International Coach of the Year Award

International Coach of the Year Award goes to a New Zealand Business man for the second time in a row.

To honor all coaches for making a difference in the world, For the past 13 years, in order to celebrate International Coaches Day, Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc.™ had taken nominations for the International Coach of the Year 2015 Award.

The winner was to be determined by an independent, international panel of judges including world renowned authors and expert coaches, on November 1, 2015, and it was determined that a New Zealand Business man ZAC DE SILVA who won this award last year did it again, HE WON IT FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A ROW!!!

Zac loves business – all aspects of it, from the planning and people to the customers and capital investment, right down to the nitty gritty of KPIs and financial statements. So it was no real surprise that in 2010 he started Business Changing (www.businesschanging.com) and became a business coach, creating success for his many clients. Business Changing has evolved into a team of market-leading, best-practice experts who can help most business in most areas. In 2014, Zac was awarded International Coach of the year by The Coaching Institute. Before he ventured out on his own to help others, Zac worked for several very successful and well-known businesses (at 28 he was CFO of Flight Centre and at 30 he was running FCM Travel), learning business from the ground up. In that time both he personally and the companies he was leading won a host of notable awards, including Best Workplace in NZ for Barkers Menswear. A chartered accountant by trade, his financial nous has set him in good stead for analysing clients’ books and he’s been told that he is lucky to have a great grasp of the softer side of business too – innovation, strategy, customer experience, people and culture.

Today, Zac works with clients of all sizes (from owner-operators to 1500+ staff), in all industries (from engineering, fitness and FMCG to retail, exporters and fashion to you-name-it) to grow their profit and reach the next level of success. In the 14/15 financial year, the average long-term client of Business Changing grew their profit by 107% (ie. more than doubled their profitability in today’s market).

Zac thinks it’s important to walk the walk if you’re talking the talk as a business coach, so he also has businesses other than Business Changing. Zac is a co-owner of the Nurture Change Business Retreat www.nurturechange.com – an annual five-day business event in Fiji that mixes inspiring business speakers with fitness and wellness experts, to get you firing on all fronts. Zac has launched AccMe, which is virtual coaching and training software – amazing for accountability for clients of coaches. Through AccMe, business owners and managers can also sign up to receive business thinking questions regularly and build a living business plan. Zac writes a weekly column for the Sunday Star Times newspaper and contributes regularly to the NZ Herald, as well as contributing to various magazines. He is a member of the Institute of Directors, a judge for the Westpac Business Awards, and has had big involvement in the Gifted Kids Programme and Books in Homes charities. He also sits on the board of directors or advisory boards for several clients.

Zac has three children, a fiancé and is getting better all the time at work life balance – ie. walking the talk! So a great achievement by Zac for winning this award for the second time in a row!

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