Ananthanarayanan Thiruvengadathan aka Ananth

Did you know that many of the world’s top CEOs, athletes, and performers rely on coaches to reach peak performance? This highlights the power of external guidance in achieving extraordinary results, a principle that applies to all levels of leadership.

Not just these people; think about the last time you faced a significant challenge at work. Did you wish you had someone to talk to, someone who could offer objective advice and help you find your solutions? That’s precisely the value executive coaching provides. The executive coaching industry is experiencing a surge in demand, driven by the increasing recognition of its value in leadership development and career advancement.

Ananth is a highly respected executive coach with a unique background. Starting as an engineering leader at Microsoft, he helped establish their largest enterprise customer support centre in India. This experience exposed him to leadership challenges firsthand, sparking his passion for coaching.
His mission, in his own words, is simple: “I want my clients to realize their full potential.” This resonates with a client who described him as a “GURU,” saying, “He nurtured me, cared for me, and ensured that I am focused… Anant didn’t have an iota of doubt about my capabilities, and he constantly believed that I was built for bigger things.
He transitioned to full-time coaching in 2012, after a pivotal moment where he recognized the impact of his coaching on emerging leaders. Ananth blends his 24 years of corporate experience with structured coaching methodologies, including ICF competencies, Hogan assessments, and Gallup StrengthsFinder, offering his clients a distinct perspective.

As one client shared,

“He does not solve problems for you but helps you get your insights, which enables you to solve your problems.

In the spotlight for this edition of “The 10 Most Impactful Executive Coaches Transforming Careers in 2025” is Ananth Stay tuned to know his insights, experiences, and valuable lessons.

Prime Insights: Tell me about the executive coaching industry and yourself.

I’m an engineer by background, and do not come from HR which you may associate with coaching. At Microsoft, I helped build their largest Indian enterprise customer support centre, facing challenges in onboarding and manager effectiveness. Addressing these alongside the L&OD director ignited my passion for coaching. A pivotal moment came when I realized my coaching directly contributed to several successful leadership hires at Microsoft. This, combined with a powerful dream, led me to resign in 2011 and pursue coaching full-time. Mentoring underprivileged female engineers further solidified this path. I blend my 24 years of corporate experience with ICF frameworks, offering clients a unique, firsthand perspective.

As one of our L&OD leaders shared, ‘And from then on, whether it was an opportunity to learn, partner, or work someplace really exciting, Ananth has been my trusted coach and friend. In a world that is often busy and sometimes superficial, he is a breath of fresh air.’

My coaching philosophy is simple: I help clients unravel their strengths and find their solutions. I act as a guide, like Jambavan guiding Hanuman or Krishna guiding Arjuna, helping them realize their full potential, or as we say, shaktiya.

Prime Insights: What inspired you to pursue a career in executive coaching, and how has your journey evolved over the years?

I was with the Sales, Marketing, and Services group in Microsoft India when the India Global Technical Centre (IGTSC) was set up in 2004. They were looking for an experienced hand in setting up the biggest technology cluster supporting the Windows platform. The objective was to serve the entire English-speaking global enterprise customers in the long run, starting first with the USA. By 2006 we had challenges of attrition, manager effectiveness, and succession planning. That was when my managing director threw the gauntlet at me to take up management and leadership development at the centre level along with my day job of running my technology cluster. I was an engineering leader and did not come from HR. Over the next five years, I worked with my HR and L & OD directors to land programs for enhancing manager effectiveness and building coaching as a culture. I got Gallup StrengthsFinder to train and enable managers to become Strengths Performance coaches. Then worked with the L & OD team to land coaching as a culture within the IGTSC. I got certified as a Strengths Performance Coach and a Workplace Coach at Microsoft. And that was the beginning of putting a structure to my coaching practice. Realized I had the strengths and the credentials to follow my passion in becoming an executive coach.

Prime Insights: What is your mission as an executive coach, and how do you define success for your clients?

In a single sentence, I want my clients to realize their potential.
When clients reflect on their strengths and introspect on what has helped them and what is preventing their success, the first part of the learning journey is complete. And when they tweak their behaviors to achieve success, I know that my mission is done.

Prime Insights: Can you share a pivotal moment in your career that shaped your approach to coaching?

