Post-acquisition chaos
Two cultures, overlapping roles, and a value-creation plan that depends on getting the people side right.
Executive Coaching · Fractional CHRO · People Advisory
Exceptional organizations are built on exceptional leadership.
I’m Dr. Sheilesha Willis, an organizational psychologist and executive coach. I help leaders grow into the roles their companies need, and I help growth-stage and investor-backed companies build the people infrastructure that accelerates performance.
- Ph.D.
- ICF ACC
- Board Certified Coach
- Hogan Certified
100+
executives & managers coached
“Her coaching is not just insightful — it is transformative.”
15+ years leading people strategy at
How I can help
Two paths. One purpose.
Whether you lead a team or an entire organization, the goal is the same: stronger leaders, healthier cultures, and results that last.
For leaders
Executive Coaching
You’re stepping into a bigger role, leading through change, or ready to lead with more clarity and conviction. Together, we’ll build the leader your next chapter needs.
Explore coachingFor organizations
Fractional CHRO & People Advisory
You’re scaling fast, integrating an acquisition, or need senior people leadership without a full-time hire. I’ll help you build the people infrastructure for where you’re going.
Explore fractional HRA short note
The people problems show up before the business problems do.
Post-acquisition chaos. A leadership team that isn’t built for the next stage of growth. A culture that worked at 50 people but is starting to crack at 300. A talented individual contributor promoted into management, and now expected to lead the people doing the work.
These aren’t surprises. They’re patterns. And if you know how to read them, you can get ahead of them.
That’s what I do. I diagnose what’s really going on — the leadership dynamics, the structural gaps, the cultural fault lines — and build the capability and infrastructure to support where you’re going, not just where you are.
My mission is simple: to reimagine how we work and humanize how we lead, one leader, one team, and one organization at a time.
Sheilesha
Founder, Just Coaching and Consulting
Impact at a glance
- 100+ executives and managers coached
- 15+ years of HR leadership across Fortune 500, investor-backed, and high-growth companies
- 64 senior leaders guided through complex, cross-functional challenges
- Ph.D. organizational psychologist and credentialed executive coach (ACC, BCC)
For leaders · Executive coaching
Lead with accountability, discernment, and care.
I coach executives and managers to lead with the combination that builds trust, strengthens organizational capability, and creates high-performance cultures.
My style is direct and compassionate. I go deep to understand your context and design coaching that creates lasting change, not a quick fix.
Areas of focus
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01
Leadership capability & manager effectiveness
Building the skills managers need to lead people, not just process and work.
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02
Accountability & discernment
Strengthening the judgment and follow-through that earn trust and drive results.
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03
Self-awareness & assessment-based coaching
Using Hogan and other research-backed assessments to sharpen your strengths and surface blind spots and derailers.
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04
High-performing culture building
Defining the values, operating rhythms, and behaviors that create teams people want to stay on.
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05
Leading through growth & change
The tools to navigate career transitions, lead through change, and thrive as your business scales, without losing your culture along the way.
What working together looks like
Every engagement is tailored, but the path is clear.
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1
Discovery call
A conversation to understand your goals and context, and to see if we’re the right fit.
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2
Assess & align
Research-backed assessments, plus a verbal 360 when helpful, show where you are and what’s getting in the way.
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3
Design your roadmap
Together, we set clear goals and a coaching plan built around your strengths, needs, and challenges.
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4
Grow with accountability
Regular sessions, real-world practice, and compassionate accountability turn intention into lasting change.
For organizations · Fractional CHRO & advisory
Senior people leadership, without the full-time hire.
Companies in transition need more than HR operations. They need someone who can read the organization, build for what’s next, and move quickly. I partner with growth-stage and investor-backed companies to deliver the strategic leadership of a full-time CHRO, without the cost or lead time of a full-time executive.
Sound familiar?
A team built for the last stage
The leadership team that got you here isn’t automatically the team that gets you there.
A culture starting to crack
What worked at 50 people is straining at 300, and your best people are the first to feel it.
What I do
Fractional CHRO / Chief People Officer
A senior people executive embedded in your leadership team: setting strategy, advising the CEO, and building what’s missing.
Post-acquisition integration
HR integration and change management that align cultures, clarify roles, and keep key talent through the transition.
