An Interview with Business and Transformation Coach Gauri Kacherikar
- Apr 21, 2021
- 5 min read
Gauri Kacherikar is a global business leader and has extensive experience working with the Nordics. She comes with unique capabilities and has led businesses across diverse sectors including Public and Healthcare, Financial Services. She believes her learnings from the Stockholm School of Economics have contributed to her futuristic approach and thought leadership.
As a Coach she brings an uncanny ability to nurture, coach people to achieve their goals and advance on their career paths. Her mission is to empower women to grow as successful entrepreneurs/corporate executives. Her signature program, "MidLife Energizer" has helped women transform their lives and dreams to find their purpose. "Build Your Executive Presence" is another program that has assisted women in their career trajectories. She has been recognized by the Swedish Royal Family for her gender equality initiatives and is a winner of the Sandvik India Diversity Awards.
Who is Gauri?
An empowered woman is powerful beyond measure and beautiful beyond description. In life, there are moments where you step back and ask, "How did I get here?"
I find myself going back to the roots. I was born in Pune, India, to incredible parents, with a futuristic vision. I started my professional career with a German healthcare company. This gave me an early exposure to European work culture. The acquisition of this company by a Nordic company brought in a new dimension to my personality. Working in the Nordic culture of equal opportunities, flat hierarchies, work-life balance nourished my leadership capabilities. My career took a leap when I was selected for the Leadership Program with the Stockholm School of Economics. In my role as Business Manager, I have led large global teams in public, finance, and healthcare domains. While doing so, I realized my passion for people, to mentor them and help them grow. It dawned on me that women have potential but also have self-limiting beliefs, low self-esteem, and that’s where I pursued Coaching.
I engaged myself in informing the network (iLEAD- I Lead for Equality and Diversity) that focused on bridging the technical gaps for women back from maternity, Coaching and Mentoring women in Leadership roles, and building the talent pipeline.
Being a key contributor to a collaborative project on women empowerment and equality in the workforce (by the Swedish Institute and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce), I was invited for a special luncheon with the Royal Majesties of Sweden (King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia) during their visit to India.
What is it that you do for your clients?
As a part of my coaching, I offer 3 programs — MidLife Energizer, Build Your Executive Presence and Grow Your Business.
MidLife Energizer: "The Mind is everything. What you think you become.” Is a famous quote by Buddha, and I have experienced it too. Midlife or middle age is that transitional period of life between young adulthood and old age. It is a time for a personal transformation where the values of youth need to be replaced by a different set of values. This period is a good interval to re-assess one’s life, Live your passions, Embrace your possibilities. As a part of this program, my coaching focuses on 3 main elements — Rejuvenate, Rediscover, and Reconnect with yourself.
Build Your Executive Presence: Executive presence is a combination of personal traits and outward behaviors that create an image of leadership competence and trustworthiness. In my view, Leadership presence is organized into three categories:
a) behaviors that impact a leader’s immediate self
b) team, and;
c) the overall organization.
It is the ability to inspire, empower others with your charisma, communication, and confidence. Reach out to us to build this wow factor in you.
Grow Your Business: We work with a large number of clients from various industries, including:
Food Business
Retailers and Resellers
Home accessories
Fashion design and accessories
Our experts are equipped and will assist you in uplifting your brand, promote it in global markets, optimize your costs, thus bringing in rapid growth in your revenue.
Who should hire/work with you?
The MidLife Energizer Program is designed for anyone in the midst of a transition — a job loss, career change, an empty nest, geographic move, or anyone who is simply feeling unhappy or lost in life.
If you are lying awake at night wondering, “What’s next for me?” Why am I here? What am I meant to do on this earth?”
Trust me, you are not alone! And this is the perfect place for you to connect.
Build Your Executive Presence is a program designed for Women Leaders to dismantle stereotypes. When it comes to executive presence, you want to make people feel like you’ve got their back, and you can take care of it, whatever it is. It doesn’t mean you have every superpower. Some things you’re going to be excellent at, and some you’ll just get through.
For example, I’m not good with numbers. I was at a new job overseeing a department of 70 people, and they called me in and told me everything I would be doing, and then they told me, "You’re going to also have to do the budget." And I said, "No problem." But when the meeting was over, I went into the stairwell and started hyperventilating. I thought about all the things I could do specific to my talent, and there I was, focusing on the one thing I was going to be uncomfortable with. I was hyperventilating and crying, and I was a wreck.
But then I calmed myself, went to my department assistant, and said, "Who is the person who deals with expense reports?" I found that person and asked if she had worked on budgets, and she said yes. I said, "Tomorrow, we’re going to set aside three hours to work on the budget," and she said, "No problem." All of us feel like imposters at one time or another. None of us wants to feel judged. But having an executive presence is about making people feel you can handle things and that you’re smart enough to know your strengths, and for the things you don’t know, you can figure it out or seek help in figuring it out.
Grow Your Business is outlined for everyone who wants to be an entrepreneur. Entrepreneur Coaching is meant for the person who is committed to creating a thriving, successful business. We focus on where your business is currently, evaluate what’s working and what’s not; determine goals; and create an action plan. The partnership tends to be a coaching/consulting hybrid, meaning that I use a coach approach to helping you build your business while incorporating my experiences and resources when they are in service to your goals. My clients tend to be service-based businesses and often focus on the educational, creative, or personal growth fields.
Follow Gauri on her Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and visit her website for more info.
