Executive coaching for leaders in transition
You built the career. Now design what comes after it.
Coaching for accomplished executives on the part of the next chapter that no retirement plan covers: who you are outside the role, how you spend your time, and the relationships that carry you forward.
- 39 years in Wealth Management
- Managing Director, UBS
- Columbia 3CP Certified Coach
Sue Emanuel · Executive Coach
65
Social Security's retirement age. When benefits began in 1940, men's life expectancy was 60.8.
78.8
Average U.S. life expectancy by 2019. Retirement now lasts decades, not years.
22%
Share of Americans expected to be 65 or older by 2050, up from 16.5% in 2019.
Retirement plans cover the money. Very few cover the person.
Source: Sue's research, citing U.S. demographic data and Statista
What quietly takes a backseat
Decades of performing and providing leave some things underbuilt.
01
Identity beyond the role
When the title carries most of who you are, stepping back feels like losing yourself. The research is consistent: the more single-minded the career, the harder the landing.
02
A calendar someone else built
For years your day has been structured by clients, teams and staff. Few people plan what replaces that structure, and golf only fills part of it.
03
Deal friends and real friends
Relationships built around the business are real, but many fade when the business does. The ones that sustain you need deliberate attention, and they take time to build.
The research behind the work
What separates the people who land well.
Sue's Columbia research on late-career executives, drawn from the academic literature and interviews with current and former senior leaders, found the same few factors again and again.
“If you diversify identity, have other stuff to care about, and feel love from family and God, your transition will be smoother.”
A broader identity
People who kept roles beyond work, as a parent, athlete, board member or volunteer, report more resilience and satisfaction at every stage.
Continuity
Protecting relationships, health and outside interests while still working makes everyday life better and any transition easier.
Starting early
The executives who had already made the move gave the same advice: begin years before the decision, not after it.
Who I work with
Accomplished people who want to leave well, on their own terms.
Executives approaching retirement
Leaders who are financially ready and quietly dreading the day the calendar empties, and want to plan the next chapter while they still have the runway.
Leaders facing an unplanned exit
Executives whose transition came sooner than expected, through a restructuring or a change at the top, who want to choose what comes next rather than react to it.
Senior financial advisors
Advisors five to fifteen years from stepping back, with a strong practice and no clear picture of life beyond the book.
Founders and business owners
People whose identity is woven into the company they built, and who want a life that is ready before the handoff is.
Advisors: your clients plan the money side of retirement with you. If one is struggling with the rest of it, I am glad to talk.
Refer a clientFree readiness check
How ready is your next chapter?
Ten statements, about three minutes, drawn from Sue's research on the executives who land well. You get a score across five areas and the one to work on first.
Free · About 3 minutes · Private
How I work
A structured process, built around what matters to you.
The work follows Columbia University's 3CP coaching process, adapted from Sue's research for leaders in transition.
01
Context
What's up
Where you are now, what you hope for, and the values and pressures driving you. Tools: Life Map, Values Exercise.
02
Content
What matters
Outside perspective from the people closest to you, a clear look at the options, and goals that fit. Tools: Life Wheel, Vision Board.
03
Conduct
What's next
You pilot new ways of spending your time, track what works, and build accountability that lasts. Tools: Goals and Commitments Plan.
Included in the work
- A written plan for your next chapter, yours to keep
- The option of a session with your spouse or partner, because the transition is shared
- A before-and-after Life Wheel, so progress is measured rather than guessed
- Short check-ins between sessions
A client story
From a banking career to a role she loves.
She received three job offers and has been thriving in her new role ever since.
A client came to me after a highly successful career at a major global bank, followed by ten years away from the workforce. She was ready for her next act, but she knew she did not want to return to banking, and she was not sure what would bring her the same sense of purpose and accomplishment.
We started by exploring her values and what had energized her most, both in her finance career and in the years since. A clear theme emerged from her leadership as head of the parent committee and as a board member at an independent school, where she had found deep fulfillment.
From there we explored options, narrowed her focus to roles that combined her relationship-building and leadership strengths with her passion for education, and built a concrete plan with goals and accountability.
A successful career builds strengths that carry well beyond the role itself. A structured process helps uncover where those strengths, and your deeper values, can lead next.
Shared with the client's identity removed.
Ways to work together
Start with a conversation. Choose the depth that fits.
30 minutes · By phone or video
Discovery Call
A conversation to explore your goals and see whether we are a fit. No obligation.
Complimentary
3 months · About 10 sessions
Signature Program
All three phases of the Columbia 3CP process: where you are, what matters, and a concrete plan with goals you can act on.
