We are excited to share with you the next interview in our “Beyond the Page” series featuring Sanaz Kalantari.
The moment someone says “I have no choice,” a coach has a doorway into what’s really happening beneath the words. We talk with leadership and executive coach Sanaz Kalantari about how agency gets lost in modern work, why the speed of change can push us into survival mode, and what it actually takes to design empowered conversations that bring choice back online.
Sanaz draws on deep experience from global technology organizations, including helping lead a large scale coaching initiative at Microsoft focused on empowering employees to drive and design their careers. From there, we zoom in on the coaching room: the “have to” trap, the subtle ways clients give away autonomy, and how overwhelm can look like indecision when it’s really a nervous system response. We explore three common patterns that shrink agency: getting flooded by the present, getting stuck in shame and self judgment about the past, and investing energy in “gravity problems” outside the circle of control.
We also get concrete about what helps. You’ll hear coaching questions that surface hidden assumptions, the circle of influence as a fast grounding tool, and somatic inquiry techniques that help clients name where restriction lives in the body so they can pause, breathe, and regain clarity. Along the way, Sinaz explains why feeling trapped can become “psychological malnutrition” and how restoring autonomy connects to motivation, self leadership, and sustainable change.
In this episode, I talk with Sanaz about her article published in our March 2026 issue.
Know of an author we should interview? Send me an email to podcast@choice-online.com
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