LARA’S CLIENT LIST INCLUDES:
Assante Wealth Management
Burchell Hayman Parish
Canadian Bar Association, Nova Scotia Branch
Centre for Art Tapes
Citadel High School
CNIB
Dalhousie Legal Aid Clinic
Family Mediation Nova Scotia
Federal Public Service
Institute of Law Clerks Ontario
McInnes Cooper
Nova Scotia Association of Realtors
Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society
Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission
Nova Scotia Lawyers’ Assistance Program
Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service
Province of Nova Scotia
Second Story Women’s Centre
Women’s Employment Outreach
TESTIMONIALS FROM COACHING CLIENTS
Lara has helped me to incorporate my values into my business and to keep on track with my goals, both in my career and personal life. She challenges me to live up to my expectations and to be accountable to myself. Getting coached by Lara is like gaining a conscience that stays focused on productivity and well-being.
Rosemary Porter, Realtor, Halifax, Nova Scotia
I started talking to Lara for a number of reasons, including my struggles with confidence and time-management, and my tendency to procrastinate. Lara's coaching has put me on the right track and I now enjoy a lot more success in both my career and life. Lara zeroes in on what makes me tick and helps me discover my true goals and strategies for achieving them. Since engaging her as my coach, I am more focused at work and my billings have actually improved; but, at the same time, I spend less time at the office and have better balance in my life! She is a gifted coach and I would strongly recommend her to other lawyers in private practice. She will undoubtedly help you to become a better lawyer and person.
Associate Lawyer at Regional Law Firm, Nova Scotia
Over the past year, Lara has helped me to live a richer, more rewarding life. I am more positive, happier, and have achieved new career goals and more fulfilling personal experiences. For anyone who believes that they are not reaching their potential, or that there is more to be gained from life, Lara's coaching skills will help mobilize those abilities and effect positive change.
Naomi Matthews, Director Seafood Operations, Sobeys Inc, Stellarton, Nova Scotia
Lara offers hands on, yet unintrusive guidance and coaching. It's like holding up a mirror, and making you curious about what you see reflected there. Her insight continually offers new perspectives, and ways of addressing situations that you never thought of, or were hesitant to consider. I believe that in revisiting your personal experiences and focusing on 'your dream' with Lara's help, you come away refreshed and reinvigorated.
Rose Cadogan, Lawyer, NS Department of Justice
Management Consultant, Toronto, Ontario
I started working with Lara about a year ago. I had a lot of anxiety related to my business practice. I had some specific goals related to business efficiency. I also had a more ambiguous desire to reconnect with my creativity. So, I tabled a "hard" goal and a "soft" goal, somewhat at odds with each other. Lara's coaching has aided me in finding a balance in these goals and helped me define the value in this harmony.The coaching experience with Lara has been nothing short of transformative, it has surpassed my expectations and helped me be more productive and content with my life. As a bonus, the life coaching sessions have given me tools to grow in all areas of my life. Now I'm looking forward to the future with excitement and anticipation.
I had a sample session with Lara at a point that I was feeling particularly pressured to make some decisions in my life. I had too many options on my plate and was afraid to say no to any of them for fear of closing doors. It was becoming clear that I was over extended and that I was paralyzed by my lack of direction.
Lara's concise questions really helped me focus on what I wanted and how I could get it. She helped me solidify what I already knew and within weeks I had made some major decisions and changes in my life. I am looking forward to working with her more in the future.
Julie Lewis, Renovations Contractor, Toronto, Ontario
Working with Lara has been both enjoyable and challenging. As a result of our sessions, I learned to listen more closely to my own inner wisdom, and to question assumptions I make about myself and others. She taught me useful strategies for coping with life's hard stuff, without shutting down emotionally or intellectually. My experience was that she brings to her work a tremendous capacity to listen and empathize, practical problem solving skills and a fearless determination to help you be honest with yourself. The most remarkable thing for me was how she got me to pay attention to insights I had, but was trying desperately to discount or ignore. I will definitely seek Lara's assistance again in the future.
J. Brown, Lawyer, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Over the past few months Lara has helped me examine my life goals so that I could get my life back on track. It has been a pleasure working with Lara. She asks the questions that make you re-examine the way you think. By challenging my usual way of thinking she helped me with realizing that there were many different solutions to issues that I had not recognized. Lara has really helped me focus on productive ways of dealing with life's little issues which in turn has helped me regain my self confidence.
Lawyer, Halifax, Nova Scotia
As a Life Coach, Lara has provided an unique perspective to my life. Her ability to challenge me to see an issue from many perspectives has helped immensely. The challenge to move forward is always present in our work. Greatly appreciated is her encouragement of creative outlets for my emotions. Being a person driven by "To-Do" lists, this was very inspiring and will have a life-long impact on who I am as a person. Finally, the ability to "check-in" has also facilitated my growth and development. I would encourage any one to experience the tremendous benefits of having a Life Coach!
HC, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Over the past months, Lara has helped me bring a sense of balance back into my life by showing me how to allow more personal space into my work space each and every day, through self-awareness, self-exploration and discipline. At times, I felt that Lara was my 'inner voice' on the other end of the telephone, encouraging me to take time and make time for myself, to explore new ideas and create opportunities, to take action when a door of opportunity opens, to listen to my heart (not just my head) and, perhaps most importantly, to give myself permission to put myself first! I also learned that making mistakes is OK. As I continue to work on my new life plan, I know that Lara is only a phone call or e-mail away.
