Dr. John McGill 

During my time as a business coach & strategist, I've had the privilege of helping coaches, consultants, and solopreneurs elevate their businesses to new heights. 

My mission? To help them craft irresistible offers and effortlessly fill their client books—without any stress or salesy vibes.

Here's how I approach each client engagement:

Brand Boost: We start by transforming their brand into a client magnet. Through strategic positioning and messaging, we ensure that their brand stands out in a crowded market, attracting their ideal clients like bees to honey.

Client Connection: Next, we focus on converting interests into bookings through genuine conversations. By fostering authentic connections and building trust, we turn potential clients into loyal customers who can't wait to work with them.

Streamlined Systems: To streamline operations and eliminate unnecessary complexity, we implement efficient systems and processes. This allows them to focus their time and energy on what they do best—serving their clients and growing their business.

Peak Performance: Finally, we prioritize their wellbeing and work-life harmony. By helping them achieve fulfilling workdays with optimal health, focus, and energy, we ensure they can sustain their success in the long run.

I'm passionate about making their journey to success as smooth and enjoyable as possible. 

Whether it's making their business more profitable, healthier, or simply more enjoyable, I'm here to help.

If you're ready to welcome more clients with ease and take your business to the next level, let's chat. 

Send me a DM, and let's start crafting your path to success together.

Business Coach & Strategist

The College of Law Australia

You know the job, the one job where you get to use all the best parts of yourself?

Well, this was that job for me.

In the start of my legal career I had an experience where I was told I would never succeed in the legal world because of the colour of my skin.

A partner in a law firm said those words.  He said it because he liked me and thought he was doing me a favour preparing me for reality.

Imagine then the irony of finding myself running a law school in a country on the other side of the world?

Not just running it, changing it.

When I took over as the Executive Director, I inherited a program that hadn’t made any profit.  

What it did have was an incredible team of passionate people committed to giving students everything they could.

All my years of teaching, curriculum development, business coaching, sales training, business development and product development came together.

I tore the entire program apart and had everything rebuilt.

The efforts bent us all.  No one broke.

We went from the 5th largest post-graduate program for lawyers in Australia to the 2nd largest.

We doubled enrolments.  We doubled revenue.

We became profitable after my 3rd year of leadership and stayed profitable.

Was it hard?  The hardest thing I’ve ever been a part of.

Were there battles?  I still bear the scars.

Was it worth it?

Our completion rate went from 30% to 80%.

Our representation of women graduates went from 50% to 70%.

Yeah, it was worth every bit of blood, sweat and tears.

Best. Job. Ever.

(Ok, except for the one now where I work for me ;-)

Executive Director, Practitioner Education

Prime Practice

Fun fact: I’m terrified of dentists and they used to be my clients.

Well, I should say, I was terrified of dentists until I started working with them.

Here’s what most people don’t realise–dentists are some of the hardest working professionals alive.

Most dentists have their own practice.  Their practice is a million dollar plus business with staff and a relatively flat structure.

Dentists find themselves having to be responsible for:
- The delivery of services
- The human resource manager
- The marketing manager
- The sales manager
- The business development manager
- The client services manager

Oh, and like lawyers with their own practices, dentists didn’t learn business management in dental school.

That’s where we came in.  As business coaches we helped to fill the business gaps.

We trained everyone up in systems management and client services.  

Taught the dentists new sales techniques.

And then coached the dentists on business performance and ways to grow the practice.

I loved getting to know the dentists and their teams.  

Without a drill in their hands, they weren’t scary at all.

Then an interesting thing happened.

I came to this role after I had been working as a sales coach, living and breathing sales.

I observed one of our information sessions for practice owners and realised we could improve what we said and how we communicated our value to prospective clients.

Problem was, how do I share this with the executives and the CEO who started the company and who had run things for years and I was relatively still new?

I did what anyone in my shoes would do of course: I created a presentation diagnosing the problem and presenting a solution and invited the executives to a meeting none of them had been expecting.

How did it go?

The next week I was promoted to a new role as the Business Development Manager with a 50% raise.  

So, yeah, I’d say it went ok.

Business Development and Marketing Manager, Business Coach and Trainer

BOC Gases

Have you ever taken a job completely outside your comfort zone?

This was that type of job for me.

