Redundancy coaching, Sydney

Coach for Leaders Facing Redundancy in Sydney

Coaching in Sydney and online for managers and executives whose role is at risk or has just gone. Steady yourself first, then choose the next step with a clear head.

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For you, not only for your CV.

In short

  • Coaching in Sydney and online for managers and executives facing redundancy: when your role is at risk, the day it lands and the months after.
  • Not outplacement. The work starts with you (identity, confidence, values), then moves to the next role or a new direction.
  • Raf Adams is an ICA certified coach with 5,000+ hours of coaching leaders, and he lost his own job in 2008.
  • The first step is the free Life Audit (about 3 minutes).

By Raf Adams · Last updated 24 October 2026

A restructure is announced. Your role is "under review". Or the meeting has already happened and you have a date, a letter and a package to think about. If you are a leader, there is often a second layer to it: you may be the one holding your team together while your own role disappears.

As a coach for leaders facing redundancy in Sydney, I work with you on what this means for you, not only on what to put in your next application. That way the next move is a choice, not a reflex.

What a coach does when you are facing redundancy

Steady

Make sense of the shock, the anger or the relief. For many leaders the hardest part is not the job but the question of who they are without the title.

Decide

Look at your real options: a similar role, a step up, a change of direction or a deliberate pause. We test each one against what matters to you.

Move

Shape the story you tell about the redundancy, the people you talk to and the timing. The practical plan rests on a solid inside.

Redundancy coaching or outplacement?

Outplacement is usually arranged by your employer and focuses on getting you into the next role: CV, LinkedIn, interviews. That is useful, and if it is offered, take it.

Coaching with me asks a different question first: what do you want the next chapter to be? Redundancy is one of the few moments in a career when the default path is interrupted. Some leaders use it to step straight back into a similar role, and that is fine. Others realise they have been wearing a Suit that no longer fits. Either way, the decision is better when it is yours.

The goal is a peaceful career transition: a move you can stand behind, made from a settled place rather than from panic.

The first weeks after the news

Give yourself a little time. Where you can, avoid making big decisions in the first few days. Shock is a poor adviser.
Check the facts. Read your letter and contract, then check your entitlements with the Fair Work Ombudsman and, for tax, the ATO. Moneysmart has a practical guide to losing your job. For legal questions, see an employment lawyer.
Look after your team and yourself. If you are still leading people through the change, be honest about what you know and what you do not. Then make sure someone is in your corner too.
Ask the bigger question. Before you update the CV, ask what you want your work to give you now. The free Life Audit is a good first step.

Who this is for

Leaders whose role is at risk

A restructure has been announced and you want to think clearly before anything is decided.

Leaders just made redundant

The news has landed. You want to steady yourself and avoid jumping at the first role that looks like the old one.

Senior leaders over 45

You wonder where you fit now. My article on career change at 50 in Australia covers the practical side.

Leaders who had to deliver redundancies

You stayed, others went, and it has changed how you feel about the role and the organisation.

Leaders ready to change direction

The redundancy has opened a door you had been thinking about. See also career transition coaching.

Leaders running on empty

Months of uncertainty have worn you down. My page on executive burnout coaching may help.

How coaching through redundancy works

Start with the free Life Audit. 35 statements, about 3 minutes, and a personal report on your Suit, your Monk and your Gap.
1:1 coaching. Confidential sessions in person in Sydney or online. We start with where you are now and what you need this week.
Direction and plan. Your options, your story and your next conversations, built on what matters to you.
Integration. Making the move and settling into it, so the change holds.

Formats are explained on the coaching page.

Why I coach leaders through redundancy

In 2008 I lost my job in China. I had been a high achiever in shipping and logistics, with my whole focus on what I now call the Suit: title, results, money and how I looked to others. When the job went, that Suit came off, and I had to ask what I was really working for.

That question became the Suited Monk philosophy. I wrote more about it in Lost your job? What to do with your life now. It is the same question I bring to leaders facing redundancy today.

Your coach, Raf Adams

Raf Adams is a practical philosopher, executive coach and the author of the Suited Monk books, based in Sydney. He is an ICA certified coach (International Coach Academy, an ICF-accredited program) and completed the Progress U advanced coaching program. He has 5,000+ hours of coaching leaders, lived and worked in China for 12 years and Spain for 6, and has been in Sydney since June 2024. He coaches in person in Sydney and online, wherever you are.

Coaching for leaders facing redundancy: FAQ

What does a coach for leaders facing redundancy do?

A coach gives you a confidential space to steady yourself, make sense of what has happened and decide what you actually want next. With me that means working on both journeys: the inner one (identity, confidence, values) and the outer one (options, story, next move).

Is redundancy coaching the same as outplacement?

Not quite. Outplacement is usually arranged and paid for by the employer and centres on the job search: CV, LinkedIn and interviews. Coaching centres on you, including whether the next job should look like the last one. The two can work well side by side.

Should I start before or after the redundancy is confirmed?

Either works. Starting when your role is at risk gives you more time to think clearly. Starting after the news helps you avoid rushing into the first role that looks like the old one.

Can you advise me on my redundancy package?

No. I am a coach, not a lawyer or financial adviser. For entitlements, see the Fair Work Ombudsman on redundancy pay; for tax, the ATO on employment termination payments; for money decisions, Moneysmart. For your contract, speak to an employment lawyer. Coaching helps you work out what you want, so those conversations are clearer.

Do you only coach in Sydney?

No. I coach in person in Sydney and online, with leaders across Australia and internationally.

Where do I start?

With the free Life Audit. It takes about 3 minutes and shows where your Gap sits between your outer life and what matters to you, which is a useful place to stand when everything else is moving.

Related: Career transition coaching · Career change coach Sydney · Lost your job? What now · Executive burnout coach Sydney

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See where you stand before you decide what comes next. 35 statements, about 3 minutes, and a free personal report.

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