalibrate, reclaim your power, and remind yourself exactly who the f*ck you are.
You don't need more strategy. You need BDE.
Let's stack pinch-me moments like pancakes.
Leanne x