Drew McCrary

I worked as a Professional Ocean Lifeguard in Newport Beach for 10 years, which was invaluable in spotting changes in a dynamic system. I ran a Leadership Development Program at UCI for 5 years, serving 20,000+ participants through a combination of experiential education, psychometric assessments, high ropes courses, team-building activities, and co-creative activities. I most recently completed 5 years at Upwork, where I led Learning and Development for their Operations teams. In that time I helped to centralize and optimise processes across 36 multi-national teams in preparation for a successful IPO. Here I learned how to achieve fast, scalable results in a mostly remote team environment, which turned out to be very prescient knowledge. I've run my own Executive Coaching and Facilitation business for 4 years, coaching and training leaders from all over the world. I currently teach for Cornell University's Executive Education Department and for The University of California Irvine's Continuing Education Department

I've coached individuals and teams in the Technology, Startup, Finance, B2C, and Higher Education space from the Manager level to the C-suite. Within those industries, I've coached across most reporting lines and business units.

I love the shift that happens in my clients as they realise that they have a space where they can explore their own internal thought processes curiously as an "is." When they can externalize and map their inner parts and thought processes without judgment, they can then leverage the key strengths they already possess and shift their mindset around parts they may perceive as weaknesses. I believe that our mental models of how we perceive ourselves hold key information to understanding and unlocking our greatest potential, and I delight in curiously exploring these.

The most influential philosophy that guides my work is Internal Family Systems. I consider myself to be a cartographer of sorts; I help my clients to map their inner worlds just as an explorer would. I approach with respect and curiosity. We may map things already known, or discover that which is uncharted. What is important to me is that I always communicate with optimism, curiosity, and empowerment. Even the self-critical and seemingly self-sabotaging parts have positive intentions for our system, and when approached with curiosity, they eventually relax!

I believe that LIW really understands experiential learning and how to create bespoke experiences that really meet the client where they are at while still challenging them to unlock the next levels of their learning. You won't get traditional "sage on the stage" types of training; you'll have an immersive, experiential, and challenging (in the best way) experience, so I love being a part of these transformations!

With my joyful, infectious energy, and curiosity, I have been told that I bring a warm, receptive, and transformative approach to all of my work in alignment with LIW's commitment to experiential learning. I like to think that my participants think I'm funny, but that's still yet to be validated.