Introduction: What is The Vertical Climb?

Leadership is not simply about what we do. It is about who we become.

In the first episode of The Vertical Climb, Sandra Viljoen, Managing Director of New Beginnings Coaching, shares the story behind the podcast: the hardest decision of her life, losing the title she thought was her identity, and the long climb back to herself that became New Beginnings.

She opens up about the “good girl” who lived to please, the drop from “role model to toilet roll”, and the shadow of needing to be needed. She explains the four methodologies behind her Systemic Development Framework, and why years of training organisations led her to one conclusion: every business problem is a leadership problem.

Also in this episode: the three directors who avoided one honest conversation, the CEO who couldn’t find 10 minutes in the shower for himself, and why, in the age of AI, our consciousness may be the one thing machines can’t replace.