About Sharon Burnett
Twenty years of senior leadership experience across India, Australia, and New Zealand — now focused on supporting clarity, judgment, and sustainable performance for leaders navigating complex environments.
Sharon Burnett is an executive coach who has held senior operational and human resources leadership roles across multiple countries and industries before transitioning into full-time coaching practice.
Her coaching is informed by direct experience managing business operations, leading teams under pressure, navigating organizational hierarchies, and carrying responsibility where decisions had real consequence and visibility was constant.
She understands what it means to operate in environments where authority must be maintained, uncertainty is not tolerated, and there are few safe spaces to think aloud or test judgment.
The India Experience That Shaped This Work
From 2008 to 2010, Sharon was based in Chennai, India, working as Global Head of Human Resources and New Zealand Business Manager for Marg Group Ltd, an international logistics, construction, and consulting company.
This was not an expatriate assignment with a clear support structure. Sharon was responsible for:
Leadership isolation
Understanding that as seniority increases, honest challenge decreases — and decisions are made increasingly alone.
Cultural complexity
Navigating hierarchy, family expectations, and professional norms that shape decision-making in ways Western coaching models often overlook.
Sustained pressure
Operating in environments where composure is mandatory, uncertainty is not tolerated, and performance must be maintained over time.
Leadership Experience
Sharon has held senior operational and human resources leadership roles across India, Australia, and New Zealand in environments where decisions carried real commercial, regulatory, and human consequence.
Her background includes:
Leading 24/7 operational teams in high-pressure, safety-critical industries
Managing global HR strategy across multiple jurisdictions
Overseeing cross-border acquisitions and international business integration
Designing systems and governance structures in fast-growth organisations
Leading complex, stakeholder-heavy projects within regulated environments
This experience informs her coaching practice — not as biography, but as lived understanding of authority, accountability, and the weight of visible leadership.
From Leadership to Coaching
After more than two decades in operational and HR leadership roles, Sharon transitioned into executive coaching to work more directly with the challenge she had observed repeatedly: capable leaders operating under pressure with limited space to think clearly.
Her coaching practice is grounded in the understanding that most people who seek coaching are not underperforming. They are trusted, relied upon, and carrying more than is visible. They need a confidential, professional thinking partnership — not advice, not frameworks, not motivational programmes.
Sharon’s approach is shaped by having lived the realities her clients face:
Senior executives and corporate leaders
Operating within hierarchies, managing teams, and carrying organizational weight.
Founders and business owners
Building companies, leading growth, and navigating decisions alone
Professionals stepping into greater authority
Taking on expanded responsibility and recalibrating leadership presence.
Expats and globally experienced leaders
Working within Indian organizations and navigating cultural complexity.
Clients typically hold responsibility across teams, families, stakeholders, and markets — with few places to speak openly or slow down their thinking.
Professional Credentials & Training
Formal Coaching Accreditation
Master of Business Administration (Executive), RMIT Melbourne
Diploma of Human Resources (Business Management)
Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
Master Practitioner & Practitioner of NLP
Professional development in Emotional Intelligence, Leadership Coaching, Mental Health First Aid, and Conflict Resolution
Coaching Philosophy
Sharon’s coaching is not therapy, counselling, mentoring, or motivational programming.
It is a structured, professional thinking partnership focused on:
- Improving decision quality under pressure
- Reducing internal friction and second-guessing
- Strengthening leadership presence and authority
- Supporting sustainable performance over time
There are no prescribed frameworks. No advice-giving. No assumptions about flat hierarchies or unlimited bandwidth.
The work adapts to the client’s role, context, and level of responsibility — recognizing that leaders in complex environments need clarity, not complexity.
Request an Initial Conversation
If you are operating at a senior level and need a confidential space to think clearly, test decisions, and recalibrate direction — this work is designed for that.