Ashu D. | Leland

Ashu Dalvi

5.0

(18)

Studied at Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute (BECI)

Works at South Pointe Strategy

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About Ashu

As a kid, I dreamt of playing pro basketball, with a backup plan of being a doctor. Unfortunately, I stopped growing at 5'8" (5'9" if I'm wearing my Nike Air Max) and discovered that needles make me really woozy (I still close my eyes and turn my head away when getting a shot). After college, I went into management consulting, drawn by the chance to explore many different industries and travel, all while avoiding moving back in with my parents. Twenty years later, it's become a career I truly love. I've developed deep expertise in strategic planning, process improvement, and organizational effectiveness. I've helped clients transform their go-to-market strategy, redesign their organization, and deliver better, more cost-effective customer service. Crucially, I've served as a trusted advisor to executive-level leaders and colleagues. I've also advised clients on how to protect their intellectual property and adjust business operations for legal compliance (I'm a licensed attorney in Florida and practiced law for almost 5 years). I started my own company, South Pointe Strategy, in 2019. It helps leaders and their teams become more effective so they can thrive in any environment. South Pointe Strategy offers executive coaching, capability building, and fractional executive services. (I am also completing my executive coaching certification through UC Berkeley's Executive Coaching Institute and the International Coaching Federation.) My approach to partnering with clients is deeply rooted in my experience playing the point guard position in basketball. My role was always to put my teammates in a position to succeed. I needed to adapt to our opponent's strategy, be a strong communicator, and unite people to achieve a shared goal. As an executive coach, I work closely with my clients to understand their motivations, organizations, and challenges, so that we can create solutions that work for their realities. Like my days as a point guard, I know I’ve done my job well when a client can flourish without me.

Why do I coach?

I coach because of the profound impact it has on individuals. My commitment for helping people overcome challenges and achieve their goals began with my first job, tutoring student athletes at the University of Michigan. This dedication continued throughout my 20-year career as a management consultant and lawyer. I recently realized my most energizing days were spent one-on-one, helping people get unstuck - whether guiding an executive through a major decision or a peer toward better work-life balance. Seeing those breakthroughs was incredibly rewarding. It took me years to truly understand what lit me up professionally, and I often wish I'd had an executive coach to help me navigate that path earlier. Now, as an executive coach, I get to channel that drive into collaborating closely with individuals to help them gain deep insights, create practical solutions, and ultimately thrive long after our engagement ends. Empowering them to reach their full potential is what truly drives me.

Work Experience

Managing Director

South Pointe Strategy

June 2019 - Present

South Pointe Strategy is the culmination of my career. I won’t lie, it took time, trial, and error to determine what South Pointe Strategy does. After a lot of long walks with my dogs, conversations with friends, nights at the white board and a career-changing trip to Thailand, my vision became clear. South Pointe Strategy helps leaders and their teams become more effective so that they can thrive in any environment. Our three core offerings are: executive and leadership coaching, consulting skills development, and fractional COO services. Whether you feel stuck, are navigating a major career transition, building a new team, or want to take your team members to the next level, let’s talk. I’d love to help. Sample engagements include: - Led a go-to-market strategy transformation for a NASDAQ 100 SaaS that impacted over 2,500 sales and customer success professionals worldwide - Served as interim Chief of Staff to the Head of Global Quality at a global biotech startup - Redesigned a core business process for a floral startup that resulted in fewer customer complaints and refunds - Stood up a new division at a global public health non-profit that eliminated redundancies and established new capabilities that supported the overall organization’s future strategy

Strategy and Operations Consultant

Slalom

December 2017 - June 2019

Interviewer

My time at Slalom Consulting began with a unique opportunity: helping to build their new Strategy and Operations group in San Francisco from the ground up. It was like working at a startup with the security of an established company. In those initial months, I was deeply involved in developing our go-to-market strategy, creating intellectual capital, and driving business development, which included drafting a winning proposal for a beverage company’s digital strategy. Slalom's strategy soon shifted, leading our team to integrate into a larger management consulting group. My focus transitioned to leading client engagements, primarily for tech clients (SaaS and cloud). While I genuinely enjoyed working with organizations that were changing how we lived and worked, this period reinforced my desire for the autonomy of independent consulting. In June 2019, I made the decision to go out on my own again. Sample engagements include: - Used a customer-centric approach to develop a strategy roadmap to grow a client’s partner-channel sales - Streamlined a client’s lead to cash processes to drive increased sales, reduce accounts/receivables, and improve customer satisfaction - Developed a legal education program that reduced requests for attorney assistance by 10% - Piloted a process improvement program to improve a rideshare company’s customer support processes used by 35,000 agents globally Trusted Business Advisor, Global Cross-Functional Team Leadership and +3 skills

Independent Consultant

Self Employed

October 2016 - November 2017

People often ask how I started as an independent consultant. Honestly? There wasn't a grand plan; a personal move to California led me to give it a shot. That experience became an invaluable crash course in running a business end-to-end, from mastering sales, marketing, and back-office operations (payroll, filings, etc.) to sharpening my time management while juggling client delivery. This journey fundamentally deepened my empathy for clients, allowing me to genuinely understand how easily one can get overwhelmed by multiple demands. That critical insight profoundly shaped my consulting approach: I learned to put more emphasis on the human side of consulting, incorporating more of a coaching approach on projects. Instead of just delivering expert advice, I asked a lot of questions that created a more collaborative relationship, ultimately leading to better outcomes. Sample engagements: - Led client team in designing and standing up a internal customer service program at a $13BN government agency - Coached client program lead on leadership, communication, and analytical skills Trusted Business Advisor, Senior Stakeholder Management and +3 skills

