Smita Das Jain : Empowering Leaders To Identify Their True Potential
Smita Das Jain
Founder & CEO
An alumna of IIM Indore and SRCC with over 14 years of extensive experience as a Strategy and Management Consultant across various Fortune 500 companies, Smita Das Jain found her true calling in executive coaching in 2021. Today, as an accomplished certified executive coach, personal empowerment life coach, and NLP practitioner, she, through her organization Empower Yourself with Smita D Jain, has trained and guided over 300 leaders across 11 countries to find their true potential.
In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Smita sheds light on her success mantra, her strategies to help professionals identify their true potential, and much more.
In your professional journey so far, what has been your success mantra that constantly helps you arrive at positive outcomes?
I have 14 years of experience in the corporate world, after which I have been a coach for more than 4 years. My success mantra throughout these years has been consistency and discipline. For me, success is not transformative but comes with those incremental small steps you consistently take. I make sure to have at least one coaching session every day. These small baby steps, which, I strongly believe, help you get better at what you do and gain confidence. There will be days you would feel extremely low and would like to do nothing. That's where discipline comes in. It's about showing up even when you don't feel like it.
Being a coach is pretty much similar to being an entrepreneur because you have to solicit clients before coaching them. In both these things, I do believe that discipline matters more than talent. Your talent may grow with time. But if you don't have the
discipline, you won't be able to harness that.
In your opinion, what drives and curbs people from living their best lives? How do you help professionals identify their potential and ascend to new heights of success?
For me, what drives people to live their best life, is the clarity about their values, passions, and goals. When individuals align their actions with what truly matters to them, they create momentum toward a meaningful life. Coming to the curbing factors, it's often self-doubt, fear of failure, or societal expectations that cloud their decisions. Through Empower Yourself, I have realized that the biggest obstacle is the narrative we tell ourselves. Rewriting that narrative, whether it's about time, worth, or capability, can be incredibly transformational.
When it comes to helping my clients identify their potential, I start by creating a safe space for introspection and discovery that helps them uncover what truly drives them. Sometimes, I also use structured frameworks and personalized guidance while always ensuring a secure and confidential environment to help them get better clarity not only on their immediate challenges but also their long term aspirations. During my one-on-one sessions with the client, I focus on identifying their strengths, clarifying goals, and breaking down the barriers, both external and internal, that hold them back. I aim to empower them with the tools and mindset to take charge of their growth journey while staying accountable to their vision of success.
How do you elevate their leadership skills to create and maintain a productive workplace with delighted team members?
In today's VUCA world, leadership is about empathy, adaptability, and vision. I help my clients understand that leadership isn't about control. It's about influence, trust, and fostering a culture of collaboration. Through coaching, we focus on developing emotion al intelligence, enhancing executive communication skills, empowering team members, and creating actionable strategies to lead by example. A productive workplace starts with a leader who empowers their team to thrive while holding them accountable for shared goals. My approach ensures that not only leaders achieve their objectives but do so in a way that leaves their teams motivated and fulfilled.
In your opinion, what drives and curbs people from living their best lives? How do you help professionals identify their potential and ascend to new heights of success?
For me, what drives people to live their best life, is the clarity about their values, passions, and goals. When individuals align their actions with what truly matters to them, they create momentum toward a meaningful life. Coming to the curbing factors, it's often self-doubt, fear of failure, or societal expectations that cloud their decisions. Through Empower Yourself, I have realized that the biggest obstacle is the narrative we tell ourselves. Rewriting that narrative, whether it's about time, worth, or capability, can be incredibly transformational.
Success is not trans -formative but comes with those incremental small steps you con- sistently take
When it comes to helping my clients identify their potential, I start by creating a safe space for introspection and discovery that helps them uncover what truly drives them. Sometimes, I also use structured frameworks and personalized guidance while always ensuring a secure and confidential environment to help them get better clarity not only on their immediate challenges but also their long term aspirations. During my one-on-one sessions with the client, I focus on identifying their strengths, clarifying goals, and breaking down the barriers, both external and internal, that hold them back. I aim to empower them with the tools and mindset to take charge of their growth journey while staying accountable to their vision of success.
How do you elevate their leadership skills to create and maintain a productive workplace with delighted team members?
