Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sartaj Narang. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Sartaj, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump into the story of starting your own firm – what should we know?
I think founding a business can happen either as a quick and intuitive decision, or as a natural culmination of experiences and momentum. In the case of my Executive Coaching firm, it was more the latter.
I’ve had such diverse chapters over the first decade and a half of my career—from turning around a distressed business for a group of investors, to consulting Fortune 500 leaders, to advising creative entrepreneurs, and supporting a portfolio of small business leaders—and a recurring theme in my work has always been understanding people and their challenges, and helping them unlock their potential to make significant contributions in their roles.
I followed that recurring theme and found myself naturally receiving opportunities to facilitate development programs for leaders around the world in the last years—in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Austria, and Turkey—and I expanded on that by advancing my credentials in Executive Coaching and taking on private clients in pivotal senior leadership positions at truly impactful organizations.
Naturally, my work became a firm that has now worked one-on-one with several hundred leaders in management consulting, corporate law, technology, Fortune 500, government, non-profit, higher education, and growth startups.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m a leadership advisor, with extensive experience in growth, business transformations, and change management.
I serve as an Executive Coach, Facilitator, and Faculty. As a Coach, I partner with senior executives to define their leadership vision, embrace growth opportunities, and navigate change. As a Facilitator, I deliver workshops on human-centric professional topics such as Identifying Values, Trust-Based Relationships, Active Listening, Impactful Delivery, Providing Feedback, Constructive Pushback, and Psychological Safety, among others.
I’ve had the privilege of working one on one with leaders in management consulting, corporate law, technology, Fortune 500, government, non-profit, higher education, and growth startups.
On a personal note, my interests include yoga, trekking, exploring cultures and cuisines, foreign policy, history, art, and technology.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
In a business that is entirely intended to serve others and their development, I think the best way to meet and develop clients is to be authentically curious when speaking to leaders. Curiosity is powerful, because it naturally leads to an exploration of challenges and aspirations, and a potential opportunity to establish a Coaching Engagement.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
For me personally, it’s because I’ve walked the walk. I built a lot of credibility as an operator and doer before becoming a leadership advisor. I built that through embracing fairly diverse and unplanned career chapters in portfolio oversight, leadership coaching, transformation consulting, executive management, and entrepreneurship.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.snarang.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sartajnarang