In Conversations with Swathi – A Dialogue with Mr Ashutosh Sharma: CEO, SYWIL
Today, I am excited to speak with Mr Ashutosh Sharma(Ashu), Founder and CEO of SYWIL, one of the most sought-after performance coaches for executives.
Swathi: Thank you for accepting the invite. To begin, could you please introduce yourself to my readers?
Ashu: My name is Ashutosh (Ashu) Sharma, and I am the Founder & CEO of Spread Your Wings Idea Labs (SYWIL). I am a performance coach for senior executives and leaders who know they are capable of more and are ready to accelerate their career trajectory. I have coached executives from firms such as Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Deloitte, Accenture, EY, Capgemini, and PA Consulting. I work with executives, founders, and high-potential professionals to help them transform, whether it’s getting promoted, rebuilding after a setback, or stepping into larger leadership roles. My approach blends coaching, skill development, and real-world performance frameworks.
Swathi: What led you into this world of performance coaching?
Ashu: Like many entrepreneurs, I started by solving my own problems. I grew up in a small town, studied in Hindi-medium schools, and entered the corporate world with no blueprint. So I built one. I became my own coach, devouring hundreds of books, reverse-engineering how to write a persuasive email, how to lead a meeting, how to win a proposal. I was constantly developing small playbooks—first to survive, and eventually to win.
Then, during the pandemic, I picked up Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Two lines struck me: “Love the discipline you know, and let it support you. Entrust everything willingly to the gods, and then make your way through life.” It was like someone handed me a mirror. I realised that the discipline I had been quietly building, mindset, communication, and performance, was not meant to be kept private. It was meant to be shared. I spent months reading, journaling, and reflecting. At some point, it stopped feeling like a career decision and started feeling like a calling: to help senior executives perform, excel, and experience the careers they know they’re capable of.
If I didn’t have a mortgage and bills, I would do this for free. It’s deeply nourishing to watch someone transform not just professionally, but as a human being. So if I sound emotional answering this question, it’s because this work isn’t transactional for me; it’s personal.
Swathi: That makes sense. When is the right time to seek a “Performance coach”? How can one identify the need?
Ashu: There is no “perfect time” to hire a performance coach. Think about Olympians or world champions; they don’t wait for a crisis. They consistently work with performance coaches because they know: to be the best, you never stop improving.
In real life, most people come to me after experiencing something painful, missing a promotion, being overlooked in interviews, or being made redundant. They feel they’re meant for more, yet life isn’t reflecting that. By that point, rebuilding momentum takes effort and time.
Then there’s another group: those who reach out just after a promotion or when starting a new role. They want to sharpen their skills, plan their first 30–60–90 days, and ensure they succeed from day one. That’s usually where results accelerate the fastest.
Swathi: Building on that, with so many life coaches and advisors out there today, how can someone choose the right one for themselves?
Ashu: Treat choosing a coach like choosing a doctor or a business partner. Talk to a few, not just one. Go with the person who makes you feel both understood and challenged. Your body and instincts will tell you when someone is a good fit.
Be cautious of coaches who pressure you with tactics like “offer only valid today” or “pay 100% upfront” those are red flags.
And remember: coaching alone is not enough. A coach must also teach you new skills, provide tools you can use, frameworks you can implement, and behaviours you can sustain. A good coach should be able to design tailored drills to help you develop specific skills effectively.
Swathi: From your experience, what’s one mistake people commonly make when seeking professional advice?
Ashu: They believe advice is the solution. It isn’t; implementation is everything. Many executives listen to the strategy, nod along, and then go right back to their old ways of working. They don’t apply the templates, and they don’t test new behaviours.
Coaching is not an information exchange; it’s a transformation that happens through consistent action.
Swathi: Your work must have brought you into contact with so many people. What patterns do you see in those who succeed versus those who struggle?
Ashu: Those who succeed are excellent communicators. They invest in building their personal brand, manage their time well, and take responsibility for their situation, good or bad.
Those who struggle often operate from a victim mindset. They blame circumstances, clients, managers, or the market—everyone except themselves.
Another common behaviour I see: instead of learning from those who succeed, they resent them. They’re sarcastic about them. That resentment ruins their mindset, and soon they find themselves in a race to the bottom.
Swathi: Wow, very well said. How do you think one can shift from a Victim mindset and start taking ownership of their growth?