RA - Burlington, Ontario
Coaching is like therapy, but better - utterly self-directed, ultimately practical. You realize you have answers within yourself and the ability to accomplish and change the things you wish to, which you somehow didn't realize were present. Lara is a practical coach - and this drew out the practicality in me. It's not that emotion and subjectivity don't come into the discussion. It's that Lara helps you overcome the old excuses and the unvaluable clutter which stands in the way of your decision-making.
Editor, Halifax, Nova Scotia
You will be hard pressed to find a more compassionate, caring, intuitive coach. ....And don't think that means she's soft....because if she catches you being untrue to yourself, you will discover that she can also be "hard as nails"...!!!
R.N., IT Consultant, Ottawa, Ontario
Lara's powerful coaching helped me move forward into taking the action I wanted. Just as important, her intuition gave me the insight required for profound personal growth. She is a wonderful coach.
John D., London, Ontario
I started working with Lara as my coach a few months after moving to a new job and new community. I was overwhelmed with the challenges of both and started to get stuck in terms of having so much to do at work, not knowing where or how to begin (as well as finish) the many projects I had on my plate. Lara's coaching enabled me to access what I knew in my head and heart about how to move forward. That's the thing about working with Lara; she enables you to tap into yourself, your own knowledge and experience, and yes wisdom, and make it work for you. And like so many of Lara's clients, I found Lara to have a keen ability to listen with empathy, challenge my faulty thinking, including self-depreciating beliefs, and then get down to the concrete things I could do to get behind myself. Since life isn't a straight line and there is always more to learn, especially about yourself, I will be calling on Lara again when I start missing the curves.
Lawyer, Antigonish, Nova Scotia
Lara has helped me clarify and focus on what I want to achieve and in doing so has sped up my process. Lara is caring and supportive. I thank her for helping me create the life I want.
Louise Lambert, St-Lambert, Quebec
Lara has been a cross between a laidback therapist and a business counsellor for me. She has helped me to clarify my concerns to the point that I now feel better equipped to deal with them. It's wonderful having someone to help you see.
Kate, photographer
I have actively moved ahead with my life goals thanks to my coach. Lara has helped me clarify my vision and take positive action toward attaining my goals.
Karen V. Reimer, Manager, Co-operative Education Services, University of Guelph, Ontario
TESTIMONIALS FROM FACILITATION/ WORKSHOP/TRAINING CLIENTS
Lara Morris has been incredibly effective coaching our staff to develop successful strategies for inter office communication and administrative policy development. She has been able to work with a staff whose administrative training spans many decades and has been able to help them determine what the best solutions are to incorporate their working styles into a coherent pattern that suits the entire office environment. We saw immediate results from the implementation of strategies that she was able to develop through the staff's shared server file protocols.
Ilan Sandler, Executive Director, Centre For Art Tapes
We hired Lara to facilitate a Board of Directors meeting regarding Board structure and member's roles during a time of transition. In addition to inviting each participant to connect with their own motivations for volunteering for the CNIB, Lara kept our discussion focussed and encouraged everyone to participate. We had to address some hard topics, and Lara made sure we didn't shy away from the conversation that had to happen. With her leadership, our group had a meaningful discussion, kept to our time schedule, and left the meeting with a plan for next steps. I found Lara to be a dynamic and skilled facilitator and would recommend her to other non profit agencies.
Duncan Williams, Executive Director, CNIB, NS-PEI Division
Our partnership of over 12 years reached a point where we needed to re examine our goals. Based on recommendations from other professional facilitators, we hired Lara. None of us had worked with a facilitator before and really had no sense of how it would work. Lara made it easy. In the pre-consult stage she quickly grasped the essence of the group, its core values and its challenges. When the day of facilitation arrived the group was able to articulate its concerns and we were able to reach agreement about next steps. Lara has a gentle yet focussed approach that we found to be very valuable.
Facilitation participant, post-secondary institution in Nova Scotia
I found Lara hit the highlights of what is important at looking at work/life balance issues. She helped me identify meaningful changes I could make to have a more balanced life, something I realized was woefully lacking for me. Her presentation was interesting, educational, and well received. I would not hesitate to recommend Lara's services in the future.
Our firm's session with Lara was practical and focused. She helped us identify and understand common goals, then develop strategies to advance them -- individually and as a group. "Who are we and where are we going" discussions can be awkward, but Lara's assistance eased the pain. She provided structure for the discussion and got us talking.
David Hutt, Burchell Hayman Parish (Workshop at firm retreat)
Ms. Morris provided the workshop attendees with suggestions on how they could best explore the options available to them in their place of work for advancement, as well as suggestions on improving their relationships with not only their co-workers, but also the principals for whom they work. In my view Ms. Morris made some very concrete suggestions that I indeed have taken to my workplace and I certainly feel I benefited from her workshop.
Asmena Jadavjee, Participant, Law Clerks Taking Charge of Your Career, Conference Workshop, Institute of Law Clerks Ontario
On a personal level I found the courses to be invigorating and challenging, urging me to take stock of where I was and where I wanted to go. I would highly recommend Lara Morris.
Blanche Keats, President, Marina Professional Training and Consultants
A good opportunity to learn to articulate issues and see it another way!
Participant, Living with and loving a lawyer workshop