Coach Spotlight: Coach Vishal

Welcome to the BOLDLY Coach Spotlight! This week's BOLDLY Coach has 15 years of experience in multinational companies, startups, and entrepreneurship and brings transformative HR leadership to the forefront. He holds multiple coaching certifications and have positively impacted countless careers and lives by enhancing emotional intelligence, personal productivity, and communication. Thank you for joining us, Coach Vishal, we look forward to hearing your insights!

1) You're based  in  Gurgaon, Delhi NCR, a vibrant city with lots of interesting things to experience. Is there a particular spot or hidden gem in the city that you love to frequent, and what draws you to it?

There’s a place called the ‘Leopard Trail’ well within the city of Gurgaon. It is a famous wildlife corridor amongst nature lovers and serves as a vital passage for leopards and other wildlife between the Aravali forests and urban areas, facilitating their movement and conservation efforts. It is a scenic drive within the city and thus provides an accessible, quick getaway from the hustle-bustle of a metro city life. Leopard Trail is marked with multiple cozy shacks that are a blessing to visit especially in winters to bask in sunshine sipping a hot cup of tea! 

2) Can you share with us a few things you enjoy doing in your free time? 

Writing is something I love! I find it to be truly fascinating and liberating. I mostly write about emotive real-world personal experiences around workplaces and human behavior. On my website, I have my personal blog, including media publications and coverages. LinkedIn is where I am mostly active and you'd see my sharing perspectives around the causes that I am truly passionate about - personal growth, organizational culture & leadership, emotional intelligence, servant leadership and leading from the heart. 

I would call myself, nature’s child. Having my roots in the hills, being close to the mountains specially is something I truly cherish. At this first given opportunity I drive down to the nearest hill station and submit myself to the lap of nature. It helps me reset, recharge and feel centered to adopt a truly thriving mindset. 

3) You took a sabbatical to obtain several coaching accreditations including Professional Certified Coach (PCC) - International Coaching Federation (ICF) , Senior Certified Professional Coach (SCPC) - Coach Transformation Academy and Certified Professional Coach (CPC) - Erickson Coaching International. Can you explain what inspired you to step away and focus on this as a priority?

My first tryst with professional Coaching was as the Head of HR for a growth-stage organization. I, together with the CEO were the sponsors of this 6-month long Coaching intervention for a select cohort of employees. The tremendous positive change that we saw in people was truly fascinating and since then Coaching has always mesmerized me as a people leader. Coaching seemed like a calling and not merely a career and I wanted to solely focus on getting trained as an expert coach via the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

Certified coaches are aware that the entire credentialing process is quite exhaustive and thus requires a razor-sharp focus for one to truly learn, practice and get credentialed. I was extremely sure of transforming into a full-time practicing Coach and thus took this leap of faith in the form of an academic sabbatical from my full-time work commitments. I am glad that I made that decision and haven’t looked back since then. 

4) As someone with a MBA in HRM and extensive experience in transformative HR leadership roles, how do you find that your academic background and professional expertise in human resources enhance your effectiveness as a career coach?

Before pursuing my calling to become a full time Executive & Career coach, my previous couple of full-time work assignments were as the head of People & Culture / HR. These stints helped him rise to the challenge of leading multiple individuals across industries, age-groups and seniorities. As an HR leader, I have always had this extreme focus on people development and specially towards developing the next cadre of organizational leaders. I’ve deployed this people development strategy by deploying multiple interventions viz. training programs, structured mentorship modules and customized Coaching interventions. Since I’ve been on the other side of the table as a leader responsible for people’s success, I am closely aware of what organizations are looking for in professionals for workplace success and growth.  

5) How would you describe the evolution of coaching culture in the country over the past decade, and what do you see as its biggest strengths and challenges?

The coaching culture in India has completely metamorphasized in the past decade! From Coaching being restricted exclusively to the C-suite to now it being offered across all levels in the organization in a more democratic as-on-need basis. A decade back, Coaching was a lesser-known tool but has now gained traction and acceptance especially with progressive organizations that truly want to invest in their people. More and more organizations are witnessing the immense impact of professional coaching both tangible and intangible and it is becoming the primary intervention for in the arsenal of learning and development professionals. 

On a personal / individual coaching level, there is still some distance to be covered. However, with tech-enabled platforms like Boldly, the reach and awareness is increasing by the day. Together with this, competitive, byte-sized rates are being offered to individuals to ensure that everyone gets to experience the tremendous impact of professional coaching. Niches like career coaching have been quite sought after with working professionals signing-up for individual coaches in personal capacity as well. 

