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Integrate Inspiration and Assertiveness – Increase Your Leadership Impact
Summary/TL;DR Leaders often feel they must choose between being inspirational or assertive, but real leadership impact comes from blending both. This article shares the story of Kumar, a senior director known for his warmth and positivity, who struggled to hold cross-team peers accountable. Through executive coaching, he discovered that inspiration and assertiveness are not conflicting traits but complementary strengths. By combining clear communication, early alignment, and trust-building, Kumar unlocked greater influence and effectiveness across teams. If you’re navigating cross-functional challenges, this story offers a roadmap for leading with both connection and clarity to drive meaningful, sustainable results. A Leader’s Struggle to Cross-Functional Team Influence Kumar, a senior director at a…
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From Abrasive to Authentic: Helping Tech Leaders Close the EQ–IQ Gap
–Executive coach Sharmin Banu helps tech leaders turn intensity into influence, driving greater business impact. (This PR article was initially published in about 30 different news outlets in the US. Here is one such link.) In today’s high-pressure, complex, and ambiguous business world, even the most brilliant leaders can hit a wall—not because they lack intelligence, but because their communication style erodes trust. Bluntness, though well-intentioned, often alienates teams and limits growth. Leadership isn’t just about delivery—it’s about influence and empowering others to achieve collective brilliance. That’s why Sharmin Banu, a Seattle-based executive coach and former Microsoft engineering leader, helps high-achieving professionals shift from friction to collaboration, without losing their edge. “People…
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Feeling Stuck in Mid-Level Leadership? Unlock Your Path to Senior Roles—Without Burnout
Are you a high-performing mid-level leader feeling stuck on the path to senior leadership? You’re not alone. Many leaders reach a point where working harder no longer works, and the path upward feels unclear or exhausting. If you’re wondering how to move from mid-level to senior leadership without burning out, the answer may not lie in working harder or longer, but in cultivating deeper self-awareness. Through executive coaching, leaders discover the internal patterns, blockers, and beliefs that quietly limit their influence and impact. By understanding these inner dynamics, you unlock leadership capacity that’s already within you, without sacrificing your health or relationships. Why Traditional Leadership Development Falls Short Most leadership programs focus on…
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Navigating Uncertainty with Resilient Leadership
Practical tools to help you lead with clarity and calm both at work and home—even when life feels chaotic Economic stress, political uncertainty, and job loss- we have no shortage of uncertainty. Here’s how leaders, professionals, and parents can stay grounded and resilient through the storm. Uncertainty is Everywhere—And It’s Taking a Toll Flights are uncertain. Everything is costing more. Businesses are slow. The job market is down. Employers are asking for everything faster—innovation, AI adoption, and whatnot. All the elements are there to make us feel overwhelmed, restless, and anxious. My natural bodily reaction is to hold my breath. I know many of us do that. It feels like…
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Why Is It So Hard to Explain What an Executive Coach Really Does?
If you’ve ever wondered what actually happens in an executive coaching session, or what an executive coach really does, you’re not alone. While terms like leadership development and performance coaching sound compelling, they don’t tell the full story. In this article, I pull back the curtain on the lived experience of coaching—what it feels like, how it works, and why it transforms leaders from the inside out. As an executive coach, I’ve been told more times than I can count: “Use more keywords—productivity, performance, ROI. Talk about leadership impact, business growth, and measurable outcomes.” And sure, I wrote copies sprinkled with those phrases. I know how to speak the language…
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Unlocking Leadership Through Inner Alignment: Rebecca’s Executive Coaching Journey
What does it take to grow as a leader? Especially when the usual strategies like “delegate more” or “think strategically” fall flat in the face of daily overwhelm? For many senior leaders, the answer lies not in more tactics but in deeper inner alignment. This is the story of Rebecca, a senior leader in the manufacturing industry, who made a powerful shift not by working harder, but by tuning in to her internal operating system. Her coaching journey illustrates how unleashing leadership capacity starts from within. The Challenge: When Feedback Falls Flat Rebecca, a 45-year-old senior leader at a global manufacturing company, had just received performance feedback that many executives…
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Career satisfaction, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, EQ, Executive Presence, Leadership, Self-leadership, Success Strategy
Confidence Is Not the Absence of Doubt
Carol, a senior leader in healthcare, recently transitioned from HR to strategy. She felt out of her depth. In leadership meetings, she hesitated to share her opinions, lacking the confidence she once had after 30 years in HR. Similarly, Steve, a veteran financial executive, had just stepped into a new role. Playing it safe, he stayed agreeable and held back. But over time, his frustration grew as he struggled to gain support for his initiatives. It’s true that decades of experience can bolster confidence, but we don’t always have the luxury of time. The good news? Confidence isn’t solely built on tenure. It’s about finding the conviction to move forward…
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What Driving Teaches Us About Navigating Our Careers
I was chatting with Andrea, a senior director at a major corporation in Seattle. Brilliant and hardworking, her resume spoke volumes about her accomplishments. Yet, in this new role, she was hitting unexpected roadblocks. The feedback she received was clear: people didn’t understand the value she was bringing to the organization, and her contributions were flying under the radar. Andrea believed the solution was simple—if only she could be more vocal in meetings and better at promoting her achievements. But deep down, she wasn’t confident in her contributions either. Most of her time was spent stabilizing her team, handling layoffs, and navigating an organization with shifting priorities and limited resources.…
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Communication, Emotional Intelligence, EQ, Executive Presence, Leadership, Neuroscience, Self-leadership
Demystifying Executive Presence
A senior engineering leader reached out to me for coaching. His credentials were impeccable—multiple graduate degrees from prestigious universities and an impressive professional track record. Yet, he was told to improve his Executive Presence (EP). His question? “What does that even mean?“ Through our conversation, we identified his challenge: he struggled to deliver his points with clarity and conciseness during senior leadership meetings. This reminded me of another client—let’s call him Joe, a senior product manager. Joe was in the middle of a presentation when his VP interrupted, asking for the bottom line. Frustrated, Joe thought, Why won’t he let me finish my presentation? Later, when he shared this with…
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Emotional Intelligence, EQ, Happiness, Leadership, productivity, Stress Management, Success Strategy
Why High Achievers Overextend—and How to Break the Cycle
Julia was a director of engineering at a Fortune 500 company, a mother of two, and a caregiver for her aging mother. Her life was a whirlwind of work deadlines, doctor appointments, and organizing elaborate birthday parties and other social commitments. Despite her accomplishments, Julia felt perpetually behind and emotionally drained. Many of us could relate to Julia’s story. Why We Overextend Ourselves While growing up, we are taught to share our resources, care for others, attend to our responsibilities, and delay gratification. These values shaped us into productive, reliable individuals. But eventually, as successful adults, when we double down on putting external expectations ahead of personal well-being, we push…