At Microsoft, we had a giving-away day. That is the day when NGOs come and sell handicrafts and other bric-a-brac made by the underprivileged sections of society to customers. At the end of the day, Microsoft makes a matching contribution to the wares sold so that the NGO can help the underprivileged. This event was held on my floor at the IGTSC. At the event, a co-founder of an NGO approached me and asked for time. She said that she had been observing me over the two days when the event was being held, and she wanted me to mentor a budding female engineer to scale up to greater heights. She told me that these engineers come from distressed or underprivileged families, do not have good role models at home, and lose out in the long run to successfully traverse the engineering path.
I started coaching a girl engineer. Her simplicity, her commitment to learning, and her accountability to implement the actions we had decided on during the session amazed me. There were a couple of sensitive moments in that journey that hit me hard. I realized how privileged I was to be in my position. I also realized the strengths that I have in terms of the way I had planned my career, the clarity of thought, and my networks that I can put to the greater use of the community. And the die was cast. I decided that I would coach the community by the time I reached age 50. I was building my coaching credentials at Microsoft by coaching beyond my team and across the world. One fine September morning I cut the umbilical cord, left the corporate 9:00 to 5:00 job, and embarked on the exciting and fulfilling journey as a coach. I was 46 then, and I am proud to say that 13 years later, I feel that was the most important decision in my professional life.

Prime Insights: What unique methodologies or frameworks do you use to guide clients in achieving their career goals?

I leverage the International Coaching Federation (ICF) competencies to structure my conversations. I am Hogan certified and am a Gallup Strengths performance coach, which helps me look at their strengths and what behaviors may derail them on their professional journey.
The unique characteristic of my practice is that though there is an end outcome, the session is not agenda-driven totally. I am willing to explore with the leader their journey, their “wow” moments, and their inhibitions in different situations.
I am willing to listen and harness the power of silence during the session. These moments help the leader to reflect and bring clarity to how they are perceived and helps them arrive at the “aha” moment.

Prime Insights: How do you customize your coaching strategies to address the diverse needs of professionals across different industries?

Explore, discover, and co-create is how I would define my coaching strategy. It is important to understand the leader’s context. I try to understand their industry, their challenges, and the growth strategies of the org before the first session. I do not hesitate to ask questions at the tripartite session to understand what the objective of the coaching engagement is. This would seem basic, but it is necessary groundwork for me to explore and co-create solutions effectively during the coaching journey. The other aspect is to understand the demographics of the leader. Their education, family background, and their personal and professional journey help us understand why they behave the way they do and the perception that is getting built because of their leadership style. In any industry, a leader stands alone. A coach is a guiding light, and I shine it on all their strengths and areas where they may be blindsided. The most important aspect is I do not give a solution. It may sound like jargon. I let the leader internalize the problem, as only then can they operationalize a solution. I have been a practitioner, having led successful global teams, which helps me uncork the insights for the leader to take action.

Prime Insights: What role does emotional intelligence play in your coaching process, and how do you help clients develop it?

It plays a huge role in their success. In the frenetic corporate world, the leaders are stressed out. They may have no one to turn to in times of crisis. This is where the coach helps them to open up about their vulnerabilities. Once this is out in the open during the conversation, the coach helps them thread their emotions and look at what behaviors they need to cultivate to be emotionally strong. Leaders with a higher emotional quotient perform better than their peers, are less stressed out, and are comfortable in their skin. The coach helps them navigate the emotional challenges, and the leaders can stay in the moment, center themselves, and make the right decision dispassionately.

Prime Insights: How do you stay updated with the latest trends and techniques in executive coaching?

When I started on my own 13 years back, I only had my credentials as a workplace coach. I then got certified as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with ICF, then moved up to become a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), and now am working on my Master Certified Coach credentialing. I also realized that I need to pick up expertise in psychometric tools that give insights into my client’s strengths or areas of development. I am certified in DiSC, Hogan, and CB5 (Big 5) methodologies. I am currently also working on team coaching and EMCC credentialing. The coach needs to be updated on the latest trends to enable a better outcome for their clients.

Prime Insights: What are the most common challenges your clients face, and how do you help them overcome these obstacles?

All of them come with different challenges.

In career coaching, typically they are trying to scale up the corporate ladder. Here the typical challenge is their awareness of their strengths and areas of development. I help them get clarity on what we call the Continue/Start/Stop method. The leader needs to look at what behaviors they will continue, what new behaviors they will need to start, and what they should stop to be a better leader.

In executive coaching, again it is about helping the leader scale up. But the focus here is also on how they can be better at their job as they build up for the future. They may have climbed up from a manager to a leadership position, and they are grappling with the typical challenges of a leader now. Here the typical ones are global stakeholder management, global customer management, strategic skills, and building the succession pipe. One important shift they may also be making is moving from a direct team management role to a manager of managers role. Here it is about how they can “zoom in” and “zoom out” and not micromanage their managers. In the past few quarters, mental health has also come out as a big-ticket challenge. I help them understand how to sense it and then co-create solutions that will help them and their teams to be at a comfortable level. The other challenge that the leaders encounter is managing change. In the fast-moving BANI world, this is becoming trickier, and the leader needs to navigate this carefully to ensure that the team does not get demotivated or get burnt out in the process.

