Sharing Secrets: A Conversation About the Counterintuitive Nature of Executive Leadership

Sharing Secrets is a refreshingly honest and imminently practical guide for those who want to succeed in executive leadership positions. The book covers the gamut of issues that an executive leader must grapple with—strategy setting, organizational culture, staff development and motivation, communication, time allocation—while avoiding the jargon and repetitiveness that so often plague other books on leadership and management. Each chapter discusses key facets of leadership, drawing on concrete examples based on Erin Soto’s extensive experiences as a manager and leader, and her astute observations about the various executives she has worked for and with over the years. Throughout the book, readers will find opportunities to reflect upon and evaluate their own experiences, traits, and challenges.

A proven leader in executive coaching and organizational development, Erin Soto is a seasoned executive with more than 30 years of experience leading around the globe. She has dedicated her life to public service, first as a teacher, then as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala, then with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). She has lived and worked in Latin America, Africa, and Asia in Mali, Senegal, Haiti, Peru, Cambodia, and India. As a member of the Senior Foreign Service Office, she led programs as broad ranging as health and education, environment conservation, counter narcotics, agriculture, governance, energy, and innovation. As an assistant professor of behavioral science for the prestigious National Defense University, Erin taught strategic leadership and coached rising executives from across the national security sector and private industry. More recently through her business, TLC Solutions, Erin offers expert assistance in organizational development and executive coaching. She is an ICF-certified executive coach and works with senior leaders and executives in both the public and private sector. She combines her academic foundation and extensive leadership experience with her coaching practice in TLC Solutions. Tailored solutions that exceed client expectations are the hallmark of TLC Solutions’ success. Erin’s focus is ensuring senior women are prepared to lead and set to succeed in executive positions. Author of Sharing Secrets: A Conversation about the Counterintuitive Nature of Executive Leadership, Erin is a noted speaker on aspects of leadership. Born in 1960 in Roswell, New Mexico. She is one of 13 siblings reared in an Irish Catholic family with socially conscious parents who were educators and civil rights activists. Her formative years were spent in Terre Haute, Indiana where she thrived in school government and athletics. Erin earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and a Masters from the George Washington University. She is married to Ben Soto and they have a daughter, Maggie and a son, Pedro.