$15,000
6 months · Monthly check-ins added
Signature Program + Extension
The full Signature Program plus three months of monthly check-ins to reinforce new habits and keep you accountable.
$18,000
Companies: engagements can be sponsored for senior leaders and their successors. Available in person or by video or phone, and Sue is glad to travel.
Who we are
Four decades leading inside a global firm. Now on your side of the table.
Sue Emanuel spent 39 years at UBS and PaineWebber, most recently as Managing Director and Head of Client Experience for UBS Wealth Management USA, leading service across the people, processes and platforms that support advisors and their clients.
Before that she served as Chief Operating Officer of Wealth Management USA, led the Operating Office for WMA Markets, Advisory and Planning Products, served as Chief Administrative Officer for the Americas, headed Business Development for the Americas, and led the integration of strategic acquisitions. Along the way she founded UBS's WMA Graduate Training Program to develop the next generation of advisors, and spoke regularly to the firm's top advisors at events including the UBS Top Women Advisor Summit and the Private Wealth Management Conference.
She trained as a coach through Columbia University's 3CP program, where her research focused on what helps high-achieving leaders move into a meaningful next chapter. She understands the pace, pressure and culture of the business from the inside, not from a textbook.
- Columbia 3CP Certified
- Dartmouth College, B.A.
- 39 years at UBS and PaineWebber
Background, boards and full credentials
- Managing Director, Head of Client Experience, WM USA, UBS Global Wealth Management
- Chief Operating Officer, Wealth Management USA, UBS
- Head of the Operating Office, WMA Markets, Advisory and Planning Products, UBS
- Chief Administrative Officer, Americas Region, UBS
- Head of Business Development, Americas, UBS
- Founder, UBS WMA Graduate Training Program
- Speaker, UBS Top Women Advisor Summit (2023), Private Wealth Management Conference (2023), and top-advisor recognition councils
- Certified Executive and Organizational Coach, Columbia University Coaching Certification Program (3CP), trained in the 3CP and ORID methodologies
- B.A., Engineering Sciences, Dartmouth College
- Formerly held FINRA Series 7, 63 and 24 licenses
- Board of Trustees, UBS Political Action Committee
- President, Only Make Believe Board, interactive theatre for children in 50+ hospitals across New York City and Washington, DC
- Board member, Hoboken Community Center
- Sue is married with two children and splits her time between Hoboken, NJ and Vero Beach, FL.
Notes
Writing on the next chapter.
Short essays drawn from Sue's research and four decades of watching leaders navigate change.
4 min read
Deal friends and real friends
The relationships that fill a successful career are not always the ones that carry you through what comes after it.
Read4 min read
Retirement was designed for a shorter life
The idea of stopping work at 65 was built for a world where few people lived long past it. That world is gone, and our planning has not caught up.
Read5 min read
What the executives who land well do differently
Some leaders face retirement with curiosity and confidence. The research and the people I interviewed point to a few things they have in common.
Read
Questions
What people usually ask first.
Is this therapy?
No. Coaching is forward-looking and practical: we clarify what matters to you, decide what to try, and hold you accountable to it. If something comes up that is better served by a therapist, I will say so and help you find the right support.
Do I need to be close to retirement?
No, and earlier is better. My research found that the executives who transitioned well had started building a life outside work years before the decision. I work with people anywhere from a few months to fifteen years out, and with some after a transition they did not choose.
Is what I share confidential?
Yes. What you share in our sessions stays between us. If a company sponsors your coaching, we agree up front on what, if anything, is reported back, and it is never the content of our conversations.
Do you give financial advice?
No. Your financial advisor handles the money side of retirement. I work on everything else: identity, time, relationships and purpose. The two conversations work best side by side.
How do sessions work?
One-on-one, in person or by video or phone, whichever suits you, and I am glad to travel. Sessions are built around your schedule. Short exercises between sessions keep our time focused on reflection and decisions, and brief check-ins keep momentum.
Can my company pay for it?
Yes. Engagements can be sponsored by an employer as part of leadership development, succession planning or a senior transition. I am happy to speak with your firm directly.
Can my spouse or partner be involved?
Yes, and I encourage it. The research is clear that a transition is shared, and how a couple plans the next chapter together shapes how it feels for both. We can include a session for the two of you.
What happens on the first call?
It is a 30-minute conversation with no obligation. You tell me where you are and what you are weighing, I ask a few questions, and together we decide whether working together makes sense. You will leave with at least one useful idea either way.
Start here
A 30-minute conversation, with no obligation.
Tell me where you are and what you are weighing. We will see whether working together makes sense, and you will leave with at least one useful idea either way.