Slowing Enough to Hear Your Own Voice: Q&A With Coach Sonja Merrild

Pierson Henry Executive Search is delighted and honored to share this Q&A with our coach and consultant, Sonja Merrild. As an expert on nonprofit succession planning, Sonja brings a deep understanding of the realities and challenges of leadership transitions. Sonja shares, "I've spent years studying what enables us to trust and follow one another as leaders.” Her expansive mindset, curious mien, and remarkable education along with a global perspective make Sonja an incredible professional to partner with on the dynamic journey of executive transitions.

Read on to learn so much more about Sonja and how she approaches this incredible work.

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1.What inspired you to specialize in transition coaching for social-impact leaders?

So often, and especially in rural areas, the success of social initiatives and programs hinges on the skill, capacity, drive, and wellbeing of one or a small handful of leaders.  These are the leaders who inspire me, and who I love to work with. 

When social impact leaders move, change jobs, or eye retirement, the organizations, boards, and communities serving alongside them also experience the transition. The ensuing uncertainty, new relationships, and letting go of what might have served in the past–these realities ask a lot of leaders both personally and professionally. My transition/onboard coaching as part of Pierson | Henry centers on smoothing this change process for leaders and stakeholders on both sides of the transition. 

2. Can you share a bit about your journey and how you became passionate about empowering leaders during major transitions?

For as long as I remember, I have been surrounded by leaders (including my parents) who decided to spend their time volunteering or working for social impact organizations. This is why I have a strong attunement in my professional trajectory toward leaders and their impact. Here's some of what I saw and learned on my professional journey, all of which seems relevant to supporting leaders through change now.  

Earlier in my career, shortly after moving to the U.S., I worked in the field I was educated in: business and marketing. I joined a multi-state engineering and architecture firm and learned a ton about working my way up in a dispersed organization whose structure and ownership changed significantly during my tenure. I also learned hard lessons on growing my influence as one of the youngest leaders, and the only woman on our leadership team. Finally, I gained a deep understanding of what happens when leaders are not supported during times of change.

My second chapter, which I would term my entrepreneurial chapter, began as I decided to join my husband to work in our real estate firm. Although real estate was not my dream, it was rewarding to see our business succeed, to build a strong leadership team, and to welcome new employees in a good way. I also established my own consulting firm and began consulting with nonprofit organizations on strategic planning, program evaluation, and board development. I'm grateful for the many boards and leaders who trusted me as a partner through periods of change and growth, including executive nonprofit succession planning.

In my third chapter, I returned to school, earned a Master’s in Philanthropic Studies, and set my aim at bridging the power and information gap between foundations and nonprofits. Working as a grant-maker and program director in private philanthropy was the greatest privilege of my career. I loved everything about this decade and a half of my career–mostly because of the extraordinary leaders whose purpose, knowledge, and ideas inspired our work. It was during this time that my desire to work directly to support leaders one-on-one strengthened. 

Today, I see my work with Pierson Henry Executive Search as a natural deepening of my third chapter. The wellbeing of each leader in a social impact field matters more than it ever has, and it's a truism that I see too often overlooked or downplayed by boards, partners, and funders. 

In summary, I bring my own navigation of cultures, languages, geographies, and professions to the work of supporting leaders in transition. And I'm proud to partner with a team who expresses and furthers a set of deeply human values that meet this moment.

3. You have talked a bit to me about "Beginnings." Can you share more about that concept and how it relates to transitions for your clients?

I often find, and my clients do too, that beginnings are also cleverly disguised as endings. In other words, when we work with leaders in transition, and consider 'what is beginning or emerging?’ we do ourselves a favor by also considering what is ending or completing. By being curious and intentional about what is completing as we transition, especially when we change jobs, we invariably create more space for what is emerging. 

In our transition coaching we make space for properly honoring and learning from what it's time to leave behind. And I'm very much noticing that the ability of a leader in transition to focus their professional and emotional attention to what is unfolding depends on these insights. 

4. You have lived around the world. How have these global experiences shaped who you are as a person?  

Yes, I have. Sometimes when I think of how many times I moved and adjusted to new cultures and contexts in the first decades of my life, it makes my head spin. From these experiences, however, I honed my ability to observe, process, and adapt to unfamiliar social landscapes. And they instilled in me a deep appreciation for diverse viewpoints and the complexity of finding belonging in life and work. 

