FOR LEADERS

Leadership shouldn’t feel like a performance.

If you’re over-preparing, second-guessing yourself, or shapeshifting to meet expectations, you might be leading from armor instead of authenticity. Unarmored Leadership helps you break down those protective behaviors so you can show up with clarity, confidence, and connection.

Leadership today often feels like a relentless performance, with pressure to meet expectations leaving many leaders exhausted and disconnected. In an effort to cope, they adopt protective behaviors – what I call armor. Armor manifests in many ways including fixating on what people think about you, filtering communication, micromanaging, or shapeshifting styles to meet others’ expectations.

While this armor may have initially helped you succeed, it ultimately becomes heavy and limiting, dulling your presence, draining your energy, and keeping you stuck. Instead of amplifying your impact, it slowly erodes your confidence and stops you from leading in a way that feels natural and true to you.

Ready to Lead Without the Armor?

If you’re exhausted from being a chameleon in every conversation or questioning your worth or value, you don’t have to navigate it alone. Through 1:1 coaching, group programs, and tailored workshops, I help leaders drop the armor that limits their presence and impact. Together, we’ll uncover obstacles, strengthen your confidence, and align your leadership with your values.

Whether you seek personal growth or want to introduce Unarmored Leadership within your organization, let’s connect

Book a discovery call to explore what Unarmored Leadership could look like for you.

INDIVIDUAL COACHING ENGAGEMENTS: UNARMORED LEADERSHIP 1:1 COACHING

For leaders seeking a personalized coaching experience, one-on-one coaching offers a chance to dive beyond awareness into action. These engagements are fully tailored to your unique goals, challenges, and leadership journey, while staying rooted in the Unarmored Leadership model. Together, we’ll identify protective behaviors, like over-preparing, perfectionism, people-pleasing, or difficulty speaking up in high-stakes moments, that are holding you back.

Through a blend of reflection, practical tools, and real-time application, you’ll gain the confidence and clarity to navigate complex situations authentically. Our work will help you deepen your self-awareness and connection to what matters most, strengthen your executive presence, and create the conditions for building trusted relationships and psychological safety. Most importantly, you’ll walk away with actionable strategies that align with your values, enabling you to lead with greater impact, resilience, and integrity.

Choose Your Coaching Path

Focused Coaching (3 months)

A short-term engagement designed to help you build momentum on key goals and shift patterns that are holding you back.

Transformative Coaching (6-12 months)

A longer-term partnership for deeper integration of Unarmored Leadership practices, expanded growth, and sustained change.

Executive Intensives

Half-day or full-day immersions for leaders seeking rapid clarity and actionable strategies in a condensed format.

Every leader’s path looks different. Whether you need focus, depth, or acceleration, there’s an option for you. Let’s connect to design the right experience together..

UNARMORED LEADERSHIP GROUP COACHING PROGRAM

Leadership can feel like a performance. Many ambitious leaders rely on protective behaviors – such as perfectionism, over-preparing, micromanaging, or staying silent during conflict – that once helped them succeed but now leave them feeling exhausted, disconnected, and questioning their impact. Over time, this "armor" limits growth, erodes confidence and trust, and creates distance in relationships.

The Unarmored Leadership Group Coaching Program helps you dismantle those patterns, enabling you to lead with clarity, courage, and confidence while deepening your connection with yourself and others. Alongside a supportive peer group, you'll discover how to communicate authentically, navigate high-stakes situations with resilience, and align your leadership with your values.

Program at a Glance

Details

Eight 90-minute group coaching sessions

Optional 1:1 coaching sessions to personalize your growth

Cohort model that builds trust, community, and peer accountability

What You’ll Gain

Self-awareness to spot where armor shows up

Practical tools to communicate with presence and build stronger relationships

Confidence to navigate ambiguity and uncertainty

Resilience and alignment to lead from your values

Deeper team trust and psychological safety

Clear communication and

Confidence to navigate ambiguity and uncertainty

Resilience and alignment to lead from your values

Rising managers, team leads, or executives who are:

  • Preparing for the next step in your career

  • Seeking clarity on your next right move

  • Stepping into bigger responsibilities

  • Navigating organizational change or uncertainty

The Unarmored Leadership Group Coaching Program isn't just about professional development. It's about transforming how you show up, for yourself, for your team, and for the people who count on you.

Leadership Impact

Who it’s For

  • "Susan transformed the way I approach my communications and manage my time and energy. She introduced me to techniques for organizing my thoughts and presenting them clearly and concisely, saving me time and increasing my effectiveness. Another game-changer for me was incorporating pausing, breathing, and transition statements to manage my stress levels and respond more thoughtfully in high-pressure situations. Setting boundaries and establishing non-negotiable time for myself was another critical area. The coaching experience has been invaluable, and I highly recommend Susan – she has appreciably impacted my life!"  

    Adrianne Collins, SVP & Chief Procurement Officer, Southern Company

  • "I had the pleasure of participating in a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® workshop led by Susan Eckstein, and it was both enjoyable and impactful. Even those who were initially skeptical about using LEGO® in a professional development workshop were impressed by the process. This unique approach allowed everyone in the room to share their ideas and work together in a new way towards a shared goal. Building LEGO® models together enabled the entire QuotaPath team to see that they all have similar aspirations when it comes to effective collaboration. This event also brought our team closer together. I highly recommend Susan Eckstein for her exceptional facilitation of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®."

    Carrie Carroll, Director of People Operations

  • "When I reached out to Susan, I asked her to work with me to build my confidence so I could walk across a stage, accept an award, and give a short speech. Susan guided me through some of the most rewarding work I have ever done. I learned more about myself – my real self – than I ever thought possible. With Susan as my coach, not only did I walk confidently across that stage several months later, but I learned to step into my full power as a woman and as an executive, as I transformed into my true authentic self. Susan changed my life. She can change yours, too!"

    Liz Meyers, Executive Vice President of Purchasing and Global Procurement, Darby

  • "Susan is a powerhouse of a coach! She always shows up with such presence and she consistently asks powerful questions. Each session with her pushes me to reflect and consider the lens I am using to look at situations. Through this work, I gain incredible insights and perspectives that help me shift my behavior and thinking patterns. As a coach myself, I am very picky about who I work with, and Susan is one of my go-to coaches whenever I need to think something through. That is the highest compliment I can give. If you are feeling stuck or need a powerful reframe, Susan is your woman. I cannot recommend working with her enough!"

    Dominique Mas, CEO of Group Coaching HQ

  • "I feel very fortunate to have found the right coach for me! Susan is truly amazing and an expert in her field. Her honest, straight-forward, laser focused approach was appreciated. Our thought-provoking sessions inspired me to become who I was meant to be, and her direct advice was spot on every step of the way. She instills confidence, balance, and harmony in her clients and provides them with lifelong tools and knowledge to move ahead not only at work, but in life."

    Cami Cooley, Dean of Academic Operations, College of Southern Maryland

  • "When I first began working with Susan, I was stepping into the COO role at a rapidly scaling marketing agency. I felt uncertain about where my responsibilities and authority began and ended, so I tried to take on everything. I was wearing an armor of compulsively proving, pleasing, striving, and solving. Through her coaching, she helped me see my strengths more clearly and ask better questions of myself and those around me. Our sessions gave me the clarity to recognize the value I bring and the confidence to stand more firmly in the expertise I’ve built. I finished our time together not only stronger in my role, but also ready to take the leap into starting my own business. Susan’s incisive insight and deep empathy has made a lasting impact on how I show up in my professional life, and I’m deeply grateful."

    Lindsay Noyes, Founder and Principal