Sharon Dauk, MBA ’89:
No longer lonely at the top
Enter Sharon Dauk, executive coach since 2007. Dauk draws on her multifaceted experience in finance, investment, and corporate boards to help high-level executives manage their relationships with boards of directors and other stakeholders, or navigate through transitions.
The CEO-board relationship is a complex one, especially in the post-Enron world, Dauk explains: “The dynamic between CEOs and their boards tends to be almost adversarial, and the board has an inherent conflict in its dual role of being a fiduciary to the shareholders while providing strategic guidance to the CEO.”
Dauk also helps executives in transition, often individuals starting up an enterprise. “Unique issues come up when you start a business, such as deciding what sort of people to hire, and how to relinquish some control,” says Dauk.
Dauk became aware of her coaching talents while at the investment company she runs with her husband. “Two of the CEOs of companies we had invested in said, ‘Sharon, you’re a very good coach, in terms of understanding all the intricate needs of what senior management has to deal with.’”
Dauk acts as a combination peer, guide, and confidante. “A lot of people need help identifying what their goals are, and charting a course to reach them,” she says. “I add a heavy dose of common sense, reality, and business perspective.”
That business perspective is what differentiates Dauk from the competition (most coaches tend to be psychologists). “All those problems you try to solve by yourself while standing in the shower, you can talk to me about,” she says.
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