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Jacques Myburgh

Transition Coach | Executive Coach | Business Coach | Existential Coach

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International

BSc; MBA; MPhil Coaching (cum laude)

+27 83 261 8820

throughthelinecoaching@gmail.com

www.sacoachingnews.co.za

za.linkedin.com/in/jmyburgh/

Western Cape

People usually approach me when a leadership or business responsibility has become more complex, when a role or career is changing, or when an important life transition raises questions about direction, identity, meaning and purpose. My work is intended to create a thoughtful space in which clients can slow down enough to understand what is happening, decide what matters, and move forward with greater clarity.

My principal service is professional coaching: executive and business coaching, transition coaching, and existential coaching – coaching for meaning. Alongside my coaching practice, I work as an educator and practitioner-researcher in coaching, mentoring, and research methods. I also undertake selected management consulting assignments, mainly where management information can assist business performance through structured and practical Excel-based dashboards.

Profile

I am a qualified executive coach, coaching educator and management consultant in private practice. I graduated with distinction from Stellenbosch Business School with a master’s degree in leadership coaching and hold an MBA in Strategic Marketing Management and Organisational Change Facilitation from Oxford Brookes University in the UK. Find me at https://za.linkedin.com/in/jmyburgh

My coaching is developmental rather than narrowly performance-driven. Executive and business coaching may focus on leadership judgement, emotional intelligence, difficult relationships, strategic decision-making, role complexity, professional identity, and business transitions. The purpose is not simply to solve the immediate problem, but to strengthen the client’s capacity to think, choose and act well in future situations.

I have a particular interest in transition coaching and existential coaching – coaching for meaning and purpose. This work is relevant during midlife, career or job changes, promotion into more demanding roles, downscaling for greater balance, sabbaticals, retrenchment and retirement. Transitions often involve both possibility and loss; coaching can help a person make sense of what is ending, what is emerging, and how a new chapter can be approached deliberately.

In the academic environment, I lecture and develop curricula in coaching, mentoring, research methods, professional development, and related interpersonal capabilities. I also work as a research supervisor, external examiner and moderator, peer reviewer, and academic support practitioner for postgraduate students. This work includes research design conversations, topic refinement, survey development, qualitative analysis support, technical editing and structured accountability, always within the academic integrity requirements of the relevant institution.

My consulting work is deliberately selective and complements the coaching and educational practice. It draws on a corporate background in business intelligence, project and project-office management, quality, business processes and organisational change. Typical assignments involve customised management information and business performance dashboards.

Experience

I began coaching part-time in 2008 and have worked full-time private practice since 2015, with more than 2,400 logged coaching hours. My experience includes executive coaching, business coaching, group coaching and personal development coaching across corporate, higher-education, consulting, financial-services, information-technology, leisure, and entrepreneurial settings. I have coached people at very different organisational levels, from senior executives and managing directors to team leaders, academics, small business owners, and professional-service founders.

Before entering private practice, I spent 25 years in corporate roles in the IT industry, notably focusing on business intelligence, management of a project management office (PMO), process design, ISO 9001 quality, and organizational change. This background helps me understand the operational realities behind many leadership and business-coaching conversations without turning coaching into advice-giving.

My academic work has included curriculum development, lecturing, research supervision, external examination and moderation for institutions such as TSIBA, Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development, SACAP, the University of the Witwatersrand and Tshwane University of Technology. I have taught or supported programmes in coaching & mentoring, manager-as-coach practice, authentic leadership, strategic influencing, personal mastery, research methods, and personal & professional development.

I previously founded and published CoachingNews.Africa, an open-access trade publication for the coaching profession, producing more than 40 issues over five years. I have also served the South African coaching profession through COMENSA’s research committee, ethics committee, and credentialing activities. I have authored or co-authored peer-reviewed research on coaching supervision, African organisational coaching practice and midlife transition.

My practice is guided by professional ethics, clear contracting, confidentiality and regular coaching supervision. Although based in the Western Cape, I coach clients across Southern Africa, primarily online.

How I work

A free 30-minute conversation is used to understand what has prompted the enquiry, explain the coaching process, and consider whether there is a suitable working relationship. There is no obligation to continue. When coaching proceeds, a written Coaching Agreement records the purpose of the engagement, confidentiality, roles and responsibilities, practical arrangements, and how progress will be reviewed.

A typical coaching programme consists of six to eight sessions of approximately one hour, usually scheduled three to four weeks apart. The frequency and duration are adapted where the client or sponsoring organisation has a different need. Most sessions take place online, which allows me to work across Southern Africa; in-person sessions in the Western Cape may be arranged where practical.

The conversations are reflective, collaborative and appropriately challenging. We explore where you are, what you would like to be different, what may be maintaining the present situation, what choices are available, and what the consequences of those choices may be. I draw on evidence-informed coaching, adult development, emotional-intelligence perspectives, and reflective practice. HeartMath® techniques may be used when they are relevant to stress regulation, resilience or emotional self-management.

Professional qualifications

  • MPhil in Leadership Coaching (cum laude), Stellenbosch Business School, 2014.
  • MBA in Strategic Marketing Management and Organisational Change Facilitation, Oxford Brookes University, UK, 2004.
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Management Consulting, Gordon Institute of Business Science, 2007.
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Project Management, Newport University, 1997.
  • BSc in Information Systems and Geology, University of Johannesburg, 1989.
  • Assessor training and registration, ETDP SETA and Services SETA, 2019.

Membership, professional accreditations and publications

  • Credentialed as a COMENSA Senior Coach (CSC)
  • COMENSA member since 2010
  • Member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) since 2024
  • Licensed HeartMath® Coach.
  • Former Chair and Deputy Chair of the COMENSA Research Committee
  • Credentialing evaluator for COMENSA.
  • Former founding owner and publisher of CoachingNews.Africa, which produced more than 40 open-access issues for the coaching profession.

Selected publications

Western Cape