- Location: Bangalore, India
- Local Time:–:–:–
Mandira Kala
Partnering with leaders and teams to grow their inner and collective capacities to thrive in complex times, and in doing so, transform the systems they are a part of.
My clients are brilliant, high-achieving, and purpose-driven individuals, often Chief Executives, Directors, Founders, or Entrepreneurs. They desire to grow in deeply human ways, not just for themselves, but for their teams and organizations, as well.
As they navigate the demands of their businesses and markets, they long to meet those challenges with joy, creativity, authenticity, and equanimity.
Whether in coaching conversations or in teaming engagements, our work together is often about making space for reflection, discovery, renewal, and meaningful change.
Over the years, a visionary CEO of an education start-up built credibility in offering a unique and differentiated model of education services. As demand grew, the organisation was exploring how to scale meaningfully in scope and geographical scale.
The CEO reached out to me for executive coaching and shared their desire to build a founder-independent organisation, one where leadership was shared and sustainable. The leadership team, while deeply committed, was not a cohesive unit. Ownership was uneven, leadership identity limited to functional roles, and excessive deference to the CEO for strategic direction. The team needed to grow their leadership, take ownership of the strategic weight, and flourish as co-holders and drivers of the organisation’s purpose.
I partnered with the CEO and leadership team to co-create a live, evolving journey shaped by real-time leadership dilemmas, team dynamics, and emergent questions.
Our work together created space for managing the tension between shifting away from default, reactive patterns toward more spacious, conscious ways of leading. Immersive workshops with the leadership team focused on building trust, holding difficult conversations, giving and receiving feedback, and developing a shared way of working. In addition, the action learning sessions created space for the team to move from business-as-usual conversations toward surfacing teaming behaviours that needed to be amplified, and dampened, while creating belonging and courageous collaboration within the team.As leadership matured, deeper questions around the future identity of the organisation began to emerge. Our process helped the team articulate a shared vision not just for the business, but for who they were becoming as leaders and as a collective.
Together, these strands helped shift the system from a Founder-led to a more distributed, resilient leadership culture capable of holding ambition, growth, and care at the same time.
A typical client journey begins with a discovery phase, designed almost as an anthropological exploration of the context. I bring curiosity for what the client holds as their hypotheses on what needs to shift, what is the future they would like to create and what is not getting attention.
I then design the leadership development journey in a way that is responsive to what we know and also adapts to the emerging needs of the client. At the heart of the design lie tools and processes that allow leaders and teams to explore and engage with the invisible dynamics that quietly shape their beliefs, choices, behaviours and relationships.
I often get feedback that while I was brought in for my depth of expertise and to deliver on a mandate, clients discover my presence as a partner and co-creator in an environment that involves trust, collaboration, courageous conversations and reflection.
My clients will attest to my love for spending time with them, and not in the least because the contract might require it (!). It is because I am deeply invested in and care about who they are as human beings and how that core plays out in how they steward their businesses.
As an adolescent, my mother once described me as perspicacious (an unusual power to see through and understand what is puzzling or hidden), a word I didn’t know then, but have since grown into. What has shaped my work is an innate curiosity about people, why we do what we do, and how we grow through experiences.
From my professional career, I bring 20+ years of building and growing organisations, a love for human systems, and a quiet, steady presence that helps people feel seen, safe, and ready for change.
My clients and colleagues tell me that my superpowers include a deeply intellectual research-based understanding of leadership and human systems, coupled with an ability to sense and discern what is going on for individuals and for systems.
Over the years, they have named my gift as courageous empathy: a way of being deeply compassionate while also naming what’s in the way.
Founder & CEO“Mandira is the kind of coach who is unwaveringly in your corner. She begins by taking the time to truly understand you — not just as a professional, but as a person — and thoughtfully tailors her approach to align with your values and strengths. I’m continually struck by her ability to ask the precise questions I hadn’t yet considered, and then hold space for reflection in a way that feels both grounding and expansive. She has a rare gift for guiding thought into clarity, and clarity into meaningful, actionable steps.
I’ve had the privilege of working with her one-on-one as a founder, as well as witnessing the impact of her work with our young leadership team. She has helped us cultivate deeper understanding, lean into our individual and collective strengths, and build a foundation of trust from which to grow the organisation together. There’s something quietly powerful about Mandira’s presence — a kind of magic — that makes you feel seen, supported, and ready to lead with intention.
”
A Progressive Education Venture for a changing world
I am an executive coach, facilitator, and part of the founding team of Cultivating Leadership India.
I am a certified Growth Edge Coach, a Leadership Circle Profile™️ practitioner, and a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF),
My academic journey has been shaped by an enduring interest in human behaviour and systems change. I hold a PhD in Public Policy from the University of Massachusetts, Boston; a Master’s in Public Health and Psychiatric Social Work from TISS, Mumbai; and a B.A. (Hons.) in Psychology from Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi.
I live in Bangalore with my partner, our four legged son and 2 legged daughter. During free play, I am roaming the parks of Bangalore, or in feisty and humourous discussions at my cherished book club, or in the intriguing world that K-dramas offer, or practising buddhist philosophy in-community.
I am also on a journey of exploring what is the life in me that is currently unlived and what is holding me back in giving it space and expression. Swimming and theatre/performing arts are inviting me to trust them more than the existential fears and insecurities that get triggered in their presence
Partner, Private Equity Fund“Mandira’s coaching style has helped me accept & be comfortable with myself and be unabashedly authentic. This helps me trust my instincts better without being anxious and being able to understand and handle the voices in my head. I’ve also come to appreciate my innate strength upon understanding when to respond vs react. I am intentional about the way I want to show up and how I choose to respond to circumstances. It has made me more accepting of consequences and focus on the next growth edge rather than critical self-evaluation. Mandira’s coaching style has been extremely kind and welcoming which definitely helped me trust the process. I am glad I made this choice.”