Sue Bethanis Press Kit

We have choices as we build/rebuild culture in the “next” version of our workplaces. We can use this next Covid phase to start afresh. Sue is fired up about helping leaders refresh their approach to creating thriving cultures in today’s challenging environment.

She recently penned a well-received essay about three critical components to leading now, in whatever form of workplace:

• Connect; care for each other in new ways
• Flex; being open and ready amidst constant and continued uncertainty
• Model self-care; stay resilient

Sue will share practical ways to do all three, using examples from working with execs grappling with how to adapt to new ways of working – especially with the trickiness of hybrid teams.

Influencing is a critical skill leaders need for success and is the most requested topic we work on with leaders. Sue will share best practices from her work with executives including adapting to the new challenges of influencing remotely. Those who successfully go from idea-to-innovation understand:

• How to apply a design thinking approach to influencing
• Why your ability to influence depends on your ability to be influenced and six optimal ways to influence
• Why executive presence is needed to sell your ideas to peers and senior-level execs
• How to deal with resistance to a great idea

Design Thinking, popularized by IDEO and Stanford Design School, typically is applied to making great products. The tenets of Design Thinking (Empathy, Brainstorm, Prototype, Implement) can also be applied to:

• designing customer and employee experiences.
• solving problems – any kind of problem, even how to prevent communication issues in the new hybrid work environment.
• thinking about what’s possible as a team charts a new vision.

Sue provides a hands-on rapid-prototyping approach to generate fresh ideas and new perspectives on thorny business problems. Her guide to Leader as Designer outlines her approach.

Many leaders don’t think they have time to coach their employees. However, the most effective and wise leaders leverage bits of time throughout their day and give feedback to their team members anytime, anywhere, to help solve problems quickly while developing skills and increasing empowerment. The In-The-Moment (ITM) coaching approach lets busy executives and managers solve problems on the fly. Sue will teach leaders learn to:

• Get into Rapport quickly to create safety and trust
• Stay in Assess mode to help define and understand the real issue/problem/perspective
• Reframe for new perspectives, actions, and solutions

Learn more in our Executive Guide to ITM Coaching.

Susan J. Bethanis, Ed.D., is the CEO/Founder of Mariposa Leadership, Inc., a San Francisco-based coaching team which provides executive coaching to high-tech leaders. She has coached hundreds of tech execs in Silicon Valley and across the globe – helping them raise their game. Sue is the author of the well-received business book Leadership Chronicles of a Corporate Sage (Kaplan Publishing, 2004) and hosts Mariposa’s monthly leadership forum, WiseTalk, and WiseSpace – a Zoom coaching community. She regularly facilitates strategy offsites and delivers keynotes and interviews on influence, coaching, and innovation. Currently, given the pandemic, Sue has been focused on supporting executives to pivot strategies and culture given the emerging remote and hybrid work environment.

Sue speaks regularly at industry conferences and meetings, like IEEE Women in Engineering, Silicon Valley Compensation Association, Stanford Business School, Commonwealth Club, Adaptive Path, Product Development and Management Association, Products Are Hard, Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, International Coaches Federation, Professional Business Women of California, South Bay Organization Development Network, American Society of Training and Development, and Northern California Human Resources Association. She has also delivered countless seminars and speeches at a variety of high-tech companies, such as Cisco Systems, eBay, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, Intuit, Juniper, LinkedIn, Lockheed Martin, Oracle, Plantronics, VMWare, Yahoo!, and Zynga. She is a sought-after panel moderator and interview guest with appearances on NPR, The Coaching Show, American Airlines Business Radio and BusinessAmericaRadio.com.

Sue has an excellent grounding in both business and coaching:

• Certificate, Design Thinking and the Art of Innovation, course at Stanford Design School, June 2010
• Ed.D., University of San Francisco; emphasis in Organization/Leadership, Adult Learning, and Pacific Leadership International Studies. Dissertation – Transforming Organizations: Understanding Relationships Among Paradigms, Language, and Action.
• M.A., Education, Stanford University; emphasis in Instructional Design
• B.A., Psychology, Occidental College

Sue acts as Mariposa’s “Chief Creative Officer” and is known for designing experiences, services, and products that move people and raise their game. She regularly applies insights from design thinking, linguistics, anthropology, and athletics to her roles as leader of the Mariposa team and as a sounding board to her clients.

Sue lives in San Francisco with her 15-year-old son, Max; they both love to spend time in Kihei, Maui. When she is not coaching, you will find Sue biking, skiing, golfing or on the tennis court; watching the SF Giants; or making photographs wherever she goes.