Not for the work we did.  The work was well within my skill sets. 

The environment was something new.

Gas? Products so dangerous every employee was required to take defensive driving classes?

I never imagined I’d be working in the sciences, let alone in something like natural gas.

It was a blast though (pun fully intended).

I started out with the training team associated with safety, health, environment and quality.

We designed rapid fire training programs, capturing the subjective matter knowledge of people working in the field.  

This was a role filled with characters and I enjoyed every moment.

An internal role popped up to work with the sales team as a sales coach and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

I became immersed in the world of sales at a product level, and supporting a sales team.  

Pure salespeople have an infectious energy.  They’re a hungry bunch.  Never a dull moment around them.

My favourite part was working on the sales coaching program.  

We introduced neuroscience coaching programs with the sales techniques.  

You should have seen the transformations as people learned more about how their brains impacted their behaviours.

This role gave me so many practical skills I still use to this day.

Sales Coach and Trainer

University of Sydney

Have you ever been a one-person show in a team?

I feel your pain, and your triumph.

As always, the best part of this role was the team I worked with and my students, the tutors.

The challenge was the team I worked with each had their own unique program and we were all forced to do everything ourselves for our own programs.

Meaning:
- Creating and delivering the training
- All the event management
- Designing the workshop, marketing and communication materials
- Managing the registrations, bookings and catering
- Designing pilot initiatives
- Coordinating peer observation and review programs
- Implementing a mentoring program
- Creating a reward and recognition program for tutors

My program was responsible for teaching and training over 120 casual tutors at the Business School.  

Most were students themselves and had never taught before.

I had my work cut out for me to try and make the program inviting enough to attract as many tutors as possible.

I created and delivered over 30 individual train-the-teacher seminars.  All in person.  Before Zoom took over the world.

Loved every minute of it.

Clearly, this job prepared me well to eventually run my own business.


P.S.

I was also juggling my own PhD, and teaching my own classes in Organisational Development.

My fondest memory will always be my last day of teaching so I could focus on finishing my PhD and my students, the tutors, had a surprise for me leaving me speechless for the first time ever.

Still brings a tear to the eye.

University Tutor & Teaching Development Manager

Increase peak executive performance with strategic mental sharpness habits in 90 days | Founder & Director: 90Well & 90Well@Work

I help coaches, consultants, and solopreneurs craft irresistible offers and book more clients—no stress, no salesy vibes. 

Here’s my straightforward approach:

1/ Brand Boost: make your brand a client magnet.

2/ Client Connection: turn followers into clients with genuine conversations.

3/ Streamlined Systems: simplify your operations to focus on your passion.

4/ Peak Performance: achieve fulfilling work days, with health, focus & energy, consistently.

I’m here to help you book more clients the easy way. 

Let’s chat about making your business profitable, healthy and enjoyable.

Book more clients (& stress less) to enjoy the job you love.

DM me for more.

Dr. John McGill 🧠

Achievement by Design

I discovered the magic of coaching when, miserable in my job as a litigation associate, I went to see a career coach who was also a lawyer. He helped me reinvent myself and became a touchstone whenever I faced a crossroads in my career.  Along the way, I decided to follow in his footsteps.  No matter what the endeavor, a coach can help you accelerate your progress with proven methods.

In a nutshell, you describe what you want and, together, we explore options, design strategies for you to implement and achieve your goals. That is the winning formula I used with a best-selling author, attorneys from junior associate to chairman, accountants and executives. Common areas include: 
 - Marketing 
 - Confidence
 - Career transitions 
 - Leadership
 - Improving work relationships 
 - Work/life balance

Public Speaking:  I lead workshops and present to organizations on topics including marketing, improving self-confidence, effective goal-setting,  and communicating effectively.  I have presented at many continuing legal education seminars and can tailor most presentations to qualify for credit.

Founder and Lawyer Coach

The Legal Intelligencer

Lawyer coach Dena Lefkowitz helps attorneys learn what they don’t teach in law school: business development/marketing, leadership and she provides tools and strategies for career transformation within or outside the law.

Columnist

Nemours

Certified in Health Care Compliance by Health Care Compliance Association, conducted workplace investigations of alleged misconduct, analyzed legal requirements, evaluated organizational exposure, reported to Chief Compliance Officer and presented findings and recommendations to hospital leadership and human resources business partners.