6) How would you describe your approach to coaching and how do you balance the delicate interplay between challenging individuals to confront their mental models while also providing the support and care they need to thrive?

I am so glad that you asked this. The ownership and accountability that I drive for my clients is inspired by Kim Scott’s renowned book ‘Radical Candour’. I challenge my clients directly to establish accountability whilst also deeply caring for their success and well-being. This is an extremely fine line to tread but is imperative for the success of a Coaching relationship. By prioritizing both, results and relationship, we jointly create an association of continuous improvement and high performance for the client.

An ‘inward-looking’ approach helps me immensely here that results in the client being your ally (or rather the coach being the client’s ally). What also helps is creating a deep level of trust with the client via not only my coaching expertise but also personal rapport building by having authentic conversations that create a deeper connection.

7) Your impressive list of corporate clients speaks volumes about the impact you've made as an executive coach. What strategies do you find most effective when working with individuals across different industries and seniority levels?

At the end of the day, irrespective of our functions, industries and even nationalities (since I’ve had the privilege to coach people across the globe) we humans are wired the same way! Our desire to achieve our goals, hopes, dreams and aspirations showcases in the same compelling way for everyone and broadly speaking we face similar roadblocks and challenges while gunning for these.

Having said that, one clear approach that has really worked for my clients is a self-discovery and inward looking approach. Before tackling their personal or professional goals we spend a few Coaching sessions to create a personality blueprint for the client to first understand themselves better. This blueprint is an outcome of some crisp, very specific coaching tools helping the client unearth insights about themselves and their personalities that are normally left unknown and undiscovered. This much needed awareness equips them so much better to then tackle their Coaching goals with an exhaustive arsenal of self-discovery.

8) How do you measure the return on investment for your clients? Can you share insights into the tangible benefits and outcomes that individuals and organizations can expect to achieve through your coaching engagements?

Some of the biggest changes that I have been able to drive for individuals and organizations are, contributing effectively to teams and organizations, emotional intelligence, personal productivity and influence, impactful communication, effective stakeholder management, executive presence, managing career transitions, and leadership effectiveness. Interms of more tangible benefits and metrics, following are what my clients have observed significantly improving in their respective organizations - increased productivity, higher employee retention rates, improved employee engagement, enhanced leadership effectiveness, better team performance, faster skills development, increased innovation and creativity, improved customer satisfaction and reduced conflict and turnover costs. This allows them to measure the return on investment (ROI) of coaching initiatives and justify the resources allocated to employee development. 

9) Could you tell us about a coaching engagement that has deeply influenced you as a coach?

I was approached by a middle manager who was struggling with his career for a few  years even after having all the boxes ticked for him. He came for a top tier B-school, had decently tenured work stints with a couple of big employer brands ad yet his best of efforts were not yielding favorable results with his performance rating dwindling each year. It was a fascinating journey as subsequent coaching interventions revealed a major external environmental challenge rather than an predictable, intrinsic capability or a behavioral one. Only a couple of years down the line, this individual became the youngest Vice President in the history of this multinational organization riding on his success year after year!

To anyone reading this, I also want to quickly drop this note - a very big contributor to your success, more than capability and competence is the ability to be kind and compassionate towards yourself and be your own ally first! 

10) Lastly, what do you enjoy most about coaching?

If I have to put it crisply, the realization for the client that they are capable of so much more than they themselves ever imagined is the vicarious joy that I experience out of Coaching! Also, the personal connection that a coaching association creates is a beautiful bond that I cherish forever. The fact that your client bestows their entire trust on you and has an authentic, all guards-down conversation to help them become their best version is a moment of honor and something I truly cherish. 

A big thank you Coach Vishal for joining us this week and your insights! To book a complimentary 30-minute chemistry session with Coach Vishal, or explore the full suite of BOLDLY services, visit www.boldly.app or contact us at connect@boldly.app.

About the Author:

Lisa Singh is an Australian, living with her family in the beautiful South Pacific. As Coach Business Partner Lead for BOLDLY, Lisa's team screen and onboard coaches onto our global marketplace, then enable the matching and engagement process so that coaches can do what they do best: deliver exceptional coaching journeys to our coachees. In her role with BOLDLY she loves meeting top coaches and promoting their work for a win:win. Connect with Lisa here: