Farah Hussain, Executive Coach for Disruptive Times
MBA, CPCC, PCC, LCP
When I worked in tech, I took disruption for granted. My friends in other industries thought the degree of frequent change and uncertainty we experienced was somewhat insane: speed over quality, re-orgs for the sake of re-orgs, bosses who weren't able to give clear direction. More on that below.
What's been interesting for me as a coach as we lead through a changing world of work is seeing how widespread disruption now is - in that same, wild, former-tech-industry form of frequent whiplash and deep uncertainty.
Combining my practical experience as a director in tech with my years of formal coaching experience, I've built a common language around disruption and proprietary programming that arms leaders with the specific skills they need in disruptive times.
Are you ready to help your organization meet the moment?
AS SEEN IN:
My Coaching Approach
I started listening to my intuition to get trained as a coach when colleagues across multiple departments reached out to me for help at once.
My executive coaching approach today merges techniques from four coach training programs with nearly two decades of global corporate leadership experience and more than 800 hours of executive coaching. It's hands-on, and balances self reflection with action.
My lived experience in understanding multicultural perspectives also influences the coaching approach I take, the frameworks we develop, and the options we consider to accelerate your team's effectiveness and growth in disruptive times.
COACHING CREDENTIALS
My Lived (Corporate) Experience
My greatest growth as a corporate leader came from advancing at PayPal over a decade as it transitioned through many stages of growth: a spin-off from eBay, IPO, rise to the Fortune 200, and competitive pressures. I managed up, down, across, and externally. I led multiple “firsts,” managed people on different continents, and launched programs in 13+ countries in record time. I was promoted 3x in five years. My teams stayed productive even when the organization was in flux. In my 6th year, I worked with a coach.
I started my coach training in 2019 while still working as a director at PayPal. At the time, I had no plans to launch a full-time coaching business. But I worked privately with leaders outside of my day job to support them through their leadership stretch goals: founder-CEOs starting businesses, directors taking on bigger teams, VPs looking to build their confidence as first-time executives.
Being a coach while working as a marketing director in the tech industry allowed me to see leadership scenarios from two lenses side-by-side: the objective lens of an outsider coach, and the subjective lens of a leader in the trenches. These lenses informed the coaching approach I take today: providing leaders with active guidance in working through their live business situations, while deepening their sense of self as leaders. I balance reflection with action so leaders make step-changes in how they lead.
I gained a reputation for "making anything possible" at PayPal, and simultaneously witnessed my coaching clients take leaps they thought were impossible. It's why I became a full-time coach, merging my coaching skills with my execution excellence to help leaders stay ahead in disruptive times.
My Mission and Values
My mission is to empower leaders to meet the demands of disruption. Their role in a dynamic world is incredibly important and requires more than technical upskilling. Organizations that embrace the future and choose to shape it are the ones who will succeed.
IMPACT
We focus on delivering progressive outcomes. We are intentional with our words and our actions. We hold ourselves to a high standard of excellence because we recognize that our choices have power.
ONENESS
We respect the interconnectivity between everyone and everything in our universe. We seek to live in community with deep integrity. We lean in as individuals to contribute to the whole.
TRANSFORMATION
We make the effort to evolve continuously to be our best selves. We create supportive environments for everyone in our spaces to do the same. We believe that when people take responsibility, and they feel empowered, anything is possible.
My Lived (Personal) Experience
As the daughter of immigrants to the U.S., I know what it’s like to straddle multiple worlds. Being in the minority comes with its own challenges, as you'll see in my research on executive women of color. However, the ability to understand multiple perspectives, and perceive unspoken dynamics, is a competitive advantage. These factors influence performance and culture. It’s one of the reasons why coaching leaders to be more discerning is so important to me, especially in a world where we have to determine when we need human resources versus when we can leverage AI.
All of my clients are driven by a desire to have a big impact. It's not lost on me that many of them choose to work with me because they see me as someone who has had to push through barriers to growth.
Coaching involves vulnerability, whether it's one-on-one or in a team setting. My personal relatability, clients have told me, helped them to open up and navigate challenges in ways they felt they could not easily in other environments.