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Who am I?

I began my career in law at twenty-two, young, ambitious, and certain that hard work and honesty would be enough. Within six months, that belief was shattered.

I discovered a world where truth was inconvenient, authenticity was punished, and success required you to detach from who you are. The cost of “fitting in” was cutting away the very parts of me that made me human: my sensitivity, integrity, intuition, and desire to do meaningful work.

That shock became the beginning of my inner awakening.

I realised this early:
If you want a life or career that feels true, you cannot build it on a false version of yourself.

So I walked away to understand my mission in this life.
To ask better questions.
To rebuild from the inside out.

That decision began a twenty-year journey across countries, careers, and disciplines, from law to investment banking to corporate leadership in organisation development and effectiveness, to SME advisory, to running my own business, and ultimately to helping organisations strengthen their people, capability, and scale-up systems.

Across these decades, one truth followed me everywhere:

Businesses don’t struggle because people are not smart or hardworking.
They struggle because people’s inner operating system hasn’t been upgraded.

I saw this in:

  • high-performing professionals who were exhausted inside

  • first-time leaders overwhelmed by the people side

  • senior executives losing their grounding under pressure

  • SME founders carrying the entire business on their nervous system

  • teams repeating the same conflicts because no one changed the internal patterns driving behaviour

I spent years developing leaders at every level, from emerging managers to seasoned executives, and advising SMEs on how to grow with strong teams, not heroic individual effort.

What I learned is simple but profound:

No strategy, no structure, no training works if the inner system is weak.
But when the inner system strengthens, everything transforms.

This is why I do what I do.
This is why I created the Inner-Edge Framework.
And this is why my clients call me “the Chinese doctor for growth”, because I work at the root, not the symptom.

Today, I coach, teach and advise people and businesses who want more than short-lived success, those who want clarity, alignment, capability, maturity and depth.

If you want to be whole, not just “high-performing.”
If you want sustainable growth, not survival-based achievement.
If you want to lead with integrity, not pressure.
If you want to scale with people, not despite them.

My mission is simple:
To help driven leaders work inward, so everything outward can finally work.

Whether you’re a driven professional seeking clarity and influence, a leader navigating complexity, or a founder building a business that must grow beyond you, I’m here to support your next chapter.

Not with hype.
Not with quick fixes.
But with grounded, deep, inside-out capability that lasts.

INDIVIDUAL

Private Coaching & Mentoring

Inner-Edge Upgrade Circle

Organisation

Coaching & Mentoring

Management & Leadership Programs

Capability Development Framework

Scale-Up Advisory & Peer Advisory

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Free Resources that could be useful for you

For Yourself
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How to Work with Me

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    Coach/mentor by me

    I support purpose-driven, ambitious professionals to grow their clarity, confidence, and influence by strengthening their Inner Operational System.

    My coaching blends evidence-based practices, neuroscience insights, and practical tools that help you lead yourself and others with greater ease.

    Together, we develop the mindset, emotional agility, and habits that enable you to achieve more impact with less stress, and build a leadership identity that feels authentic and sustainable.

  • Workshop by me

    I design and deliver practical, science-based workshops that strengthen leadership capability, communication, and team effectiveness.

    Whether the focus is Quality Conversations, Emotional Intelligence, Psychosocial Safety, or Inner-Edge capability, each workshop helps your people build habits that translate learning into real behaviour change.

    These sessions are interactive, evidence-informed, and tailored to your organisation’s needs, enabling teams to collaborate better, lead with confidence, and support healthier, more sustainable performance.

  • Consulting / Advisory by Me

    Every business is a people business, and your ability to scale depends on the strength of your people system. I advise purpose-led SME on strengthening the people systems that enable sustainable scale.

    My consulting work focuses on enhancing leadership capabilities, improving team alignment, and instilling cultural and operational rhythms that foster growth. Using the Inner-Edge framework, I help you diagnose capability gaps, build stronger human systems, and create a business that grows without over-relying on the Leaders.

Get in touch

ella@igrowingcapacity.com
(61)412061515

Ella Zhang is the founder and CEO of the Institute of Growing Capacity (iGrow). She is a practical and dynamic facilitator, mentor and trainer whose insight is grounded in over fifteen years of experience as a successful facilitator, strategic coach and specialist in cutting-edge inter-disciplined practices of Positive Psychology, Neuroscience, Philosophy, and Adult Education.