Over the years, I’ve learned that listening is often more powerful than speaking.
As a former recruiter, I spent a lot of time listening, to candidates navigating uncertainty, to hiring managers with urgent needs, and to professionals trying to make sense of their next step. It was through those conversations that I first began to understand how much people already carry the answers within them, they just need space, safety, and the right kind of questions to uncover them.
That’s why, in December 2023, I enrolled in the course “Coaching Skills for Effective Leadership” from Stanford Graduate School of Business. I didn’t just want to learn how to coach better, I wanted to lead better.
And I believe coaching is leadership.
What the course taught me
This course was more than theory. It gave me practical frameworks that I could immediately apply, not just in coaching conversations, but in how I think, support, and guide others more broadly. Some key takeaways that stuck with me:
Active Listening: Not just hearing the words someone says, but being fully present. Paying attention to tone, pauses, energy. Not preparing a response, just being there. This seems simple, but it’s incredibly hard (and transformative).
Coaching vs. Solving: I’ve always enjoyed helping people, and for years that meant giving advice or sharing solutions. This course reminded me that leadership isn’t about having the answers. It’s about asking the right questions. It's about empowering people to come to their own insights, not rushing to fix things for them.
Building Trust & Psychological Safety: Whether in a team, a coaching session, or a stakeholder conversation, nothing meaningful happens without trust. We talked about how to create space for openness — where people feel safe to reflect, be vulnerable, and think out loud.
Coaching as a Tool for Impact: Perhaps most importantly, I saw how coaching is not just for one-on-one development. It can be used to lead change, navigate uncertainty, and create alignment — especially in fields like sustainability, where systems are complex and human motivation matters.
Why this course matters in my transition to sustainability
As I pivot from a career in recruitment to one focused on sustainability, this course gave me language and tools that will continue to guide me.
In sustainability, we are not just changing strategies, we’re trying to shift systems. And systems are made of people. Leading in this space means being able to facilitate meaningful conversations, ask reflective questions, and co-create solutions with different stakeholders, from farmers and companies to NGOs and communities.
This course reminded me that the soft skills I’ve built throughout my career, listening, empathy, and curiosity, are not just still relevant, they’re essential.
I don’t know exactly where this path will lead, but I do know this: I want to lead with presence. With clarity. And with a coaching mindset.
Thank you to the team at Stanford GSB for creating such a powerful, human-centered experience.
— Morena
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