Sheryl Kurtis: Facilitating Effective Leadership Through Coaching 

Emerging leaders constitute the top 3-5% of any organization and are vital for its growth and success. Known for their drive, innovative focus, and ability to bounce back from challenges, these employees thrive on expanding their contributions and bringing their A-game to every assigned job. It is no wonder that companies that invest in developing these high-potential leaders experience benefits that include organizational progress and improved employee relations. A coaching culture also leads to improved performance and results, besides developing the right potential and talent across the organization. Sheryl Kurtis, Executive Coach and founder of “Kurtis Consulting LLC”, helps such leaders and teams build the skills that can get them to their desired levels.  

Climbing the Ladder of Success with Passion 

Sheryl graduated from DePaul University with a BA in Economics and an MBA degree. Her journey boasts more than three decades through executive-level roles in technology and front-office risk management at UBS, Barclays, and Wells Fargo. She began her professional career as a programmer for a proprietary trading firm and slowly rose the ranks to management and leading increasingly larger global operational teams with her enthusiasm and leadership abilities. Sheryl went on to build and lead global project teams in implementing large-scale technological changes. Although she climbed the ladder of success and got promoted to Managing Director, she felt that she needed to rethink and refocus as she embraced motherhood and work-life balance became paramount.  

Along the way, Sheryl developed some strong sponsorship relationships that helped her negotiate an arrangement and get that much-needed work-life balance. As risk and control became a top priority for the financial service industry, she repurposed her skills, allowing her to move to front-office roles with better opportunities and compensation. Somewhere along the way, Sheryl missed time with her family, simple day-to-day enjoyments, and then, being stressed out about work most of the time, took a toll on her. Although she tried to work her way around by strategizing her work differently, it did not help. A life-altering conversation with her husband about this life versus work situation one night changed Sheryl’s perspective, and she decided it was time to take that leap of faith toward entrepreneurship. 

Going From ‘Good’ to ‘Great’ Leader 

Sheryl founded “Kurtis Consulting LLC” in 2021, where she partners with emerging and high-potential professionals to accentuate their leadership strengths and opportunities to transform them into effective leaders who have fulfilling lives. Her unique abilities, dynamism, and innovative problem-solving, combined with her rich corporate leadership experience, add value to her coaching. Early on in her personal life, Sheryl was exposed to what she calls “taking care of people and being a leader” when she had to take care of her siblings due to a family emergency. She is of the opinion that leadership requires soft skills and qualities such as good listening, empathy, and taking charge and that coaching can accelerate growing these skills.  

Sheryl focuses on high-potential and emerging leaders and helps them accelerate their leadership development capabilities. Her motto is – technical skills got you here, but they are not going to get you there! There are three components to her coaching practice. The first is self-awareness. A person’s success is always based on how others perceive him/her. Sheryl’s tool helps people perceive how others see them and how their behaviors enhance or hinder their success, which is critical in growing as a leader. The second is developing a plan. For example, determine what kind of leader you want to be or what kind of leadership is required in the situation that you are in and then set up a plan to achieve those goals. The last one is self-care, which is non-negotiable. “If we don’t take care of ourselves, go to the gym, spend time with loved ones or pursue a hobby, our patience, resilience, and emotional fortitude are not at their maximum. That hinders us from bringing our best behavior to the fore,” Sheryl adds.  

Leveraging Life Experiences for Coaching 

Sheryl’s goal is to coach the person, not the situation. It is easier for people to build that trust in someone who has been through a similar situation in life, someone who has been there and done that. She aids her clients by providing a shortcut to the process they have to reach their goals by sharing stories, coaching tips, and tools to spur their thinking. One-on-one coaching is the core of Sheryl’s business, and she is in the process of building on group coaching as well, starting early next year. 

Sheryl cannot stress enough how important soft skills and people skills are to becoming better leaders. A study showcased that 61% of American companies rated soft skills as the most desirable skill for prospective hires. These companies are mostly looking for people who are self-aware, have good listening skills, project empathy for others, and can regulate emotions. The presence of these skills minimizes conflict, brings groups of people together, and fosters collaboration, thereby advancing the goals of the company. Coaching is an effective way to grow these skills as it is customized to each client’s unique set of behaviors and situations.   

Tackle Professional Jitters by Seeking Help 

A lot of people that Sheryl coaches are not executives yet or are those who want to become business owners. Sheryl advises them to seek help whenever needed because, as an entrepreneur, one cannot handle everything on their own. “As a solopreneur myself, I understand the importance of having a thought partner and coach that puts things into perspective when you fail to. I have a coach who I turn to when I need a space to talk things out. And that also is exactly what I do for others,” said Sheryl.  

Women juggle a lot of roles, and this fast-paced world demands them to be on their toes more than ever before. With glass ceilings to be shattered and equal representation to be tackled, women surely can have it all, but not all at once. Sheryl wants them to understand their needs, what they want to do, and in what capacity they can work towards it at that point in their lives. With her company, she intends to expand the audience that can benefit from her style of coaching and succeed in smoothing out their journey.