Systemic Team Coaching: Sona Comstar’s SPEED Journey

What’s one thing every corporation dreams of?

Teams that work together, get along, and innovate—even under pressure.

At ICW 2025, Coacharya spoke to senior leaders at Sona Comstar, a global leader in mobility systems and a proud Coacharya client. They shared how SPEED, a systemic team coaching model designed by Coacharya Co-Founder Ram Ramanathan, helped them turn this dream into a reality.

Why Systemic Team Coaching?

In today’s fast-changing organizational landscape, traditional team coaching often falls short. Modern teams face complex, interdependent challenges—and that calls for systemic coaching: an approach that sees teams not in isolation but as part of a broader web of relationships, stakeholders, and historical influences.

To delve deeper into this, Coacharya hosted a webinar with leaders from Sona Comstar. As a global manufacturer of mobility systems and a key supplier to the electric vehicle (EV) industry, Sona Comstar’s facilities span India, the U.S., Mexico, and China, powering a significant number of today’s vehicles. Facilitated by Coacharya Trainers Ujjaval Buch (MCC) and Smita R (PCC). Speakers included Ramesh V (Head of HR, Motor Division) and Muruganandam R (Head of R&D, Motor Division). Key figures in the initiative also included Ram Ramanathan and Sat Mohan Gupta, CEO of the Motor Division, who championed this journey from the start.

What is Systemic Coaching?

There’s often confusion around the term. To simplify: systemic coaching supports both individuals and teams, while keeping institutional goals and stakeholder impacts in focus. It recognizes that organizations are ecosystems—decisions and actions ripple across roles, departments, and even external partners.

By helping teams understand these dynamics, systemic coaching enables them to co-create shared visions, build emotional bonds, and collaborate for sustainable outcomes.

Enter SPEED: A Systemic Coaching Framework

Coacharya’s SPEED model brought structure to this transformation. It guides teams through a journey of emotional connection, visioning, and action:

1. Sharing Strengths – Acknowledging and appreciating each other’s capabilities.
2. Presenting Future – Co-creating a shared vision.
3. Exploring Options – Generating ideas to reach that vision.
4. Establishing Structure – Designing systems for implementation.
5. Developing Action – Converting strategy into everyday, actionable steps.

Why Sona Comstar Chose Systemic Coaching

Legacy Meets Disruption

With 25+ years in internal combustion (ICE) components, Sona Comstar has pivoted hard into the EV space. This journey wasn’t just a technological shift—it was cultural.

• Product cycles shrank from 2 years to 6 months.
• The team grew to include software, electronics, and systems experts.
• Mindsets, work cultures, and expectations clashed.

“There were silos, friction, and missed connections,” said Muruga. “We didn’t just need collaboration—we needed emotional alignment.”

The Trigger for Change at Sona Comstar

For over 25 years, Sona Comstar operated as a leader in internal combustion engine (ICE) components. But as the industry rapidly transitioned to electric vehicles (EV), the company found itself juggling legacy practices with a need for speed and innovation.

The leadership team faced multiple challenges:

• Rapidly shortening product development cycles
• A younger, more diverse workforce in EV teams
• Disconnected departments and functions
• Generational, cultural, and mindset gaps

It became clear: they needed a fundamental shift in how they worked together.

Leadership Commitment: The Turning Point

Systemic transformation demands deep buy-in. At Sona Comstar, this came straight from the top.

CEO Sat Mohan Gupta didn’t just endorse the program—he participated in every session. His presence in the coaching circle, not as a leader but as a co-learner, sent a powerful message of humility and commitment. The board also lent its full support, signalling that this was a strategic cultural investment.

The Emotional Shift: Sharing Strengths & Appreciative Inquiry

The first SPEED session asked leaders to share their personal and professional journeys. With no business agenda, they spoke openly about their challenges, values, and defining moments.

For many, this was the first time they saw their colleagues as whole people, not just job titles. Empathy replaced judgment. Trust replaced assumption. It laid the emotional foundation for everything that followed.

Real-time Outcomes: From Resistance to Resonance

Something shifted after only one session, and the changes continued to unfold in subsequent meetings.

Meetings that had once been tense and unproductive became collaborative. Leaders began to listen more, interrupt less, and build on each other’s ideas. Cross-functional issues that once took weeks to resolve were now being handled in real time.

A Culture of Constructive Conflict

Previously, discomfort and disagreement were often buried. But through systemic coaching, the leadership team learned to surface and engage with conflict constructively. Rather than just solving problems, they were building emotional resilience and psychological safety.

Tangible Business Impact

The cultural shift had a measurable effect on business outcomes:

• Product development timelines improved
• Cross-functional collaboration became the norm
• Decision-making grew more inclusive and faster
• There was a noticeable uplift in team morale and ownership

The Long-Term Shift

Over a year later, the change hasn’t just lasted—it’s grown.

New teams and departments have adopted similar practices. SPEED has become part of the leadership language. Emotional awareness, once seen as soft, is now understood as a strategic advantage.

Key Learnings & Reflections

Sona Comstar’s journey reinforces what we believe deeply:

• Transformation begins with emotional safety.
• Systemic coaching needs committed leadership.
• Real change is about connection, not control.

Conclusion

It was a pleasure to reconnect with Sona Comstar and share their powerful transformation journey with fellow coaches and corporate leaders during the webinar. The cultural and emotional shifts sparked by systemic coaching not only created immediate impact but have continued to evolve and strengthen over time. This enduring change speaks volumes about the power of systemic coaching—and why it’s fast becoming the way forward for teams and organizations seeking meaningful, sustainable transformation.

What This Means for You

If you’re a leader or part of a team that’s technically strong but emotionally stuck—maybe what’s missing isn’t more strategy, but more connection.

Systemic team coaching isn’t about fixing people. It’s about understanding the system, creating safe spaces for growth, and helping your people understand and tap into their potential.

Coacharya can help you get there. If you would like to know more about the SPEED framework and how it can empower your organization, get in touch with us at support@coacharya.com. Visit our website to explore our broad range of leadership development programs.

(This blog post is based on Coacharya’s latest ICW webinar, Systemic Team Coaching: SPEED Process, and aims to provide a general overview of the key takeaways. For more in-depth information, please refer to the original webinar recording.)

Webinar Video