SANDHYA SUDHAKAR
Work/Life Coach
Facilitator
Speaker
Leader
Building a sense of belonging at work through authenticity and inclusion
KEYNOTES &
SIGNATURE TALKS
Authentic Leadership: Bringing More Of The True You To The Table
There’s no shortage of articles on why you should “bring your whole self to work” and there’s an equal amount on why you shouldn’t. Often, the word authenticity itself has gained a bad reputation - some people use it as an excuse to be rigid and set in their ways, while others are told to be authentic at work and are later penalized for being "unprofessional."
Through a series of real-life stories, memorable metaphors, and practical frameworks, Sandhya will help to demystify what authentic leadership really is (and what it’s not).
During this talk, participants will have the space to reflect on their authentic leadership style, moving beyond outdated standards and challenging the deeply-ingrained “shoulds” of being a leader. Together with Sandhya, you will explore how to embrace both your natural way of leading and your growth edge to help you “meet the moment” as an authentic and effective leader.
Authenticity Is A Journey,
Not A Destination
Growing up as the daughter of Indian immigrants in rural Indiana, Sandhya learned at a young age how to adapt herself to be exactly who she was expected to be in every room she entered. By everyone else's standards, she was doing all the right things - she earned a scholarship to business school, graduated with honors, joined a Fortune 50 company, and built a successful corporate career. She lived for her annual trip abroad, providing a much-needed break from her corporate ladder-climbing life.
And while life on paper was great, in the summer of 2019, she found herself emotionally burned out – feeling empty, disengaged, and unmotivated. She quit her job, ended her relationship, and embarked on the most important trip of her life.
In this talk, Sandhya takes you on her journey of learning who she is and unlearning who she thought she needed to be, as she shares the tools that she incorporated and the helpful guides she encountered along the way.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
& WORKSHOPS
Making Space For Authenticity: Three Things You Can Do To Bring Out The Best In Your Team
Numerous studies show that when our people feel empowered to bring their full selves to work, employee engagement and team performance improve, while burnout decreases significantly. So, why aren't we all doing it? The reality is that most can’t, won’t, or don’t want to because their work environment isn’t a place where they feel their full self is welcome - even when the leader has the best intentions to make it that way.
In this talk, Sandhya will share the top challenges to showing up authentically at work and discuss how the team environment you create plays a critical role in encouraging (or discouraging) your people to be themselves. She will guide you through actionable steps that you as a manager and leader can take to assess where you are today and what your team needs to be even better, by creating a more inclusive team culture that builds a sense of belonging and enables your people to thrive.
Managing Your Energy:
A Practical Path To Improve Your Work/Life Well-Being
Do you know how to spot the signs of burnout in yourself, or on your team? The reality is, burnout occurs over time, when you deplete more energy than you replenish - physical, mental, or emotional - and so often we don’t see it coming or consider it a problem until we are broken down. So, how do you see signs earlier? Or better yet, how do you discover what you need earlier so you can make proactive changes to avoid it all together?
In this workshop, Sandhya will share the latest science on work/life burnout and the most critical information you need to prevent or recover from it. She will guide you through ways to evaluate what's working and not working in your current work/life and concrete action steps to start improving your well-being. You'll discover how to stop managing your time and start managing your energy, and gain practical tools to have the conversations you need to make it happen.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS ARE SAYING
"Sandhya does a beautiful job of presenting thought-provoking information.
Her pacing, heart-centered insights, and humor give the audience the ability to naturally engage throughout the presentation."
"Sandhya shares personal stories in a way that is genuine, vulnerable, and transparent. She has a talent for using her experiences to illustrate things that are universally relatable and can inspire any listener."
"After hearing Sandhya's talk, I feel so inspired to break molds and shirk the expectations put on me by myself and others. Thank you for this
absolutely perfect new year message!"
PANELS & PODCAST GUESTING
Invite Sandhya to be a guest at your next panel or on your podcast!
Passion Topics:
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Authentic Leadership & Being Yourself At Work
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Leveraging The Enneagram For Career & Leadership Development
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Diversity & Inclusion For Personality Assessments In The Workplace
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Managing Your Energy To Prevent Burnout & Advocating For Your Well-Being At Work
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Trauma-Informed Coaching & The Role of Trauma In Leadership Development
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Unlearning, Healing & Giving Yourself Permission To Prioritize You
FEATURED ON PODCASTS
The Challenge Of Authentic Leadership: How Organizations Can Support Diverse Leaders
We do our best work when we can show up as our whole selves, but there are usually several obstacles when we do. It's especially difficult when your identity has historically not been centered in the workplace we exist in today. In this episode, I share about some of the layers - self, social, and systemic - that make it challenging to bring our authentic selves to work. We explore the things that hold us back, and what we can do - individually and collectively - to break those barriers.
Enneagram Deep Dive Bonus Episode
In this episode, we explore why being yourself at work is far more complicated than we might think, why the concept of “executive presence” needs an update, and how to create a more inclusive workplace by simply questioning the norms in your organization. I explain the Enneagram personality framework and why it’s different from so many of the other assessments out there, and discuss the difference between nature and nurture in our personalities. Last, but not least… I share my take on the Enneagram Types of the main characters from Ted Lasso.
How To Be The Expert On YOU through Enneagram, Energy Management & Entrepreneurship
In this episode, I share how I experienced emotional burnout in my career, and how becoming an entrepreneur helped me become an expert on myself. We dive into how frameworks like the Enneagram help us discover our core motivations, and how that can be hugely helpful in our work lives. We also discuss what emotional burnout looks and feels like, how it is different from physical burnout, and advice for managing our physical, mental, and emotional energy and our time.
Preventing Burnout & The Enneagram
In this episode, I share my own story about emotional burnout, why I left my comfortable corporate job, and what inspired me to start my business. Then, we dig into how personality assessments/typology can help you build awareness – both self-awareness & relational-awareness - as well as discussing what the Enneagram really is and how it helps you build compassion for yourself and others. Theora and I talk about how the things we doubt or criticize about ourselves are often insights into our biggest strengths. I also share more about the science behind burnout, how burnout might look different to each person, and how to recognize the signs to prevent it or recover from it.