In today's VUCA world, leadership is about empathy, adaptability, and vision. I help my clients understand that leadership isn't about control. It's about influence, trust, and fostering a culture of collaboration. Through coaching, we focus on developing emotion al intelligence, enhancing executive communication skills, empowering team members, and creating actionable strategies to lead by example. A productive workplace starts with a leader who empowers their team to thrive while holding them accountable for shared goals. My approach ensures that not only leaders achieve their objectives but do so in a way that leaves their teams motivated and fulfilled.
Going forward, what are the kinds of future aspirations you look forward to accomplishing?
I aspire to expand my reach as an executive coach, life coach, and motivational speaker, helping more professionals and leaders create lives they are proud of. I also have a vision to expand the global reach of Empower Your self. While I currently coach leaders from 11 countries, in the next five years, I would like to grow that number to 100. Similarly, while I have coached around 300 leaders to date, I want that number to reach around 1000-1500 in the next five years. On a personal level, I want to dedicate time to building resources. Be it books, programs, or workshops, I want to create resources that don't require my presence and are accessible to individuals at different stages of their professional and personal journeys.
Last but not least, I hope to contribute to shaping a workplace culture that prioritizes well-being alongside perfor - mance, ensuring that organizations thrive while their people flourish. It's more about balancing ambition with well-being rather than ambition at the cost of well-being.
Smita Das Jain, Founder & CEO, Empower Yourself With Smita D Jain
An accomplished certified executive coach, personal empowerment life coach, and NLP practitioner, Smita Das Jain has worked as a Strategy and Management Consultant for over 14 years across various Fortune 500 companies, including KPMG and JLL, before finding her true calling in life and executive coaching. Today, as an International Coaching Federation accredited PCC coach with around 2000 coaching hours, she has guided over 300 middle, senior, and CXO-level professionals across 11 countries. A two-time TEDx speaker, Smita is also a bestselling author of four fiction books and even co-authored "Cracking the Rich Code: Volume 12", a NY Times inter -national bestseller, also endorsed by Tony Robbins.
•Hobbies: Reading, Writing, Travelling
•Favorite Cuisine: Italian
•Favorite Book: The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
•Favorite Travel Destination: Austria
Awards & Recognition:
•Two-time TEDx speaker
•Won the "Best Executive Coach for Professional and CXOs in India" award by the MSME ministry, Government of India.
•Named amongst "India's Top Three Women Entrepreneurs" in the Her Rising Awards 2023 and 2024 by HerKey
I aspire to expand my reach as an executive coach, life coach, and motivational speaker, helping more professionals and leaders create lives they are proud of. I also have a vision to expand the global reach of Empower Your self. While I currently coach leaders from 11 countries, in the next five years, I would like to grow that number to 100. Similarly, while I have coached around 300 leaders to date, I want that number to reach around 1000-1500 in the next five years. On a personal level, I want to dedicate time to building resources. Be it books, programs, or workshops, I want to create resources that don't require my presence and are accessible to individuals at different stages of their professional and personal journeys.
Last but not least, I hope to contribute to shaping a workplace culture that prioritizes well-being alongside perfor - mance, ensuring that organizations thrive while their people flourish. It's more about balancing ambition with well-being rather than ambition at the cost of well-being.
Smita Das Jain, Founder & CEO, Empower Yourself With Smita D Jain
An accomplished certified executive coach, personal empowerment life coach, and NLP practitioner, Smita Das Jain has worked as a Strategy and Management Consultant for over 14 years across various Fortune 500 companies, including KPMG and JLL, before finding her true calling in life and executive coaching. Today, as an International Coaching Federation accredited PCC coach with around 2000 coaching hours, she has guided over 300 middle, senior, and CXO-level professionals across 11 countries. A two-time TEDx speaker, Smita is also a bestselling author of four fiction books and even co-authored "Cracking the Rich Code: Volume 12", a NY Times inter -national bestseller, also endorsed by Tony Robbins.
•Hobbies: Reading, Writing, Travelling
•Favorite Cuisine: Italian
•Favorite Book: The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
•Favorite Travel Destination: Austria
Awards & Recognition:
•Two-time TEDx speaker
•Won the "Best Executive Coach for Professional and CXOs in India" award by the MSME ministry, Government of India.
•Named amongst "India's Top Three Women Entrepreneurs" in the Her Rising Awards 2023 and 2024 by HerKey