Here I help the leaders to first internalize the changes they are looking to bring out and set up processes and structures to roll it out while keeping the teams and their capabilities in mind. It is a delicate balance, and I am proud to say that I have coached leaders through such change transitions.

Prime Insights: Can you share an example of a client success story that highlights the transformative impact of your coaching?

There was a leader who was having an emotional upheaval and was having a breakdown. I listened to the context and helped the leader to look at a way forward instead of dwelling on the past. This helped. Over two sessions the leader overcame all the mental challenges and chose a growth path with a clearer roadmap for the future. I met the leader last week, and today, 1 year later, I am proud to say that the leader is centered, successful, and, most importantly, happy. This is a fulfilling story for me.

Some years ago, I was coaching a cohort of leaders from a pan-Indian retail chain and had completed four sessions out of eight with them. They were generally busy, and it so happened that their sessions got scheduled on my birthday. I received my best gift ever when two of the leaders came bouncing into the session proudly declaring that they had achieved their goals way ahead of schedule due to the changes they had implemented in their work styles. It is very difficult for me to describe this feeling of immense satisfaction, and it validated my career shift of following my passion for coaching.

Prime Insights: How do you measure the long-term impact of your coaching on clients’ professional and personal lives?

I can proudly say that the leaders I have coached have fast-tracked their vertical transition. They have discovered skills that they did not know they had. They were able to change the perception of how they were viewed by subtle changes in their behavior. I encourage clients to seek input from their spouses, as they offer invaluable, candid observations. I also work on aligning their “work mask” with their “home mask,” reducing stress. I work on their feelings of imposter syndrome by encouraging transparency and authenticity. The productivity of their teams has improved, and they can bring about change smoothly. Some of the leaders still reach out to me years after their engagement has ended to validate their thoughts or give me more business because they have seen the value in it.

Prime Insights: How do you help clients navigate career transitions or leadership challenges effectively?

A lot of times they overlap. The challenges derail them in their transition to a bigger role. I coach for skill building and competency building. Competencies are a cluster of skills, and once learned, they can be leveraged anywhere.

It is somewhat akin to swimming. We typically learn swimming in our school days. The skills required are to hold your breath and flail your arms and legs to propel yourself forward and prevent you from drowning. And after that, we may never enter the pool for a long period. But even if you jump into the pool after years, your old competency will come back, and you will not drown. Similarly, if a leader builds a particular competency, it stays with the leader for a lifetime, whether in this role or another. The one thing the leader needs to watch out for is the adjustment needed when roles or levels change; just like in swimming, you need to adjust the style depending on whether you are swimming in a swimming pool, river, or sea.

Career transitions are about using the competencies built in different environments to navigate to success. I help clients to stretch beyond their comfort zone and enable the latent skills to handle the challenges thrown up.

Prime Insights: What strategies do you employ to empower executives to lead with authenticity and purpose?

Openness and transparency are huge qualities that the leader needs to possess to inspire the rank and file in the organization. The team needs to build their trust in their leader. A simple example I use is whether the team is walking along with them or following them. Another example is also how free the team is with their feedback to the leader. Does the team freely give this feedback, or does it have to be asked for? High-performing teams are self-propelling and do not need to be given instructions on what next to do or how to solve the issues with their peers. The leader needs to build his sensing mechanisms to pick up the cues, and I help the leader distil these cues to work on enabling behaviors so that the team is empowered work on autopilot, and leave the leader free to work on strategizing for the future.

Prime Insights: How do you guide clients in balancing their professional aspirations with personal well-being?

I will give you an interesting intersection. I have found that a more generic challenge is prioritization in professional life which may carry into their personal lives. This leads to overwork and stress building up in the leader. Effective empowerment and delegation help restore a good work-life balance that helps them personally too. I have also seen leaders implementing some of the strategies, e.g., planning, prioritization, and delegation, in their personal lives to very good effect. A leader who wears the same mask whether at the office or home is less stressed out, more composed, and a good spouse, good parent, or good sibling. Coming back to your question, a balanced leader is a function of how secure they are in their role, whether at home or the office.

Prime Insights: What trends in executive coaching do you foresee shaping the industry in 2025 and beyond?

