University of Washington Human Resources

Sully Taylor, Ph.D.

PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT

I believe in an integral approach to coaching. This recognizes that people bring their whole selves to work and any long-term change in their capabilities will be based on addressing how the change affects the entire self. This includes the individual’s way of thinking about the coaching challenge; identifying behavioral changes that shift their interactions; and supporting building somatic (bodily) awareness that helps the individual shift habitual reactions. An integral perspective is also beneficial when working with teams to help the individual members draw on as many parts of themselves as possible when shifting the team’s way of working together.

Much of my work is with individual leaders at a variety of levels. While I have worked with clients from corporate settings, non-profits and both private and public universities, the majority are working in academic settings: deans, associate deans, department chairs, center directors, academic support unit directors. The leadership development work focuses on some combination of strengthening personal capabilities such as resilience; developing strategic leadership skills such as building coalitions; and building long-term management excellence in areas such as interpersonal communication. Often the leader is in transition into a new leadership position but occasionally it is the reverse journey: a leader is returning to a faculty role. In addition, I often work with the executive teams of academic leaders to increase effectiveness in team collaboration, team communication and achievement of the unit’s strategic goals. I have also provided coaching support to senior faculty re-examining the later stage of their careers as well as to senior staff managers who need to develop greater leadership skills for the future.

Each engagement is customized to the needs of the client and the unique challenges they face and specific capabilities they need to develop. The goal in each coaching engagement is for the client to build the meta-capability to sustain their new leadership skills and habits and to continue to deepen them over time. I draw on my experience in academic leadership, research and teaching on global leadership and intercultural management, education as a certified Integral Coach, and further training in a variety of coaching modalities and assessments instruments. My experience growing up in Mexico as well as living and working in Japan for 8 years also informs my understanding of other cultures and its role in leadership.

Areas of Expertise

• Leadership Development and Executive Coaching:
  • Customized individual coaching to executives and mid-level
    leaders to develop needed leadership capabilities.
  • 360 reviews for leaders to identify needed leadership capabilities
  • Customized leadership development coaching for those transitioning into leadership positions
• Team Coaching
  • Work with executive leadership teams to support improvements in collaboration, communication and performance.
• Career and Transition Coaching
  • Provide coaching guidance to help individuals find clarity and navigate career and major life transitions.
• Retreat Design
  • Work with leaders to identify objectives, design, and lead effective retreats
• Intercultural communication and understanding
  • Help individuals and teams understand and appreciate how their own and others’ cultural backgrounds can affect perceptions and behavior.

Selected Coaching Engagements/Projects

• Supported client transitioning into new Dean position during Covid lockdown to create new strategic plan with extensive faculty and staff input, build a strong executive Dean team and address performance and structural issues.
• Worked with a Department Chair whose leadership style needed to expand to be effective with the multicultural faculty in the unit.
• Coached an Associate Dean to more successfully navigate the resistance and conflicts encountered in carrying out the responsibilities of the position.
• Provided coaching support to a new Department Chair in clarifying the goals for the first faculty retreat and designing the activities to achieve success.
• Created a coaching program for a high-tech company client wanting to make a transition to an alternative work venue.

Selected Academic Experience and Teaching

• Associate Dean, School of Business, Portland State University
• Executive Director, Master of International Management, Portland State University
• Chair, International Management Division, Academy of Management
• Visiting Professor, Waseda University, 2000
• Fulbright Recipient: Japan (1988) and Chile (1998)
• NSF research grant team member (2001-2003)
• Visiting Professor IE Business School, Madrid (1992-2017); Copenhagen Business School (2002)
• Intercultural Summer Institute Professor, 2000-2005, 2015-17

Selected Clients

• Portland State University
• Stanford University
• University of Colorado-Denver
• California Polytechnic University
• Mercy Corps
• Hanze University of Applied Sciences
• Concordia University

Education

• New Ventures West:  Certified Integral Coach (2013)
• University of Washington:  Ph.D., Human Resource Management & International Business (1989)
• Pennsylvania State University:  M.A., Spanish Literature (1979)
• School for International Training: M.A.T., English and Spanish as Second Languages (1974)
• Southern Methodist University: B.A., Latin-American History and English Literature (1971)

Credentials/Further Training

• Certified in Hogan Assessments
• Certified in Global Competencies Inventory and Intercultural
• Effectiveness Survey (Kozai Group)
• Certified in MBTI
• Immunity to Change training (individual & team) (Minds at Work)
• Embodied Leadership training, Level 2 (Wendy Palmer)
• Wise Speech and Compassionate Listening training (Oren Sofer)
• Racial Healing Allies training (A Guide to Mindful Allyship)