Meet Jeanette
Hi, I'm Jeanette Mundy
The Principal Leadership Coach at Butterfly Effect Leadership
I’m in the business of developing people into the leaders they can be. I absolutely love to be the witness of empowered, inspired and impactful human beings choosing where they want to make a difference then doing it.
Read on to see where it began.
The Little Girl
I was told I was a shy little girl and I apparently didn’t speak to anyone except my mum until I was three years old. The shy title stuck with me for a while. I personally I found it confusing, because I didn’t consider myself shy, not really. I always knew I was just processing my thoughts and feelings. I didn’t always have something to say, but I did have a lot to think about, and I thought the adults should have known better.
Labels stick. Just like the first time I was told I was stupid. That little seven year old developed her own ‘stupid’ narrative lens through which she saw herself.
This might give you a sense of who I am and how I’ve always seen the world – through the lens of:
- You don’t know everything about a person
- You don’t know everything about me
- You don’t get to label me
- There is a world of possibility for us to shine our light
- When we stop carrying the labels on our backs like a shell magic happens
I’m fairly certain I always thought this way. My uniqueness, like yours, has always been there
Athlete and Rebel
I’ve been a sports fan and sports player since I can remember. I played A Grade Basketball, a little tennis, which I loved but basketball took precedence, became proficient at swimming (later to become swim school owner) and loved cricket. I truly believe if wasn’t for sport, and the self development mindset that grew from it, I may have taken a very destructive path.
In January 1979 I was chosen in the number one team to represent my combined club on a tour of the West Coast of the USA. As a bottom aged player I knew the hard work I was putting in was paying off because I made it into the top team. I was proud. Mum and dad told me I had to save half the fees to go because they couldn’t afford it all. I did! This taught me I could do anything, but more importantly, that I wasn’t the failure I thought I was.
At fifteen in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, a rebellious, confused and emotionally disconnected, and silently troubled teenager. But, because I failed at school, in my eyes life was a contradiction between failure and success. The athletic rebel, I smoked, drank and wagged, yelled at teachers and never did a scrap of homework. Until Mr. Sheridan saw something in me that no one had seen, or at least no one had told me about. From that moment on I studied hard for his classes and got a score of 95% on the end of year exam. It was the only class I passed in that year. But I was proud, and Mr. Sheridan made sure everyone in the class knew I’d aced it.
I worked hard to overcome that rebel label I’d given myself. So that when I wasn’t responsible or I lost my way, I could always find my way back. This is how I’ve lived my life.
Darkness Emerged
One day as a fifteen-year-old swimming teacher, I found out a couple of the children I taught, were the victims of brutal domestic violence. I had never heard anything like this before so it deeply shocked and troubled me. My life seemed normal to me at the time. Yet I had no idea I was also experiencing abuse of the emotional and psychological kind.
This completely changed the way I saw the world, and I knew right there I would somehow play a part in change.
But life takes interesting twists and turns. My journey took a turn necessary for me to heal first. I suppose I couldn’t be a part of other people’s change while I was still hurting.
Memories of those children are still with me. Whenever I think of them, I become so annoyed – indignant, and it fuels my fire. That connection was meant to show me how the world is, and discover my stance against violence of any kind.
Leadership Awakened in Me
My working life began as a swimming teacher for my mum who managed the pool where my dad was the head coach.Over the next 27 or so years I taught thousands of children and adults to swim, trained hundreds of teachers to become really great teachers, and developed relationships and partnerships with thousands of parents. I partnered with Austswim and ran many teachers programs to budding teachers within the north Qld area over many years. I systemised many swim schools including the one that I brought and tripled in clients.
Over this period of my life I learned the value of developing people, bringing out the best in them. I know what it takes to build something from the ground up where the people become the front and centre of the organisation. No system works without working relationships. What I also found out over that time is that all humans have within them a uniqueness and it needs to be cultivated by those who lead them.
The day I took ownership of the swim school I had what I would say was a near panic attack. All of a sudden recognising the weight of the responsibility I held. Previous years as manager had not come with that same responsibility. It now felt like a burden and it was my responsibility to make it the safest swim school it could reasonably be.
When a child is frightened of the water they will do everything to keep themselves away from it. Vulnerable and afraid they cry and resist, often clinging onto their parents leg. Like the child resisting the water, adults resist the things that make them feel afraid, anxious and vulnerable. The environment I created was one of self-discovery and love and respect for the water, and of proficiency. But what MADE that possible, were the relationships. Creating leadership environments creates growth.
Being a Leader
Mindset isn’t enough when lurking under the surface are our perceived inadequacies that tell us we’re not enough, we’re not living up to being a good girl or a nice woman, or we’re not born for success or leadership. While our mindset is our general approach to life, it doesn’t remove these blockages that are residing underneath the surface waiting to appear whenever you push yourself or aspire for more. We flip the paradigm. Rather than aiming to ‘have’ more, we develop deep awareness and support people in aiming to ‘be’ the person they aspire to be. Not someone different, but someone who is being themselves – uniquely!
In spite of what you might have learned, leadership is not a set of skills, it’s a way of being. In other words, you bring yourself, your uniqueness and all of your vulnerabilities into every conversation and interaction. Your relationships are formed through who and how you are being, not through a set of skills.
In all of our leadership programs we develop a high level of awareness in our clients to bring conscious awareness to their inauthenticities, which are creating ineffectiveness. What we aim to do is develop people who are vulnerable, courageous, authentic, responsible, compassionate, present, forgiving, confident, proactive, assertive, resilient, accountable and resourceful. We develop people who become willing to lead with intention and develop a propensity toward continually growing and learning from others.
If you want to learn more about our programs for yourself or your team get in touch. We’d love to have a conversation with you.
Family and Home
I’ve been very fortunate to be married with three fabulous adult children – all females, and five wonderful grandchildren – three girls and two boys. I value family and connection over anything else, and I truly believe that each of us has within us a leader. I’m cultivating that in my children and they’re cultivating it in their children or nieces and nephews. All of us are one, no matter where we are in the world or what part of our life journey we’re on.
I’ve lived in many places throughout Australia; born in Melbourne Victoria, I moved to Rockhampton Central Queensland with my mum, dad and two of my sisters when I was 17, back to Melbourne Victoria three years later. Then back to Rockhampton a few years after that. Out to the coastal region half an hour east of Rockhampton – Yeppoon for seven years. Up to Mackay Queensland three and a half hours north of Rockhampton for 14 years. Then down to Brisbane South East Queensland for a few years. Up to Bribie Island an hour or so North East of Brisbane. Back to Brisbane and then out to Redcliffe on the eastern Peninsular of Brisbane, and now, finally residing back in Mackay North Queensland. The common denominator in all of this is our desire to always be by the water, and go where family is. I love to travel and my leadership work is and always will be global and diverse.
Qualifications and Credentials
- Graduate Diploma of Ontological Coaching – Newfield Institute
- Thrive Coach – Engenesis Coaching Academy
- Thrive Coach Trainer and Mentor – Engenesis
- Being Profile Practitioner
- Being Mastery – Engenesis
- Elevate – Engenesis
- Member of ICF
- Conversational Technology Program – Newfield Institute
- Mobilize – Mobilize Network
- Diploma of Training and Assessment
- Diploma of Training Design and Development
- Diploma of Quality Auditing
- Teacher of Swimming and Water Safety
- Teacher of Infant Aquatics