Manager

Eagle Hill Consulting

October 2014 - October 2016

Hiring Manager

Eagle Hill was where my consulting style truly took shape, laying the groundwork for how I approach leadership and client partnership today. From day one, I jumped into a high-visibility role, leading a diverse project team (a mix of Eagle Hill consultants and client employees) embedded within a federal agency’s operations group. We tackled the COO’s most critical, cross-functional initiatives, and I'm incredibly proud that our work earned multiple awards for the impact we made. However, the most transformative insight came from realizing that I truly enjoyed helping my client team members and my Eagle Hill colleagues grow. The satisfaction I gained from seeing team members get promoted or step into leadership positions after we'd worked together was unequivocally my favorite part of the job. This deep satisfaction fundamentally redefined my approach to consulting, highlighting the strategic importance of people development in driving organizational success. Beyond client delivery, I actively contributed to building the firm itself. I was honored to serve as a Special Advisor to Eagle Hill's CEO and Head of Talent Management on employee-related issues, further deepening my appreciation for effective employee engagement. This direct experience in fostering individual and team success demonstrated a clear aptitude for coaching, a skill I continue to hone and apply in all my work. Sample engagements include: - Established a new data-driven portfolio management program and processes that reduced the annual budgeting process timeline by 33% - Redesigned the approach to conducting and presenting market analyses used by the agency’s different business units - Designed and stood up the new Chief Accountability Office at a government agency

Associate

Booz Allen Hamilton

October 2011 - October 2014

Interviewer

My re-entry into consulting at Booz Allen Hamilton marked my first time working with public sector clients. My engagements were complex and challenging because of the sheer number of stakeholders - ranging from career civil servants to elected officials - who all seeking input. This environment significantly developed my ability to build consensus and align diverse stakeholders with often conflicting motivations. My combined business and legal backgrounds proved to be an unexpected asset in this context. Public sector organizations operate under layers of laws and regulations, and I quickly found my unique skillset positioned me to bridge these complexities for clients. On one engagement with the U.S. Air Force, I notably discovered a federal law jeopardizing our customer service improvement plan. By partnering with an Air Force attorney, we successfully re-engineered the plan for both business efficacy and legal compliance, eliminating potential criminal penalties. This experience led to me becoming the dedicated liaison between project teams and client legal counsel on all subsequent engagements, ensuring strategic initiatives were always robustly compliant. Representative engagement include: - Developed five year plan to merge two call centers together to achieve a 20% cost savings and increase in customer satisfaction scores

Associate

Feldman Gale

May 2006 - February 2011

Interviewer

As an Associate at Feldman Gale, a boutique intellectual property law firm, I advised and represented clients across complex copyright, trademark, patent, and trade secret matters. People often ask why I transitioned from the law into consulting, and if I still use those skills. The truth is, I found legal practice, to be a lonely existence. Most of my days were spent in my office, door closed, doing deep dives into legal research and writing. It was like writing a term paper everyday. I thrive in collaborative environments, brainstorming with clients, and engaging directly with people. That drive naturally pulled me into consulting. And yes, the skills forged as a lawyer are invaluable to me as an executive coach and consultant. I learned to distill complex issues to their core components and explain them simply, effectively reframe challenges to analyze problems from multiple perspectives, and quickly spot critical issues requiring deeper analysis. My ability to simultaneously grasp the "30,000-foot view" while understanding the intricate details and their connection is something I apply daily. The adversarial context of my legal work sharped my active listening skills, enabling me to ask deep, probing questions that are now key to helping my clients achieve breakthroughs. My time in law school and as an attorney was an unexpected path, but one I'm immensely thankful for, as it directly shaped the consultant I am today.

Business Analyst

Kearney

September 2002 - June 2004

My first job out of college was the standard junior-level consulting position - lots of travel, lots of data analysis in Excel, and lots of slides in Powerpoint. Luckily, I had a great manager who gave me more responsibilities and, as a result, I regularly worked more closely with our clients’ team members. The experience gave me a taste of what consulting is really about - listening, building trust, and finding ways to get buy-in. Sample engagements include: - Reduced travel-related costs by $1 million annually and implementing controls to manage spend leakage for a heavy machinery manufacturer - Conducted a make-or-buy analysis for an private airline that lead to the purchase of 40 new jets - Assessed operations and increased productivity to reduce manufacturing costs by $40M for consumer products goods manufacturer

Tutor

University of Michigan Athletics

September 1998 - June 2002

To earn some extra money for cheesesteaks at Mr. Spots and nights out at Scorekeepers, I took on tutoring student-athletes in economics and accounting. Working with these incredibly talented and dedicated individuals, I quickly learned their need for tutoring wasn’t about ability, but about the immense demand on their time. Even today, I remain in awe of their packed schedules - classes, practices, meetings, travel, and competitions - and the need to balance it all. This early exposure to managing extreme time constraints and helping others navigate overwhelming demands proved to be a foundational lesson in empathy, prioritization, and effective time management. Looking back, this was the start of a long and winding road to becoming an executive coach. The insights I gained are ones that I still apply in my work with clients almost 30(!) years later.

Ashu was also given offers to work at

AlixPartners

Education

Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute (BECI)

Certificate Pending, Executive Coaching

2025 - 2026

- Executive Coach, pending certification from Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute - Completed BECI's Executive Coaching and Leadership Intensive (June 2025).