Data-Driven. Heart-Aligned. Gallup & Prosci-Certified.

Clifton Strengths : Ideation | Strategic | Intellection | Input | Learner

Sharon's work and approach integrate deep leadership experience, insight, and learning, with the power of data, partnerships, a structured process, and persuasive storytelling. Addressing complex leadership challenges across an array of industries while navigating twists and turns along her own personal leadership journey, Sharon's 20+ year career includes business, management, and consulting work with the United Nations (Empower Women team), U.S. Department of Energy, Fortune 500 clients, state and local government, and KPMG LLP, among others.

​A published author on personal leadership development, women's economic empowerment, and the relationship between creativity and innovation in business and industry, Sharon holds an M.A. in International Affairs from Florida State University and a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Stephen F. Austin State University. She is a graduate of Gallup's Accelerated Strengths Coaching Program, Prosci's Change Management Certification Program, the Women's Leadership Program at the Center of Intentional Leadership (Charlotte, NC), Stanford's D-School Certificate Program in Design Thinking for the Social Sector, and the McColl Center for Art & Innovation's Innovation Institute (Charlotte, NC).​

Consulting | Facilitation | Executive Coaching

Sharon engages with individuals, teams, and organizations to address specific personal and/or professional leadership challenges that account for gaps in achieving sustainable objectives and/or mission.

Marrying her consulting, facilitation, and executive coaching work with 20+ years of civic engagement at the local and global level, she has a passion for working with clients who are committed to personal growth and development and with purpose-driven organizations committed to making a positive impact in the world. 

As a consultant, her strategic approach reframes existing programs (leadership, engagement, CSR, etc), connecting them more clearly to mission and data-driven results. She also develops strategies around potential new programs, including the infusion of a Strengths-based culture, allowing all employees to perform their best and therefore contribute at their highest potential. Her goal is to help create sustainable business results while advancing individual/organizational mission, both internally and externally. As a seasoned facilitator, Sharon is adept at at distilling a lot of information down to the essentials, visually mapping out strategies to build stakeholder support and buy-in, holding space for divergent viewpoints, while keeping sessions on track and the bigger vision in mind. As an executive coach, Sharon marries core principles of authentic, character-based leadership with the power of Gallup's Strengths assessment to help clients gain deeper insight about their unique strengths and values in support of their personal life and leadership aspirations. 

Workshops | Training | Retreats 

Building upon the core principles of authenticity and character as a foundation for personal development, Sharon's hands-on facilitation, innovative workshops and personal approach enable her to connect authentically with participants at all stages of their life and career.

Working with individuals, teams, and organizations at all levels of leadership, Sharon believes that deep self-knowledge and awareness are essential to finding one's authentic leadership voice and foundational to developing strong leaders who are aligned and committed to their calling, community, or profession -- enabling them to not only leverage their strengths in support of their goals and larger vision for their life, but gain additional awareness of how best to work collaboratively with others -- creating deeper engagement, optimized teams, and sustainable impact. 

Whether working with individuals seeking personal growth and development, community leaders, emerging professionals, or executives, Sharon challenges program participants to engage in thoughtful self-reflection and learning through the integration of various learning modalities and Strengths-based assessments, while facilitating deep discussion with community resources and thought leaders whose collective experience and perspective can help further refine participants' own understanding of what it means to stand in their authentic voice, step up into their leadership, and serve their communities and world-at-large.
[Top & Below: CREW Charlotte - Authentic Leadership Program. 2017, 2019]
[Inset Left: Mecklenburg County Bar Association - Bar Leadership Institute. 2019]

What Clients Say...

"Sharon has an a rare intuition which guides her leadership abilities and touches all who meet her. During facilitative sessions, I have watched as Sharon challenges perspectives reframing a discussion to reach either a solution, a common vision, or strategic course of action. To all who meet Sharon, she is approachable, sharp and a natural-born leader. I was a very fortunate participant in a recent leadership group Sharon facilitated and I quickly recognized her talents. I am a better leader in great part thanks to Sharon and recommend her as an asset to any and all who have the opportunity to learn from her as my team and I have.” 

~Kristen Beamer, McKim & Creed
Authenticity is at the forefront of every conversation it seems lately and having the pleasure to be part of a
leadership program led by Sharon was a true gift.  Learning more about myself a piece at a time has been helpful in
every aspect of my life. Sharon changes the perspective on how you view yourself, align your values, promote your strengths and be comfortable and authentic as both a leader and a being. She made quite the impact on our women’s network as the perfect contributor at our retreat. 

– Victoria C Sprague, Turner Construction 
I found the Virtual Clifton Strengths Session with my management team to be insightful. Sharon Reed did a great job hosting the meeting and creating an atmosphere for team engagement. I would recommend the Virtual Clifton Strengths Session for those looking to take a deeper dive into learning more about individual and team strengths.

