Shalini Verma, India's Executive Coaching Pioneer

A lot happened over a cup of coffee today. I met Shalini Verma, Founder, The Skyscrapers Academy at Barista in New Friends Colony, New Delhi. We had fixed a meeting at Barista almost an year back which did not materialize, so we had a long chat this time and compensated for the previous meeting as well.

Shalini is among the pioneers of leadership and life coaching in India and did her coaching certification from International Coach Academy, Australia. She offers the LEAP program (Leadership Enhancing and Accelerating Program) with its various variants for coaches, women, executives, holistic living and so on. 

She talked of the interconnection between our personal and professional lives and the critical influence they have on each other. She says, "The first three coaching sessions may be directed to professional leadership coaching but then one needs to probe into the personal life of the coachee as improving personal life can often be a foundation for improving professional life."

I asked Shalini whether her coaching clients are company sponsored or they approach her at a personal level. She says, “It happens both ways. But when a client is company sponsored, he tends to start with a mental block, thinking why did my company choose to send me for coaching, what is wrong with me and so on.”

She had organized an ontological coaching training session in New Delhi recently which was highly appreciated. It was a 4 day programme at Hotel Intercontinental Eros by a master coach from Paris. Shalini says, “Indians tend to prefer face to face interaction while internationally, a lot of education and training has shifted to e-mode.”

I told her that a large majority of the people take training programmes as a vacation and lack seriousness. She emphasized upon the lack of follow up in training programmes and she herself finds coaching a far more satisfying profession. She says, “It is a joy to see people getting transformed and leading happier and fulfilling lives with the help of my coaching efforts.”

I always say, “Life is a bundle of contradictions and we have to create a balance between the tension of opposites.” Shalini says that we should keep exploring life but take necessary action when the time comes.

She shared two contradictory quotes in this regard:-

“If you want to figure out your path in life, you can’t have an end date on the exploration”– John Wood

“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.” –Napoleon Bonaparte

I am so impressed by her aura and the peace on her face, I feel like taking some coaching myself. 
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Brief profile

After doing her graduation from JMC, New Delhi, Shalini did her CA and slowly shifted to coaching. She coaches top management executives across the country. She has received international acclaim for her work from her clients as well as master coaches. She is a also an NLP practitioner and a partner at The Kloset, an apparel label for women.She was recently featured in an article on life coaching in Outlook Business magazine.

The Skyscraper Academy, New Delhi

http://www.theskyscrapersacademy.com/

Shalini’s Blog

http://nucoach.wordpress.com/

A client says about Shalini,

“Since the little time I have known Shalini, there is a radical change in my life. She is not only a Great Coach, Mentor, Guide, Friend, but a truly amazing human being too; that’s the reason she is so successful as a “Life Coach”. Shalini has a unique ability to shift people with gentleness and ease. As my coach I saw that she has the amazing talent of looking at matters from multiple perspectives and sharing this through clear understandable communication. A very positive person and a wonderful motivator, she is an excellent coach who is able to bring out the real issues and to challenge current behaviors and attitudes in a way that moves the coachee to excel and live life to the fullest”
Akhilendra Ukesh, Client Manager – IBM