How an Erickson Scholarship helped Havillah Ogutu pursue his dream career in coaching…

Meet Havillah Ogutu, an Erickson Scholarship graduate whose interest in coaching started from a very young age, watching football.

"I’m a big Arsenal Football Club fan," he shares with a smile, "but ever since I can remember, I was always more curious about the team’s coach than the game itself - how the coach thought, how they led the players." 

He didn’t realise it at the time, but while others were admiring the players and the game, Havillah was absorbing the quiet power and presence of coaching.  To him, the coach wasn’t just a figure on the sidelines, but the architect of transformation.

A new career direction 

Many years later, after finishing an Engineering degree and feeling a bit disillusioned with his studies, Havillah ended up taking his career in an entirely different direction. During his campus experience of working in a youth leadership role at an NGO, leading teams of various sizes, he started asking himself philosophical questions about what really drives success.

“Often, when I was leading teams that weren’t moving in the direction they wanted to move in, I started interrogating what lies at the heart of team success and achieving project goals.” 

During one of these reflections, Havillah asked himself a simple yet profound question that changed everything: ‘When things don’t align, is it because of the person or the problem?’ The answer that came to him unlocked everything. ‘It’s the person’, he realized, ‘because it doesn't matter what you're trying to do, if the person has beliefs that are holding them back, they’ll never succeed.’

Overcoming limiting beliefs

For Havillah, two limiting beliefs were particularly stubborn in his trying to launch his leadership career. First: "I've never done this before, so who am I to do this?" And second: "If I do my best and fail, that will be devastating." These limiting narratives were silently shaping his actions, his confidence, and his ability to lead.

As he started focusing less on problems and more on people, Havillah was unknowingly stepping into the coach approach. He came to the realization that what he had been doing all along - helping others surface their beliefs, reflect deeply, and own their choices - was in fact coaching. And so, in the various career roles he tackled, he started learning more about coaching, signing up for courses, attending webinars, and immensely himself fully in what he now knew was his calling.

A scholarship changed everything

Fast forward two or three years, and a scholarship link that his co-founder shared with him resulted in a dream application coming true - a chance to study Erickson Coaching International’s award-winning The Art & Science of Coaching™ program.

“It felt like a homecoming,” Havillah reflects, fondly. “As if someone finally gave me the vocabulary for what I had been doing intuitively. It helped me to deepen my understanding of presence, power, and process, building on years of lived experience to become a certified coach, and it gave me a unique, solution-focused methodology to apply to my coaching sessions.”

Today, Havillah integrates coaching into every corner of his professional life. He helps clients move beyond surface-level strategies and toward internal alignment. His work often starts where his own transformation began - with the person. "It doesn’t matter how great your plan is," he says, "if your mindset isn’t aligned, execution becomes impossible."

Coaching is all about creating space

Coaching, he says, is not about giving answers. It's about creating space. "One of the most powerful tools I use is simply listening - deeply and without judgment. Most people are never really heard, and in that silence, something opens up."

His coaching isn’t only reserved for formal sessions. As a leader, he applies the same principles to his team, his conversations, and even his community work. Whether he's supporting an executive or mentoring a young professional, his presence is steady, curious, and non-directive.

When asked what advice he’d give to himself at the beginning of his career, Havillah doesn’t hesitate. "Walk away from anything misaligned with your values. Don’t be afraid to say no. In the beginning, I took whatever came my way because I thought I had to. But now I know: it’s not about scarcity. It’s about clarity."

And that clarity has become his compass. "I choose my clients now," he says. "I work only with companies that are value-aligned. I’m not afraid to walk away."

In closing

For someone who once questioned his right to step into new roles, Havillah now owns his path fully. And what would he say to new coaches just starting out?
"See coaching first as a skill, not a title. Build confidence in your ability to listen, ask powerful questions, and hold space. Practice wherever you can - with colleagues, family, or even yourself."

His approach is gentle but firm.

"You don’t have to have it all figured out. Just start. Keep asking, keep listening. And above all, trust yourself."

From subconscious inspiration to conscious transformation, Havillah’s coaching journey is a powerful reminder: success doesn’t begin with strategies. It begins with the person - and the willingness to own your growth.

ABOUT HAVILLAH

Havillah offers the following services: Career Development Coaching • Leadership Development • Life Coaching • Interview Preparation • Executive Coaching • Public Speaking.

His passion and professional experience comes from:

• 8 years of leadership development coaching 2000+ young leaders
• 4 years of leading 100 young executives
• 5 years of learning and studying from the greatest coaches in the world hence life coaching expertise
• Over 700+ speaking engagements in conferences, meetings and town hall events
• 8 years overseeing 500+ interviews
  

To follow and connect with Havillah on LinkedIn, visit his profile.

Inspired by Havillah’s story? Want to uncover your coaching path and build from the inside out? Explore The Art & Science of Coaching™ for yourself.