Ashu: A victim mindset isn’t about what happened to you; it’s about how you interpret it. The fastest way to flip it is through radical responsibility.
If a relationship failed, take responsibility.
If you were laid off, take responsibility.
If you missed a promotion, take responsibility.
Not because you caused every event, but because ownership gives you power. When it’s “my problem,” it becomes “my solution.”
Once you accept responsibility, do one more thing: focus only on what you can control
Your skills
Your communication
Your habits
Your network
Your execution
Ignore what’s outside your control: office politics, market noise, other people’s opinions. Victims obsess over circumstances; winners obsess over actions.
The moment you shift your attention from blame to solutions, your growth begins.
Swathi: That is so powerful. What’s one piece of advice you find yourself repeating most of the time, because people need to hear it?
Ashu: Visualize success at every level. Your ideal life, your best year, your most productive week, your most powerful hour.
Many people shrink their ambition, thinking, “This is who I am; maybe I can’t achieve more.” That is self-limitation.
Successful people stretch their imagination first. They dream big, and they trust that the “how” will unfold as they take consistent action toward their vision. Tennis stars, for example, visualise their shots before they even know how to hit them. With training and practice, they develop and perfect those shots.
Swathi: You emphasize the power of visualizing success, but many of us struggle with self-doubt. How can someone push past that inner hesitation and start taking meaningful action towards their vision?
Ashu: I’m a big fan of Prof. Steve Peters’ work on The Chimp Paradox. According to him, self-doubt and poor self-esteem are rarely born in adulthood. Most people accumulate them between the ages of 3 and 30.
One humiliating comment from a parent, like “You’re stupid,” combined with a poor exam score, can become a seed. The child unconsciously looks for evidence to validate that belief. Over time, it turns into a story: “I am not good enough.”
The first step is recognising that the story is old. The second step is replacing it intentionally with visualization, new behaviours, and new evidence.
Swathi: That makes a lot of sense. I think most of us can relate to it; things that happened during school or growing up really shape us. If I may shift the topic a little, I’d like to ask about networking. I see a lot of people overlook it, but how important is it really, and what’s the right way to build a strong professional network?
Ashu: Networking is not optional anymore. We even have a full module dedicated to “Networking.” Today, for every job role, hundreds of CVs come in. A well-networked person bypasses that noise effortlessly. Start with your immediate circle of influence. Talk to people about their goals, challenges, and aspirations. Share yours. Then gradually extend that circle.
Look at history, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Mandela. They didn’t start with the world. They started with 10–20 people, then 100, and eventually created a movement.
Networking is simply relationship building over time. On this topic, I could go on and on.
Swathi: What’s that one underrated skill that employers value more than people realise?
Ashu: The ability to communicate with authority. Not loudly, but clearly, confidently, and persuasively. This is not an innate talent—it’s a skill, just like Excel or Word. A person who communicates with authority controls the room and the opportunity. Again, this is not an innate talent; it’s a skill that can be learned.
Swathi: Can you give us one quick change anyone can make to instantly communicate with more authority in meetings?
Ashu: There are many ways, but I’ll share one key approach. When you speak, speak in options, not just opinions. People who communicate with authority don’t simply state what they think—they present choices with pros and cons. It signals that they understand the problem deeply and have considered multiple angles.
Think of how a good doctor talks about a benign tumour:
Option 1: Monitor and do nothing until symptoms appear
Option 2: Surgery
Option 3: Manage the symptoms
Same problem, three informed approaches.
When you walk into a meeting and say, “Here are three paths forward, and here’s what each one gives us,” you instantly elevate yourself from someone with an opinion to someone with expertise.
Swathi: This has been such an enlightening conversation. I could keep going, but I’ll stop here. Thank you for your time and wisdom! Where can my readers learn more about your work and coaching programs?
Ashu: I guess my answers got a bit long; my emotions might have gotten the better of me! Thanks to you. But if you’d like to explore my work or learn more about my coaching programs, you can find me at www.SYWIL.com or on LinkedIn
I hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did. Ashu’s insights on mindset, communication, self-belief, and leadership offer powerful reminders that growth is an ongoing journey, one that begins with self-awareness and intentional action.
If this interview resonated with you, I encourage you to explore Ashu’s work and reflect on how some of these ideas could apply to your own career and life.
Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you in the next conversation.
