Leadership Excellence: A Profile on Dr. Grace Churchill, CEO at Grace Churchill & Associates
Dr. Grace Churchill is the founder and owner of Grace Churchill & Associates, a global leadership development company dedicated to helping the next generation of leaders Show Up, Lead Big, and Do Good. With 20 years of experience in the industry, Dr. Churchill has built of team of extraordinary coaches and facilitators across Canada, US and Mexico - a significant shift, after navigating the highs and lows of previously being a solopreneur, as well as navigating a near-death health event and various personal pivots. Her work is anchored in a rich history of leadership and resilience.
What does leadership mean to you?
I think our tagline says it all. I believe that leadership means showing up, leading big and doing good.
I believe leaders need to show up as their full selves. How we navigate our beings into our doings, how we dare to be ourselves in all of our circumstances and how we are consistent and in honour of our personal values. That's what showing up means to me.
To me, the concept of 'leading big' is about navigating the balance between setting direction and inspiring followership. It is about balancing both the directional and inspirational aspects of moving forward, while bringing people along, is what 'leading big' means to me.
And 'doing good' is the anchor of it all. What are we doing this for? What impact do we want to have? Are we growing people? Are we getting results, and if so, for what purpose? That's what 'doing good' encompasses.
What are the key characteristics that you think every leadership have?
This is such a big question.
“I think it boils down to one key concept, which I call 'dichotomous leadership'—the ability to navigate things that seem opposite, yet find a way to balance between them.”
It’s a healthy tension. For example, navigating the difference between being a leader and doing leadership is one such dichotomy. Speaking actively and passionately AND listening actively and passionately—these can feel very different. Leading from the front of the room AND leading from the back of the room is another example.
There are also dichotomies like strategizing versus executing, thinking versus doing. As leaders, we need to balance achieving results while caring for people—both matter. Being able to navigate these dichotomies, rather than seeing them as 'either/or,' is one of the most important characteristics of effective leadership.
What would you say was your greatest challenge in a leadership role?
In 2011, I had just gotten divorced. I was a single mom of two young teenaged girls and was doing all that I possibly could to take care of them, take care of the two businesses I had at that time, and like many women leaving their marriages, was struggling financially to make ends meet until the divorce finally settled. I took care of everyone and everything else and basically ran myself into the ground.
In February 2013, I was at the end of my rope and was extremely tired, so tired that I couldn’t get myself out of bed. I went to see my doctor, who referred me to a cardiologist and we discovered that I had an almost six-centimeter aortic aneurysm, which is essentially a death sentence. I was immediately put on bed rest and had no way of running either of my businesses. I had to close them both down within 3 weeks.
Looking back, I realize that my biggest challenge was feeling like I had to do everything on my own. I didn’t even know I could ask for help. I felt like I had no choice but to close the businesses, but in hindsight, if I had asked for help, maybe things would have been different.
This experience was a significant learning moment for me. I realized that things are better when you can do them together. If I had had a succession plan or had asked for help in that critical moment, could I have continued the work or kept the businesses going, even though I was unwell and had to undergo a year and a half of recovery from open-heart surgery?
What this experience did was it gave me the opportunity to start from scratch. I had to reinvent myself 18 months later and it gave me a chance to begin again.
As a leader, is the culture of your organization important to the success of your business, why or why not?
You might think the natural answer would be yes, and for my organization, it is indeed important. I'll say that alignment with our core purpose is crucial when selecting the people we bring onto our team. It’s important that we have a common understanding of why we’re here, which helps establish our culture.
However, in other organizations I’ve worked with, that hasn’t always been the case. For example, I once worked with a company where the culture was extremely toxic, yet the business was highly successful.
It was a company who had long-term clients and faced little competition, so the company could afford to ignore the poor culture because they were making money regardless. Ironically, the toxic culture kept people around because there was no accountability and lots of money so bonuses were excellent, everyone got to drive nice cars and have big expense accounts but the back stabbing and stonewalling behaviours ruled the culture. So, despite the lack of a strong culture, the business thrived.
On the opposite end, I’m currently working with an organization that has a fantastic culture. It’s everything you’d imagine a great culture to be: highly collaborative, people-focused, and relationship-oriented. While this culture has contributed to the business’s growth, the market has been challenging. Despite the positive culture, the business is struggling, and now leadership is putting intense pressure on results. They’re asking questions like, ‘Are you billable?’ and ‘What’s your utilization rate?’ This pressure to meet numbers is damaging relationships, and turnover is the highest it’s ever been.