An increasing number of professionals are looking for a coach to jump-start their careers. With layoffs increasing, we are seeing a higher increase in managers in their mid-forties who require the services of a coach. Professionals in the 30–40 age group are looking at how to scale up whilst achieving fulfilment at the same time. Professionals in the 20–30 age group are hungry for more and want to fast-track their growth. This will fuel the demand for career coaches. That said, coaches also need to up their game. They need to look at newer trends and new tools to add value. They need to look at how to leverage AI to validate some of their findings and biases.

I have been receiving multiple requests for coaching in 2025 in the first few weeks already, which is way above what I received in the previous years.

Also in India, the ICF chapters are making a stellar effort to evangelize coaching. I was a coach in one of their pro bono assignments in coaching state heads in the education sector. It gave me great insights into this sector and, more importantly, gave me immense satisfaction when I saw the success of my state head.

Prime Insights: How have you integrated technology or innovative tools into your coaching practice to enhance client outcomes?

To build accountability, I send them automated reminders. I keep abreast of the latest trends to ensure that I deliver value. I also got certified in digital coaching so that I can coach on digital platforms by service providers. One skill that I have built not from a technology perspective but from a necessity perspective is that I do not let language come in the way of coaching. I have successfully coached leaders across Latin America and Europe using language interpreters. I am proud to say that the leaders successfully achieved their objectives, and it did not need language to witness the “Aha” moment of the leader.

Prime Insights: What advice would you give to aspiring professionals seeking to fast-track their careers in a competitive landscape?

Embrace change. Adapt to newer trends. We’ve moved from a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world to a BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible) one, and even BANI may evolve as new challenges emerge.

A lot of times professionals feel that the only way to scale up is to move to another org. I strongly refute this. You have built credibility in this org. Make it work for you. Invest time in planning and draw out a roadmap to build competencies. I have posted a couple of articles on this on LinkedIn. You are accountable for your career, so you can’t leave it to someone.

Leverage AI for data collection and data mining so that your time is better used to draw the right inferences. Network more to understand the lay of the land and leverage these networks to source mentors or coaches. They may help you fast-track your career.

Put a stake in the ground, and stay true to the actions to get there is my advice for all professionals to take their career forward.

Prime Insights: How can organizations benefit from investing in executive coaching for their leadership teams?

An executive coach is a third party enabling the leader to develop his competencies. Leaders find it easier to open up to someone from outside the organization, and this is key if they have to find solutions.

The second value an executive coach provides is a view from the balcony. The coach can see a bigger canvas than the leader might be visualizing. And the open-ended questioning by the coach opens up vistas that the leader has not seen before. It also opens them up to some of their blind spots, which may become derailers in the long run. Coaching focuses on behavioral change, which is key to organizational success.

There are many examples of leaders who had fantastic domain expertise but did not rally the org to greater heights as they were focused on only their knowledge and not on moulding behaviors that would inspire the teams to greater heights.

Another key change I have observed is that leaders develop good strategic insights when they work with a coach. When they open up their mind to possibilities, they discover new insights that help them finalize the growth strategy for their division or organization.

Prime Insights: What values and principles guide your coaching philosophy and interactions with clients?

I go back to the basics of coaching. Understand the client context. Observe without any judgment. Contract with the leader to choose the right or relevant goals. Establish trust and reinforce the confidentiality agreement. Leverage your deep experience to ask the right questions. Explore their persona. Don’t look at their strengths alone. Look at their derailing behaviors. Co-create a solution to help them achieve their goals. Build their accountability for their actions. And stay committed to holding them accountable for their actions without being intrusive.

Prime Insights: What do you consider your greatest achievement as an executive coach, and how do you plan to continue making an impact?

When I see some of the recognition that I have received where people have acknowledged me as a “Guru” (as interpreted in India), it is my greatest achievement.

I was visiting Rishikesh, Haridwar, and Badrinath in Oct. 2024, and I mentioned this to a leader. His words: “Ananth, I have a bungalow in Rishikesh, and you should stay there for the length of your stay. This is my Guru Dakshina. I cannot say how overwhelmed I was by this gesture, and that is what makes my coaching journey so fulfilling.

When I stepped out of Microsoft at age 46, 13 years back, I decided that I would spend some percentage of my time in pro bono coaching for the community. Today around 20% of my coaching hours are invested in uplifting the community without any monetary gains. And that is the legacy that I leave behind.

Prime Insights: How would you like to be remembered in the realm of executive coaching?

I would want to be known as “Ananth made a difference in my life” by as many people as possible when they recall me.