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The Star Online > Business

Monday March 31, 2008

Jeevan finds his niche in business coaching

By LEONG HUNG YEE

A CURIOUS person, Jeevan Nadchatiram Sahadevan is full of questions but always tries to find the answers
on his own.

His curiosity landed him in business coaching, a very new field back then.

“I was curious to know what a coach does to help people run a business. I have to
know how the concept works. I joined ActionCOACH as a business coach without
realising it simply because I was desperate to know more.

“Some might call it law of attraction ,” said the founder of Leveragelab Sdn Bhd, a
franchisee of ActionCOACH – a business coaching and consulting company set up
in 1993 by Brad Sugars in Australia. Action COACH has presence in over 20
countries.

Jeevan, who has a double degree in business administration and human resources
management from Keele University in Britain, said business coaching was unheard
of then and he paid the franchisee fee just to understand how it worked.
Jeevan Nadchatiram “I'm always a curious child, asking questions and just had to touch this and that. It
was probably very irritating for people around me!” Jeevan laughed.

“I still remember putting my finger in an electric outlet just to understand how electricity works and I got
electrocuted!” he told StarBiz in an interview.

Jeevan has been coaching businesses to increase their sales and profits for eight years. Although business
coaching was not his first business venture, he said his company faced challenges when it started business.

“I started my first business, a travel agency, after university. Since then, I have tried my hands on businesses
such as cyber-cafes, publications, Internet network consulting, software distribution and medical insurance
sales,” he said.

However, Jeevan said he was “totally blown away” with the coaching business. Having been trained personally
by founder Sugars, Jeevan has risen to become one of the top business coaches in the region. “The journey has
been amazing. I've inspired so many people along the way and I was also motivated by people whom I met.

“It was challenging initially. A lot of people discouraged me from joining ActionCOACH. They asked me not
to put money in a blind business but I felt otherwise. Today, we are one of the top in the industry,” he added.

Jeevan admitted that the coaching business had channelled him into a whole new realm.

“It can be very stressful sometimes but you'll just have to learn how to overcome them,” he said, adding that it
was an amazing feeling when he received “Thank You'' cards from clients.

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“All business owners need someone to support them and push them to excel just like a golf coach or a business
doctor. A coach helps the business owner evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of team members,” Jeevan
said.

“This year is getting more exciting. We have been getting more enquiries. We are also training more coaches.
As much as I enjoy coaching new coaches, I still enjoy coaching business owners myself. I love to learn and
share ideas with people. It keeps me going,” he said.

Despite his busy schedule, life is not all work and no play for this bubbly personality. Jeevan, who mainly reads
books on self-improvement and business strategy, said he cultivated the reading habit from young. “I grew up
with lots of books. My dad built a library at our family home in Seremban,” he said, adding that he tries to
return home at least once a week.

Apart from that, he also enjoys sports. He plays badminton and goes for jet skiing. He is about to take up rock
climbing.

As the saying goes, “An apple will not fall far from the tree.” His siblings are also into the coaching business.
Jeevan's elder sister is currently teaching pilates in the US while his younger sister owns an aerobics studio
where their mother also teaches.

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