So while the culture is strong, people are leaving because of the market-driven pressure. All that to say, yes, in general, I believe workplace culture is important to a business’s success. But I’ve also seen situations where a company with a great culture is struggling and one with a poor culture is thriving. So, I guess it depends.
What are your strategies for engaging and motivating your employees?
I love that you asked this question because I've been thinking about retention and engagement in my team, and it really resonates with me. I think I can summarize my thoughts the trust equation.
First, I consider how I’m bringing people onto the team who have the competencies and the diverse skills we need in our business. The second part is reliability—can I trust that these individuals will follow through on what they say, maintain confidentiality when needed, and show up for each other when it matters?
Then, there’s intimacy. How are we connecting as a coaching group, as a team? Can we be real with each other—not just in terms of clients and work, but also as people, as coaches, as parents, and in all the other roles we play? It’s about breaking down the barriers between the person we are outside of work and the person we are at work, dissolving that line altogether.
And then the 'divided by self-orientation' part is about asking, are we in this for each other? Are we in it for our purpose, rather than engaging because we need something from one another? That’s the self-orientation piece. So, can we ensure that our self-orientation is low when we’re together?
Building trust within our team is my biggest strategy.
I truly feel a deep sense of trust in this team. We get together on a quarterly basis to talk a little bit about the business, but mostly about each other. We also have a WhatsApp group where we send each other messages for inspiration or to celebrate wins together. And quarterly, I offer each team member a one-on-one meeting with no agenda - just to connect on a personal level. I’m hopeful that that means something. It does to me.
What advice would you give to someone who is new to leadership?
First I would advise to know why you are a leader. What is the job you're supposed to do and what is it for? It really aligns with the 'Start With Why' concept by Simon Sinek.
My second piece of advice is to be open to feedback from people who care about your growth, rather than just being open to feedback in general. Sometimes, feedback is given not because the person wants you to grow, but because they don’t want to look bad or because you did something that made them look bad. Be open to constructive feedback from those who genuinely care about your development. Other feedback is less important. At the same time, don’t lose your authentic magic. Some leaders seek feedback simply to know where they should be growing based on someone else’s opinion, but you should also consider where you think you need to grow. Don’t let others’ opinions overshadow your own voice. Balance listening to feedback from those who truly want to help you grow with staying true to yourself.
And finally, leading is about setting expectations for results, but it’s also about growing the person doing the work. It’s a double win: growing both the results and the individual. That’s what leading is all about.
What is something you wish someone had told you prior to your leadership journey?
We know from professional athletes that recovery days are just as important as training days. I wish someone had told me that earlier! As a leader, I focused heavily on performance and racing days without taking the time to recover, and eventually, my body said, 'No more.' So, I wish I had understood the importance of recovery days because, in today’s world, there isn’t much support for them.
Recently, I’ve learned about a concept that I’ve been discussing a lot lately: managing our weeks with a balance of free days, focus days, and buffer days.
Focus days are when you deliver—whether it’s a presentation, facilitating a group, or coaching. Buffer days are for preparation—such as talking to clients, working on your presentation deck, and other preparatory tasks. Free days are meant for rest and activities you enjoy. These aren’t just weekends; it’s about finding days where you can truly rest. As entrepreneurs, you might have more flexibility but even for those working in organisations, there’s often more freedom in how you design your days. Perhaps those days can be free of meetings and other demands.
What has been the most rewarding part of your experience as a leader?
Scaling from a solopreneur to growing a company has been incredibly rewarding—it means I don’t have to do it all alone. It feels great to have an impact in a multiplied way, which is quite new to me. I have loved being part of a team, celebrating our wins together, working through the challenges with the expertise from others and being able to stay true to our purpose, which is to grow leaders of the next generation. We are doing that every day and that is deeply rewarding for me.
What are you driven by Grace?
I've been reflecting on this a lot over the years, and I feel like I’ve only recently found the words to express it and put it into something concrete. As a mother of two independent, brilliant, purpose-driven daughters (yes I am 100% bias), I am driven by developing the next generation of leaders so they can lead our world that is in dire need of great leadership.
I believe the next generation must change the trajectory of the world. Our world is chaotic right now; if we can’t communicate, if we can’t find the humanity in each other to work toward solutions, we’re in trouble. At my age, now in my late-50s, I have the opportunity to work with the Grace Churchill & Associates team, (many of whom are younger than me) and most of the leaders we work with are in their 40s or early 50s and help shape their contribution to the world. This is where I want my legacy to be.
Connect with Grace at gracechurchill.com