​~John Lair, ECS Southeast, LLP
​My experience with Sharon’s personalized coaching was nothing short of amazing.  As someone who does not often take the time to personally reflect on my own strengths and values, spending time with Sharon and having her help me to reframe the way I view my values and strengths, and not to mention the value that I can add to others, was nothing short of life changing.  Although the foregoing may seem hyperbolic, I feel it truly reflects the impact that Sharon’s coaching had on my perspective.  Sharon provided me with a solid direction on how to highlight my particular strengths, while also reframing the way I view what I thought were my weaknesses and drawbacks.  

~Jeremy Tomes, Troutman Sanders  
I have thoroughly appreciated the leadership journey that I embarked upon with Sharon in our Bar Leadership Institute. The time Sharon spent to help me develop my strengths and weaknesses was invaluable.  While it is easy to understand personal preferences, being able to appreciate how to use those preferences to benefit myself, my employees and my colleagues is a treasured tool that I hope to implore throughout my career.  Further, and more importantly, being able to recognize my weaknesses and how to adapt to situations so as to avoid frustrations will prove to be beneficial in all circumstances.  I am grateful for the knowledge and education that Sharon provided to me throughout our program and I hope to continue to be blessed with her insights in the future. 

~Mandy Schuller, Wells Fargo
Sharon’s ability to pause and reframe a question or situation to foster deeper reflection is unparalleled.  Her focus on what I like to call “shoring the core” puts the emphasis on understanding who you are at your deepest levels and leveraging that to strategically forge a path that is in alignment with your personal vision and purpose.  Simply put, the work is hard, but Sharon’s heartfelt and soulful approach helps you build the confidence you need to navigate the process. 
​
 -Lindsay Rosti, JE Dunn Construction
Sharon’s enthusiasm and encouraging attitude eased the difficulty involved with performing a deep self-reflection.  She helped me navigate through the process of making changes that would positively impact my work.  Her focus on authenticity showed me how my unique personality affects my professional and personal relationships.  Sharon provided direction on how to focus my particular strengths, skills and insights to complement those of others to achieve favorable outcomes."

​~Brandi Drake, Charter Communications
"Sharon presented to our women’s group, which is dedicated to empowering and developing women and girls in the technology industry. Her presentation on shattering the glass ceiling was spot on and really resonated with our members.  Not only was Sharon’s message meaningful, but the stories she told and the way she wove the stories together, was incredibly effective and inspiring."
​
~Sally Frank, Microsoft
“Sharon is a terrific educator and motivator. She is passionate , positive and authentic which is always present in her delivery. She always has an impact when in the room!” 

~Marie McLucas, Primax Properties
"Sharon facilitated a CREW Charlotte Women’s Leadership Program, Becoming an Authentic Leader, which consisted of 8 sessions over 10 months in 2017 (serving again as Program Director and facilitator in 2019). As a CREW Charlotte board member, I felt it was important to participate as this was our inaugural program and the future of its sustainability was dependent upon its first year success.

Sharon brought to the table not only an extremely confident and engaging ability to facilitate this group of 30 emerging and developing leaders, but also a wealth of knowledge and a deep bench of contacts from which our program emerged. I was personally challenged and stretched and the growth I experienced under Sharon's leadership and through the program she assembled has become a part of the DNA of my personal and professional journey. There is an openness and vulnerability inherent in Sharon that encourages others to open their hearts and explore their own passions and the possibilities that come from truly knowing oneself."

~Robin Turner, O'Leary Waste Systems
The training Sharon provided our marketing team was outstanding! Sharon conveyed a lot of information
in a brief timeframe, and somehow managed to keep our team on track - not an easy thing to do.
The presentation was easy to follow and understand; and Sharon brought just the right amount of information
and enthusiasm to fully engage our group. We learned and we had fun doing it! The Gallup material is
​comprehensive and current. Kudos for continually updating and improving this knowledge.
​
~McKim & Creed Marketing Team

Our Partners

At HBD, we believe in the power of collaborative partnerships -- leveraging our diverse strengths and experience to solve complex issues and introduce fresh perspectives. What unites us is a common vision, core values, an esprit de corps, and a commitment to deliver on our promises.

Malcolm Macdougall

An organizational performance consultant, Malcolm combines 34 years of supply chain and corporate experience with his knowledge of world-class employee engagement and development techniques to design and deploy sustainable, team-based solutions that "enhance the employee experience
​while driving business outcomes." 

Serving as founder and Chief Solutions Engineer of OPT, Malcolm is a Gallup-certified Strengths Coach, a graduate of Harvard University, and the former Director of Global Planning for Hanesbrands. Click here to learn more about Malcolm and the value OPT can bring to your team or organization.