Shruti Sonthalia says purpose is her superpower. A strong sense of purpose helped Shruti to demolish seemingly insurmountable barriers to becoming a Master Certified Coach and a globally renowned industry figure, and in this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, she implores all coaches to find their ‘why’.

Shruti began her journey without coaches around her to learn from, living and working in a culture that assumed expertise was the preserve of men with white hair. Believing it was her purpose to create sacred spaces in the workplace, Shruti grafted with steadfast resolve to defy the gatekeepers and doubters who stood in her way.

By taking the path less travelled and proving herself time and again, Shruti developed a work ethic that took her to the top of her profession, empowering leaders across global markets to embody a coaching mindset.

She pays forward her expertise in the training curricula she devises and delivers to the next generation of coaches, founding her structured, evidence-based approach on the values and principles she speaks about in this episode.

In this conversation, Shruti invites us all to ask: which parts of our journeys do we struggle to own? And how might addressing them enable changes within us that ripple out to the ecosystems we operate within?

Shruti and host Neil Mackinnon also talk about:

- Whether coaching has the same effectiveness in different areas, geographies, and realities

- Accessibility of supervision as a vital aspect of coaching’s growth and integrity

- The learning we can take from our own procrastination

- How a coaching mindset can help us embody shared power

- The principle that says that which you focus on expands, and how to harness it

THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT THAT YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN:

- AoEC - Academy of Executive Coaching https://www.aoec.com/

- ICF - International Coaching Federation https://coachingfederation.org/

- ICF Foundation https://foundationoficf.org/

- Shruti's paper on effectiveness of coaching in emerging markets https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/08d2850c-51fe-42ab-aeea-e7ec829bc5a9/1/IJEBCM%2022_1_10.pdf

- London School of Economics https://www.lse.ac.uk/

- Yannick Jacob on The Coach's Journey Podcast https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/97-yannick-jacob-going-beyond-blueprints-to-challenge-the-status-quo-of-coaching

- Richard Layard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Layard,_Baron_Layard

- Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning

- Martin Seligman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Seligman

- David Foster Wallace, This Is Water https://fs.blog/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/

- Theory U by Otto Sharma https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Learning-Emerges-Futures-Business/dp/1576757633

- Robbie Swale’s writing on resistance https://www.robbieswale.com/the-12-minute-blog/2025/3/28/the-more-resistance-we-feel-towards-a-call-or-action-the-more-important-that-call-or-action-is-to-our-souls-evolution

- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield https://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/1936891026

- IFS, parts work, what’s in the way is the way https://matthewharwood.uk/ifs/

- RUHCO https://ruhco.org/