Sue Johnston
Leadership Coach & Facilitator
Founder of LifeStar — The Operating System for Sustainable Leadership
SUE JOHNSTON
Wise. Real. Brave.
I sit at the intersection of two gaps most organisations know they need to address but rarely fill: courage-building skills and a systemic approach to sustainable leadership.
That means working on what leadership programmes most often overlook — boundaries, recovery, self-leadership, and the conversations that feel risky but matter most.
I'm a leadership coach, facilitator and strategic advisor based in New Zealand. I work with leaders, teams and organisations here in Aotearoa and around the world.
My focus is sustainable leadership under pressure: helping people build the courage and capacity to lead with clarity, hold boundaries and stay human when the stakes are high.
WHAT DRIVES MY WORK
I'm especially interested in how we make recovery and boundaries as normal at work as results. Too often, capable leaders keep performing while quietly running themselves down.
My work is about sustaining high performance — for the long term.
COURAGE BUILDING
Courage building sits at the heart of what I do. That includes self-leadership, healthy boundaries, trust, and the difficult conversations pressure often makes people avoid.
Courage isn't an add-on to leadership. It's how sustainable leadership actually shows up, day to day, in real relationships and real decisions.
LIFESTAR
®
I'm the Founder of LifeStar — a practical operating system for sustainable leadership under sustained pressure. LifeStar helps leaders think clearly, decide well, recover faster, and lead in ways that are sustainable over time.
Through Artemis, I offer leadership coaching, facilitation, courage-building and strategic advisory support for people doing important work in complex environments.
MY BACKGROUND
My background spans nursing, health sector leadership, systems improvement, and public policy and strategy — all of which now shape my leadership coaching and facilitation work.
Across all of it, the thread has been the same: helping people move from insight to practice — from knowing to doing and becoming.
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME
Being active has always been an important part of my life. I played three team sports at provincial level — netball, surf lifesaving and water polo — and represented New Zealand in women's water polo. That experience still shapes how I think about performance, pressure, teams, discipline, recovery and what it takes to strive for excellence over time.
These days I'm still intentional about the things outside work that keep me happy and well. That includes mountain bike trips with my husband, Pilates, dance, and time in nature. And nothing beats spending time with our adult children and their partners, sharing good food and a yarn.
MY CREDENTIALS
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International Coach Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach (PCC)
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New Zealand's only dual-certified/trained Dare to Lead™ and Daring Way™ Facilitator — listed in BetterUp's official facilitator directory
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Results Certified Coach, NeuroLeadership Institute
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Positive Intelligence Mental Fitness Coach
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Growth Edge Coach
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Certified to offer Leadership Circle Profile assessments
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Founder, LifeStar® — The Operating System for Sustainable Leadership
WHY ARTEMIS?
The Daring Goddess
When I started my own business over 20 years ago I was stepping into the unknown. It took courage and strength to leave paid employment with three young children and set off in a new direction. I wanted the name of my new company to reflect the balance between having professional aspirations and being an active mum.
Artemis was the goddess for me. The warrior goddess, known for protecting people and animals. Tough, and caring. Her ideals align well with my work — balancing courage, wisdom and commitment with the understanding, care and generosity to support people in their work and life aspirations.