Executive assessment & C-suite selection
Evidence-based assessment of leaders and candidates, built on Hogan and a proven methodology, to predict performance and reduce leadership risk.
Org design & people strategy
Structures, roles, succession plans, and people strategy built for where the business is going, not just where it is today.
Leadership team development
Assessment, coaching, and team effectiveness work that turns a group of talented executives into a true leadership team.
HR function build-out
The right people infrastructure for your stage: policies, processes, systems, and the team to run them.
How we can work together
Fractional CHRO
Embedded in your leadership team on an ongoing, part-time basis. Your senior people partner, without the full-time cost.
Best for scaling and portfolio companies that need consistent, executive-level people leadership.
Interim people leadership
Hands-on, full-focus leadership through a critical transition, or while you search for a permanent people leader.
Best for leadership gaps, departures, and high-stakes moments that can’t wait.
Advisory & projects
Focused engagements with a clear scope and timeline, from executive assessments to integration planning and HR function builds.
Best for a defined challenge that needs experienced hands and an outside perspective.
My approach
Rigor, empathy, and an operator’s mindset.
Three perspectives in one partner, so the insight is sound, the experience is human, and the results are real.
The rigor of an organizational psychologist
Doctoral training in organizational behavior means we work from evidence: validated assessments, sound diagnostics, and research, not hunches or trends.
The empathy of a seasoned coach
Credentialed coaching (ICF ACC, BCC) that meets you where you are. Direct and compassionate, with deep respect for your context and culture.
The strategic mindset of an operator
15+ years leading people strategy inside high-growth, investor-backed, and Fortune 500 companies. I know what it takes to make change stick.
Assessment toolkit
- Hogan Assessment Suite
- StandOut Strengths
- Positive Intelligence (Saboteurs)
- Verbal 360° feedback
- Culture assessments & employee listening
Values
Simplicity, client-centricity, curiosity, courage, compassionate candor, and connection.
Client stories
In their words.
Working with Sheilesha as an executive coach has been one of the most valuable professional investments I have made. Her approach seamlessly blends rigorous, research-backed methods with a deeply human understanding of leadership — a combination that is far rarer than it should be.
Sheilesha helped me sharpen my effectiveness as a people leader in ways that were both immediately practical and enduring. I walked away with greater clarity, stronger decision-making instincts, and a more grounded leadership presence. Perhaps most importantly, she challenged me thoughtfully while creating an environment of trust that enabled immense, rapid growth.
For anyone who is serious about elevating their leadership and expanding their impact, I cannot recommend Sheilesha highly enough. Her coaching is not just insightful — it is transformative.
I have had the privilege of working with Sheilesha, an exceptional executive coach, for several months now. Her abundance of knowledge and research-driven insights and approaches have been instrumental in helping me reframe my limiting beliefs and achieve my goals. What sets her apart is her deep understanding of cultural diversity, compassion, and down-to-earth nature.
There’s no BS with her – she guides it like it is and supports me every step of the way. I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a coach who is both knowledgeable and genuinely cares about their clients’ success.
About
Hi, I’m Sheilesha.
Organizational psychologist. Executive coach. Former HR executive. Mother. Changemaker.
For more than 15 years, I’ve led people strategy at companies including Robinhood, Aurora Solar, BlackLine, AECOM, and Yahoo, building teams, developing leaders, and guiding organizations through growth and change. Along the way, I launched Aurora Solar’s first manager development program for more than 100 people managers and led a community of 64 senior leaders through complex, cross-functional challenges.
Despite early success and plenty of “high performer” labels, I often found myself in spaces that valued boxes over boldness and conformity over curiosity. My breakthrough came when I realized I wasn’t meant to simply occupy those spaces. I was meant to create new ones. That’s why I founded Just Coaching and Consulting.
Today, I coach executives and managers, and I partner with growth-stage and investor-backed companies as a fractional people leader. I’m also an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University.
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Ph.D., Organizational BehaviorClaremont Graduate University
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Associate Certified Coach (ACC)International Coaching Federation
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Board Certified Coach (BCC)Center for Credentialing & Education
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Certified, Hogan Assessment SuiteHogan Assessments
Let’s talk
Let’s build exceptional leaders and cultures together.
Whether you’re a leader ready for your next chapter or an organization preparing for its next stage, it starts with a conversation.