Compliance

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Responsibilities included:

Advising the Executive Director on all legal affairs;
Appellate arguments before the Commonwealth and Supreme Court;
Supervising and mentoring staff attorneys
Overseeing and directing outside counsel;
Drafting external and internal policies;
Lobbying lawmakers to increase funding;
Recommendations to support initiatives of the Office of Open Records
Supervising litigation in appellate and common pleas courts;
Monitoring appeals from decisions of the Office of Open Records
Conducting training for public officials and attorneys and ppeals officers;
Handling inquiries from government officials and citizens;
Presenting continuing legal education seminars for attorneys;

Significant Accomplishments:
Oral argument before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court;
Created an appeals process pursuant to the new Right to Know Law;
Designed training for public officials on Pennsylvania's Sunshine Law;
Drafted the first Final Determination ever published by the Office of Open Records
Served as Senior Attorney and Appeals Officer from 2008-2010;
Drafted advisory opinions;
Instrumental in all aspects of implementing the Right to Know Law

General Counsel - Office of Open Records

Chester Upland School District

Represented and advised the Education Empowerment Board, Superintendent and executive management team on all legal matters involving the School District. Was responsible for all legal affairs including:
Creating the Office of General Counsel:
Reducing outside legal expenses by over $800,000 in the first year;
Developing strategies for cost-effective selections and use of outside counsel;
Overseeing outside counsel and reduction of litigation expenses
Drafting Policies and protocols ;
Providing counsel to improve governance and oversight of legal costs;
Drafting or approving all procurement contracts;
Monitoring and advising senior staff to ensure compliance with the Public School Code, Administrative Regulations, Public Employee Relations Act, Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, Public Officials Act, the Pennsylvania Charter School Law and law related to education including FERPA, NCLB, Title IX, and ADA;
Mediation of employee grievances;

General Counsel

School District of Philadelphia

Assistant General Counsel

Eckell Sparks Levy Auerbach Monte Sloane Matthews & Auslander, P.C.

Associate

ALAN R. KUTNER & ASSOCIATES

CAIOLA, CAIOLA & GOWEN

ABRAHAM, PRESSMAN & BAUER, P.C.

Business and Career Coach for Lawyers / Author of "Winning in Your Own Court" / Entrepreneur

When I was a kid, I was the only girl I knew whose dream did not involve walking down the aisle in a white dress. I wanted a career. My role models were more Mary Richards than Carol Brady. 

And the coolest career, I thought, would be to become a lawyer. 

Imagine if the girl whose mother called her “impossible” for being argumentative could use that specific trait and be a courtroom lawyer like Katherine Hepburn in “Adams Rib!” My dreams became grander when I was in law school and watched how the lawyers on “L.A. Law” lived. The sexy cases, the gorgeous designer suits, the cars, the prestige. Yes, please!

Well, that dream lasted for three years. Yup, 1000 days is all it took for me to realize that being a lawyer can really suck if all you know is what they taught you in law school.  As soon as I graduated, I began to see all the things I still didn’t know. And they were big, crucial things. How to get clients? I didn’t know. How to make partner? I didn’t know. How to change areas of practice if I didn’t like the first one I picked out of law school? I didn’t know.

And, that’s exactly what happened to me. I didn’t like being a litigator, my first job out of law school, because I had no idea what it was like. After all, we never saw the long hours, sleepless nights, drudgery, or stress on “L.A. Law.”

I realized that although I was helping some of my clients recover millions of dollars, I wasn’t feeling like a winner because I didn’t understand the basic laws of being a successful professional outside of the courtroom and so I quit. I shifted my practice a few times and, after 20 years, I decided to leave the law.

My dad said I was crazy. My colleagues said I was crazy. But I’m not crazy because, now, 14 years later with a successful coaching practice, having helped hundreds of lawyers win more in their careers and lives, I realize that this is my purpose, what I was made to do. I’m grateful I became a lawyer so I could become not-a-lawyer and help the rest because we will always need great lawyers. As a lawyer coach, I’m here to make sure we still have some.

Book a call here: https://achievementbydesign.com/calendar/

taplio

The Battle

Dr. John McGill 🧠

Dena Lefkowitz, Esq.

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