About

Sharmin Banu has 20 years of diverse experience as an executive coach and as a technology leader.  She specializes in coaching leaders, and seasoned professionals in the high-tech industry develop their emotional intelligence (EQ) and executive presence, resulting in leadership excellence, team collaboration, and desired career transitions.

She believes the key to sustainable excellence is self-awareness and the ability to “search within ourselves” and align with our core values. Without this foundation, all other “how-to” training bears minimal long-term benefit. Sharmin helps her clients tap into their intrinsic motivation, leading to deeper engagement and sustainable excellence essential for thriving.

In 2009, a hardcore software engineering manager at Microsoft, Sharmin discovered her passion for helping people grow. It led to a courageous leap into coaching. Sharmin’s firsthand experience with people from different cultural backgrounds puts her in a unique position of coaching the diverse workforce in today’s corporate world. She is on a mission to create a meaningful connection with her audience, no matter how different they are. She has managed and coached people from various countries (in Asia, Europe, North, and South America) and diverse ethnic/racial backgrounds. Sharmin’s clientele comes from Executives and Senior Managers at various reputed companies, including Microsoft, Expedia, Boeing, and Amazon.

Education/Credentials

Sharmin is an International Coach Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with extensive executive and career coaching experience.  She holds a BS and MS in Computer Science. She is a proud Hokie from Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. Her coaching competency is supplemented with

EQ in Action, Team Coaching, Leading Inclusively, Leadership Circle 360, Stakeholder Interviews, Mentor Coaching, TILT365, CCL assessment suite.

Her other accomplishments include,

  • Designed and facilitated group workshops for career and leadership development
  • Speaks and writes regularly on leadership and personal growth—published articles at ICF blog,  Human Capital Institute(HCI), and Thrive Global.
  • 2018 President of International Coach Federation(ICF) Washington Chapter – The 5th largest ICF chapter in the US. She initiated and established innovative industry partnerships to promote the awareness of coaching.

Success Stories

  • Vice President/CTO, Fortune 500 (Tech) – Coached for personal branding resulting in a promotion. Later helped him transition to the new role. He had smoother than anticipated hurdles in the process and received a renewed commitment from the team he inherited.
  • Director, Fortune 100 (Tech, Internet) – Coached for higher emotional intelligence, better conflict management, and executive presence. It resulted in a promotion, smoother relationship with the stakeholders, and better work-life balance.
  • VP Technical Sales, Fortune 100 (Tech) – Helped develop her leadership acumen using coaching skills as a tool. She became more confident and discerning using a coaching approach to develop her team members.

Sharmin is affiliated with some world-renowned coaching organizations, including Invite Change, Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), Reverb, and  Hult Ashridge Executive Education.