"Emotional intelligence starts with self-awareness and self-control. Only then can you lead others."
Dr. Maria Angela Capello and Dr. Liz Coffey unpack how to coach young leaders toward the CEO role, focusing on risk judgment, emotional intelligence, and the balance between technical skill and people leadership. They clarify the difference between mentoring and coaching, show how co-mentoring accelerates growth, and emphasize strategic influencing and direction-setting as core CEO skills. Through global case examples and a sports lens, they show how resilience, long-term goals, and cultural context shape readiness for the C-suite.
Risk calibration: Young leaders often swing between too bold and too cautious. Purpose helps guide decisions, but leaders must learn to size risks, own outcomes, and avoid copying playbooks that ignore ethics and long-term impact.
Mentoring vs coaching: Mentoring is content-rich guidance from experience. Coaching is content-light and question-driven, building self-awareness, self-management, and clarity on vision, influence, and next steps.
Resilience and influence: Resilience grows through long-term goals, practice, and recovery after setbacks. As leaders rise, strategic influencing and emotional intelligence move center stage, supported by role models, cross-mentoring, and culture-savvy communication.
Next step: Write your 12-month leadership vision in three sentences today and share it with one person who can mentor or coach you. For a bonus step, read the book Flourish by Martin Seligman.
Uplevel Your Career
Connect with MAC at https://www.redtreeconsultingllc.com/.
Connect with Liz at https://www.sparkleadership.co.uk/.
About the Hosts
Dr. Maria Angela Capello (MAC) is the President of Red Tree Consulting LLC and a distinguished leader in the energy sector. She spearheads initiatives in sustainability, diversity and inclusion (D&I), and geosciences.
MAC has held prominent roles at Kuwait Oil Company, Halliburton, and Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). The Italian Government has honored her with the “Star of Italy” knighthood, and UNESCO has endorsed her work, publishing her report “Geosciences in Action - Advancing Sustainable Development.”
MAC was recently conferred the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) Lifetime Achievement Award for Diversity and Inclusion. Author of more than 107 technical articles and four books, Capello earned her PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences from the University of Plymouth (UK) in 2024, an MSc in Geophysics from the Colorado School of Mines (USA), and a BSc in Physics from Simon Bolivar University (Venezuela).
Dr. Elizabeth Coffey (Liz), Founder of Spark Leadership Ltd, is an internationally recognized leadership expert, lecturer, and author who develops CEOs, CEO Successors, and Board Executives of FTSE 100 and Global 500 companies. She has coached CEOs and their successors in a wide range of businesses and sectors.
Previously a Senior Partner in Korn Ferry’s Leadership and Talent Consultancy, Liz held senior positions with Mercer Delta Consulting and The Change Partnership. In 2022-23, she was a Distinguished Lecturer for SPE, speaking to thousands of leaders across the energy sector in more than 50 countries about “How CEOs Lead for Success.”Liz has written several leadership books, including McGraw Hill's “10 Things That Keep CEOs Awake – and How to Put Them to Bed” (2002), Deutsche Bank's “The End of Tolerance?” (2001), and “The Changing Culture of Leadership – Women Leaders’ Voices” (1999).
Liz has received many awards over the past two decades, including an Honourary Doctorate (2024), Woman Super Achiever (2018), Mentor of the Year (2007), and the European Woman of Achievement Award (2001). She has worked in more than 40 countries, including extensively in several GCC countries.