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Leadership coaching usually centres on the leader: their challenges, their decisions, their growth. Less often do we pause to look at the people who sit across the table in those pivotal moments of reflection and change: The Coaches.
At Talentonic HR Solutions Private Limited, our coaches bring distinct lenses shaped by leadership experience, behavioural training, and years of sitting with leaders in their most honest moments. This time, we turned the lens inward: to understand how they think about the work they do. We asked each coach three simple questions:
- What moment shaped you as a coach?
- What question defines your coaching style?
- What belief about leadership guides your work?
What emerged was a portrait of a coaching bench that is diverse in background, united in intention, and deeply committed to behaviour change that truly matters. If leadership is a journey, our coaches are the people who help leaders move with clarity, courage and intention.
Deepak Dhawan: The Strategic Coach
Who He Is And How He Coaches: Deepak Dhawan brings the clarity of a strategist and the grounded presence of a seasoned leader. He helps leaders zoom out from the noise, see the system they operate in, and understand how their own behaviour shapes, and is shaped by the dynamics around them. Where others see isolated moments, he sees patterns and interdependencies.
His Signature Question: “Tell me the story of your life? How did you get here and where are you headed?”
Deepak Dhawan. Founder & CEO Talentonic HR Solutions.
A Moment That Shaped Him: I fell into coaching not as a planned extension of my professional life but almost as a natural extension of the journey I had undertaken so far. Before I set up Talentonic almost 14 years ago, I had led/ participated in 3 successive turnarounds . The turnaround of SAIL working with Dr Krishnamurthy and MRR Nair, The turnaround of Royal Enfield Motors working with Badri Aggarwal and the turnaround of EXL working with Vikram Talwar and Rohit Kapoor. I guess what I learnt was that across sectors, changing the destiny of Companies was actually working with Leaders and influencing them to change the framework of their thinking. And that I enjoyed doing that. So almost naturally, even though I had no professional coaching certification, it became an enduring part of my professional expression.
What Clients Say About Him: “He helps me think more strategically in 10 minutes than I do in a week.” “He reframes problems in a way that feels both honest and liberating.” “He brings calm clarity to complex, political situations"
His Belief About Leadership: Leaders transform by taking responsibility for the choices they make. I tell them “The monkey sits on your shoulder. I am just sitting here and helping you evaluate choices. The decision is yours.”
Anuj Khanna: The Strategic Coach
Who He Is And How He Coaches: Anuj Khanna brings movement and operationalizes insight. He moves leaders past the "what" and "why" into the "how.". There is clarity in the way he works: compassionate but unsparing, warm but structured. Where some coaches help leaders understand themselves, Anuj helps them practice themselves differently.
His Signature Question: “What will your team experience differently this month and how will you measure the change?”
Anuj Khanna. Head- Organisation Effectiveness, Talentonic HR Solutions.
A Moment That Shaped Him: I coached a leader who took people decisions by 'gut feel,' which resulted in a team culture of anxiety and a feeling of favouritism. I guided him through the process of moving from subjective check-ins to data-backed performance dialogues. We role-played the conversations, moving him away from 'I think you are doing well' to 'Let’s look at the process metrics.'
Watching this leader use the objective and observable data to give honest, actionable feedback to a struggling high-performer was the shift. He realized that relying on data didn't make him cold; it just made him fair.
What Clients Say About Him: "Moves me from talk to execution" "Keeps me honest" "Cuts through the noise, focuses strictly on the needle-movers".
His Belief About Leadership: Governance beats intention. Small habits change teams faster than grand intentions. Behaviour change doesn’t happen in breakthroughs; it happens in the quiet, daily decisions no one applauds.
Manavi Dhawan-Guha: The Insight Coach
Who She Is And How She Coaches: Manavi Dhawan-Guha is the pattern-spotter, the coach who helps leaders confront the stories they tell themselves and uncover what lies beneath. Her approach blends business pragmatism with a deep understanding of emotional patterns, power dynamics, and human behaviour.
Her Signature Question: “What part of this story is hard for you to own?”
Manavi Dhawan-Guha. Partner, Talentonic HR Solutions.
A Moment That Shaped Her: I once coached a leader who was brilliant with clients and a strong revenue driver, yet quietly feared by his teams. His intentions were good, but he relied on power, brash feedback, gossip framed as “venting,” and a style that left people feeling small.
In our first session, he defended his style by saying “I push people because I care about the work.” To which I asked: “If your intention is care, why is your impact fear?”
Through our work, the leader realised that competence had become armour, and power had become a proxy for connection. What followed was some of the most courageous work I have seen: a leader learning to trade bluntness for clarity, gossip for directness, and power for presence. And, importantly, to show emotional maturity in moments that once triggered him. He paused more, reframed instead of reacting, and chose calm over control.
What Clients Say About Her: "Asks questions no one else asks" "Helps me see emotional blind spots" "Makes tough reflection feel safe"
Her Belief About Leadership: Leadership is not judged by the stories leaders tell about themselves, but by how safe people feel in their orbit.
Leadership journeys are rarely linear, and they are never meant to be walked alone. At Talentonic HR Solutions Private Limited, our coaches partner with senior leaders to create clarity and sustained behaviour change where it counts most: in everyday leadership decisions.
If you are looking to invest thoughtfully in the growth of your top leadership team, we would be glad to start that conversation. Connect with us to explore how coaching can support the leadership your organisation needs next. To learn more about our coaching work, visit www.talentonic.com or reach out to us directly.