I also think my experiences have given me a deep quality of attention. So that when I'm with you, I'm truly with you – observing not just words and language nuances, but micro-expressions that reveal truths or emotions that let me hear what might be unspoken. This focused observation isn't something I turn on for coaching sessions; it's how I've learned to move through the world, a survival skill turned into a gift I offer others.

5. What do you believe is the most important skill for a leader to practice as they prepare to navigate change?

The most precious and powerful resource we have as leaders is where we put our focus. I can think of few skills more important than growing our awareness and quality of attention. There's SO much that tugs at our attention as leaders these days. There always was, but because communication and the social media sphere is so ubiquitous, I find it requires us to level-up our intentionality and set boundaries that manage our relationship with these tools, so they serve us and not the other way around. 

How do we do this? In my experience, we literally need more quiet around us so we can hear our own voice, let alone find again the wisest part of ourselves. We need time away from media, time to meditate and slow our minds down, which paradoxically makes us more 'mindful.’

6. How do you integrate wellness into your coaching for social-impact leaders?

I think of wellness in the broadest terms: physical, social, emotional, and mental wellbeing. And yet wellness is also very specific to each person. I find that no matter the professional or personal agenda a leader is furthering, wellness–and staying well–is paramount to their ability to lead social impact work effectively. To truly flourish, so that others can flourish too, wellness in work and life is the undercurrent and often the unspoken "big-A" agenda of our coaching. Now, there are naturally a series of "small-a" agendas and topics that coaching centers in a transition–and as they are surfaced and addressed, overall wellness increases almost like the flow of water in a river. As if there are fewer and fewer eddies that have us snagged, and wellness becomes the natural flow of how we lead and live.     

7. How do you recharge your energy so you can bring your best self to your coaching practice? 

This is an area where I very much practice what my coaching practice is rooted in. Big picture, I have a morning ritual of yoga, meditation, writing, and walking outside that I practice in some combination daily. Nature, being outside, noticing what's around me, feeling part of a greater whole, is a meditation in itself. And small picture–as we design our coaching alliance–it's part of my ask that we arrive to our conversations with spaciousness and focus on our time. So that each of us brings our best selves to the coaching. I'm a big believer in intentionality and the open and forward-moving energy it offers our work.

8. What is an example of a hard experience in your life that ended up being a gift?

I would say experiencing the ending of a professional dream and my dream job. It took several months (and coaching!) for me to be able to fully let go and see with clear eyes what had happened, including my own part in it. Once I did, however, and once I earnestly completed and honored that phase of my life, I began to see the gifts and possibilities underneath the hard lessons. I would not be doing what I'm doing today were it not for this and many other hard experiences and opportunities.   

9. What books, thought leaders, poets or podcasts are your go-to for growth and inspiration?

My biggest inspiration is the land we live on; 11 acres on a lake north of Grand Rapids. It's a magical place. Whether it's the eagles, owls, swans, or otters visiting, I'm always inspired by their place in nature and the spirit they each represent. Likewise, myriad of plants and flowers that were there long before we arrived. I'm a curious person and read a wide variety of books, so I'll mention just a couple of authors who I have traveled with for decades:  David Whyte–his books, poems, and annual virtual starts to the year have been an inspiration for a long time. During hard times, I have often turned to Pema Chodron and her book "When Things Fall Apart." And for managing and understanding the nature of change and transition, I return to the classic book by William Bridges called "Transitions." 

I listen to a handful of national podcasts on news and human development, and I love investigative journalism and long perspectives on current issues. And I love great storytelling, period. I also still read a Danish newspaper weekly. Finally, I'm just very relational and find a lot of inspiration in connecting with individuals in my network of local artists and civic leaders, or with other coaches and professionals in human and spiritual development across the country.   

10. What was the best advice you've ever received? 

I had a mentor once who reminded me that during times of change, we must sometimes do the hardest thing: Wait. And listen. And fight against our tendency to move faster or work harder. If we wait, pause, and listen, especially when things are changing, answers usually come from within us. Because we have slowed enough to hear our own voice. 

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We are so grateful to have Sonja Merrild on our team at Pierson Henry Executive Search, and we hope that this Q&A gave you an insightful window into her unique background and talents. If you are presently searching for nonprofit succession planning with a team of professionals who bring clarity, intention and curiosity to the entire process, send us an email at info@piersonhenry.com. We also welcome your phone call at (715)-580-0479. No matter how it arrives, change is always significant, and the experienced team at Pierson | Henry is ready to support you wherever you are in the journey of nonprofit succession planning.