“Through my work and everything I do, I aim to bring forth positive change in the world.”
Sheryl D. Phillips, a leadership consultant and executive coach, has partnered with leaders for more than 25 years to create more effective and forward-thinking organizations. She works at the individual, team and system level to provide executive coaching, leadership development, organizational development, and strategic and business planning. While each coaching engagement presents unique focus areas particular to the client, Sheryl finds her clients experiencing recurring themes, including the need to create time to reflect on and plan for larger issues and strategy; to work in increasingly complex environments; to develop a more effective “leadership presence;” to manage the vastly different employees they supervise; to influence up, down and across the organization; and to rediscover the core skills of effective conversation and coordination.
One strong area of focus for Sheryl is mindfulness and leadership. She approaches this topic in an applied way, helping leaders understand what it means to be fully present, what the science says about why this matters for performance and success, and how to adopt both practical routines and real-time techniques to take reflective action as a leader.
Sheryl’s coaching style has been described as insightful, a blend of persistent and patient, and challenging and supportive. She is known for her good humor, easy manner, southern charm and solid sensibilities.
Experience
Esteemed faculty of the internationally acclaimed Georgetown University’s Leadership Coaching Program (2001-2021)
Co-director for the Executive Certificate for Transformational Leadership
Over 10 years of experience as a senior human resources executive in a large organization
Twenty years as an executive coach and leadership development practitioner, working with hundreds of organizations and clients in the corporate, nonprofit and public sectors both within the U.S. and internationally
Education
- Master’s degree from the College of William and Mary
- Bachelor’s degree from Auburn University
- Certified Professional Coach by the Newfield Network
- Certified Somatic Coach by The Strozzi Institute
- Certificate in Organizational Learning from George Mason University
- Graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School’s program for leadership practitioners
Personal
Solo parent to a “rising adult” daughter
Splits time between Washington, D.C., and Savannah, Georgia
Loves to travel and find new adventures in the world