Chirag P. | Leland

Chirag Panjikar

5.0

(6)

Studied at Stanford University

Hiring Manager at John Deere

Successful clients at

Available Monday at 10:00 PM UTC

Protected by the Leland Experience Guarantee

Available Monday at 10:00 PM UTC

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About Chirag

As an ICF-accredited leadership coach and seasoned technology executive with over two decades of experience at Fortune 500 organizations, I bridge the gap between technical innovation and human potential. With over 20 years of driving innovations and talent transformations globally, I combine my engineering foundations with an ICF-accredited coaching style that helps you align strategy, culture and execution. I thrive on empowering you to unlock your strategic vision, navigate complex change, and cultivate exceptional performance from yourself and your teams with an approach that blends Lean & Agile methodologies, data-driven decision-making, and a deep commitment to fostering inclusive cultures. So whether you are an individual contributor trying to create a career niche for yourself, or a new/aspiring people leader coming to terms with the challenges of the role, I have walked in your shoes once and can help you navigate the long journey ahead. If you are an established executive attempting to lead your teams through a massive change management or questioning yourself on what lies ahead in your career, I have been there and can work with you to clear the haze.

Why do I coach?

When I was first introduced to coaching in 2013, it was through a leadership development program that I had signed up for. I was fortunate to have a coach who not only challenged me to become a better version of myself, but also to bring about the perspective of putting others before me. This inspired me to take up coaching myself, and soon I was coaching as an internal coach within my organization. Not coincidentally, the more I coached, the better I became at my own job as a people leader. As things happen in large organizations, I moved internationally to greater responsibilities and found myself with lesser bandwidth to coach. Regardless, our internal coaching program was terminated in 2020. Soon, I found myself at another career crossroad, where I felt I was stagnating in my responsibilities. Through some introspection, I realized that this dip in my mindset had also coincided with my reduced coaching responsibilities. I restarted my coaching career, and have found a new joy in meeting a completely new network of people outside of my regular routine. It has been a privilege to see my coaching clients go through their own journey of introspection and self-discovery. I look forward to making a connection through our coaching journey.

Work Experience

Leadership Coach

Women with Potential

June 2025 - Present

Pro bono Leadership Coaching and Career Development Coaching

Leadership Coach

Delta Leadership Institute

April 2025 - Present

Coaching, Leadership Coaching and +1 skill

Manager, Region 4 Business Solutions

John Deere

November 2022 - Present

Hiring Manager

I lead a team of Digital Process Experts and the Training organization. I am responsible for accelerating the Digital Transformation and ensuring smooth change management at the John Deere Parts Division via the implementation of the modernized tech stack. Budget Management, Culture Change and +21 skills

Manager, Factory Engineering Support

John Deere

November 2020 - November 2022

Hiring Manager

Team Size: 8 Senior Individual contributors. I led a small team of expert engineers who provided key technical support for Factory operations with an aim to turn around the business performance. The primary focus was improving factory labor productivity through factory automation and industrial engineering methods. Introduced the digital twin and digital thread at the factory digitizing the factory. Budget Management, Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and +22 skills

Supervisor, Manufacturing Engineering

John Deere

October 2018 - November 2020

Hiring Manager

Team Size: 3 Individual Contributors + 1 Senior Professional. Core Responsibilities: Manufacturing Engineering Supervisor for Harvester Cab Line. Factory ME Digitalization Lead & Business Unit Leadership member. Strategized 3 year Factory Digitalization strategy

General Manager

John Deere

July 2015 - October 2018

Hiring Manager

Team Size: Total Team - 250 (inclusive of engineers, contingents and line supervisors). Core Responsibilities: Directed large Shared Services team that provided Digital Manufacturing consulting & new product integration support for 53 John Deere manufacturing facilities all over the world. Strategized and implemented 5 year strategic roadmap. Participated on Global Manufacturing Engineering Leadership Team as India representative.

General Manager

John Deere

February 2006 - July 2015

Hiring Manager

Influenced a $4.5 Million Regional IT portfolio spanning all of Asia, Australia & Sub-Saharan Africa. SAP Implementation Program Manager for 3 new John Deere facilities in the region. (2012-2015) Managed $7 Million Greenfield factory implementation that realized 50% cost savings for global John Deere operations. (2010-2012) Launched the John Deere Technology Center India Manufacturing Services operations. First employee hired of what is today a 1,250 FTE operation. Established operations processes, hiring & onboarding practices and ISO certification. (2006-2010) OTHER