Anne Sugar is an executive coach and speaker who has advised top leaders at companies including TripAdvisor, Sanofi Genzyme, and Havas. Anne serves as an executive coach for Harvard Business School Executive Education and has guest lectured at MIT. Prior to becoming an executive coach more than a decade ago, Anne served as a senior leader in the advertising industry, where she oversaw a team of 75 employees as SVP of Media at Digitas. She managed media planning for Fortune 500 clients including General Motors, Federal Express, and Delta. She draws on her extensive management experience, as well as her in-depth training in coaching methodology to advise senior executives and high performers transitioning into leadership roles.
In facing Cancer, Anne Sugar learned first hand what happens when your body – the thing you are closest to and need to trust the most – feels like it can’t be trusted. And the growth she went through in the process forms the basis of the inspiration she shares in this episode of the Do a Day Podcast.
Key Points from the Show with Anne Sugar
- Anne Sugar build a successful career coaching people on leadership
- Just as her business was thriving, she was diagnosed with Cancer
- Not only did she learn about the battle with Cancer, and how it feels when your body–the thing you need to trust most–is working against you, but she also learned about what that means as a solopreneur to not be able to work and how to manage clients and their expectations during a personal and private battle
- We all face struggles and want to push ahead, but sometimes those struggles–especially the silent ones–that can make it harder, so how do we make progress regardless?
- When we face something like Cancer, how we handle the outside world needs to be in a way that aligns with our values and preferences. Some people are very open about it, while some people want to stay private. Both are right as long as it is what they want.
- For Anne, when she was going through this, the thing that helped her was to make sure she did something daily to keep her moving, whether that was working out, reading, meditating or something else. But choosing not to sit still and crumble was important. There were days when that was hard, but she kept moving forward.
- As an employer of someone who has to go out for something like Cancer (or some other driver of a leave of absence), there are things you can do to support them and your business. It focuses around delegation of tasks while the person is out and a return-to-work plan, but it also includes empathy and openness. A key to staying successful for both the individual and the company is that there is good communication about what’s needed, what everyone’s expectations are, what’s non-negotiable and how to solve for all of that
Links
- Websites: annesugar.com
- Twitter: @aasugar
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