TL;DR: Justin McSharry, Head of Leadership Development at General Motors, shares his journey from engineering to human development. In this episode of Intelligence Amplifiers, he reveals how coaching, integral theory, and now AI are transforming the way companies are developing leaders—driving scale, sustainability, and real behavioral change.
How an Engineer Became a Leadership Architect
Justin McSharry didn’t begin his career in L&D. He launched into the workforce with a degree in electrical engineering, working in control systems—designing programmable logic for industrial applications. It was a field that required precision, analytical thinking, and systems-level problem solving. But something was missing.
“I had my head in data sheets every day,” he recalls. “And while I found the work technically interesting, I burned out. I realized I love people more than machines.”
That realization sparked his pivot into sales and field applications engineering. These roles brought him closer to people and the human dynamics of business. But even sales, with its interpersonal focus and business impact, wasn’t quite right.
“The quota pressure was intense. I started having anxiety attacks. That’s when I began questioning what I really loved and what kind of career could sustain me.”
Coaching as a Calling
In his early 30s, McSharry pursued a certification from Integral Coaching Canada, a program rooted in the integral theory of Ken Wilber. The program introduced him to a multidimensional view of human development:
- Somatic intelligence: How we experience emotions physically
- Cognitive lines: How we think and interpret the world
- Enneagram personality types
- Developmental stages and levels of consciousness
This was not cookie-cutter coaching. It was deeply personal, philosophical, and practical. And it helped him reframe not just his career—but his identity as a practitioner in human development.
“Integral coaching gave me a map for transformation—mine and others’. That became the foundation for my work in L&D.”
Building Sales Enablement at Quantcast
McSharry’s first real foray into L&D came at Quantcast, a data-driven advertising tech company in San Francisco. The company was scaling rapidly—from $90 million to several hundred million in revenue. McSharry was hired to help build sales enablement programs that aligned to business outcomes.
“We codified what great sales performance looked like. We weren’t just teaching scripts—we were building mindsets and behaviors.”
Quantcast’s VP of Sales saw training as a strategic lever. McSharry and his team rolled out a training flywheel: onboarding, ongoing workshops, peer coaching, and reinforcement mechanisms. They pioneered group coaching long before it became a trend.
Although the environment was fast-paced and performance-oriented, McSharry brought in the holistic lens of his coaching background. He worked with reps not just on deals—but on confidence, clarity, and resilience.
“We were coaching the whole person—not just the pipeline. That made all the difference.”
Developing Leaders at Dropbox
His next chapter took him to Dropbox, where he spent over five years as the company’s head of leadership development. Dropbox had recently IPO’d and was experiencing the growth pains of a company maturing from startup to enterprise.
“Dropbox was building the plane while flying it. They had world-class talent, but many managers were first-time leaders. The challenge was to grow leadership capacity fast—without losing culture.”
At Dropbox, McSharry launched several standout initiatives aimed at developing leaders:
- Nomination-based leadership programs: For high-potential senior managers on the director track
- Coaching pods: Peer-led groups using a structured hot-seat format
- Group coaching circles: Scalable, confidential, and deeply personal
In the coaching pods, leaders would share a challenge, field clarifying questions, then disappear from screen while peers offered reflections. It was structured, safe, and powerful.
“We had leaders crying at the end of these programs—because they finally felt seen and supported.”
He also inherited an executive coaching program, which he expanded and aligned with strategic leadership capabilities. The coaching efforts weren’t just one-off perks—they were embedded in the leadership fabric.
“Coaching is one of the few modalities that truly drives sustained behavior change. But it’s hard to scale and even harder to measure.”
Developing Leaders at General Motors
Today, McSharry is Head of Leadership and Professional Development at General Motors—a company with over 117 years of history and a bold vision for the future. EVs, autonomous vehicles, and software-defined platforms are transforming the business. And McSharry is charged with developing leaders who can drive that transformation.
He’s building leadership capability not just to manage today—but to steer GM into its next era. That means rethinking traditional learning models and pushing development into the flow of work.
One of his most innovative programs is the Micro-Experiences initiative. Instead of workshops or online courses, leaders engage in 45-minute weekly challenges tied directly to GM’s core behaviors. These are immediately applied on the job, followed by structured reflection in small peer groups.
“This isn’t about knowledge transfer. It’s about behavior activation.”
The goal? Culture change, capability building, and distributed leadership—all driven from within.
AI’s Role in Developing Leaders
McSharry is not a tech skeptic. He believes AI has real potential to amplify development—especially where human coaching can’t scale.
At GM, he’s piloting:
- GenAI simulations for difficult conversations
- AI avatars for scalable role plays
- Chat-based guidance tools for just-in-time coaching
He references tools like Ability and Mursion, which offer emotionally intelligent simulations for frontline managers.
“Even after 10 years managing teams, I learned something new from a GenAI scenario. That’s powerful.”
Still, he sees AI as a supplement, not a replacement. Human connection remains irreplaceable—especially in coaching, where trust and presence are paramount.
Measuring What Matters in Leadership Development
Like many L&D leaders, McSharry wrestles with proving impact. He’s experimented with pre- and post-assessments, self-evaluations, and manager feedback loops. But he’s candid about the limitations.
“You can’t always quantify transformation. But you can see it—in how leaders show up, how they make decisions, how their teams perform.”
His team is refining their evaluation models, combining behavioral KPIs with participation and manager-reported data. They’re also aligning development initiatives with GM’s cultural and strategic goals.
What L&D Can Learn About Developing Leaders from McSharry’s Playbook
Justin McSharry’s career arc—from engineer to coach to transformation leader—offers a rich roadmap for anyone rethinking how to approach developing leaders.
Here are five takeaways:
- Development is different from training. It’s about expanding capacity, not just acquiring skills.
- Coaching works—but needs scale. Peer-led formats and group coaching can bridge the gap.
- AI is an accelerator, not a replacement. Use it to enhance practice, feedback, and reach.
- Behavior change is the north star. Design programs that embed learning into real work.
- Your past can be your power. Even an engineering background can lead to transformative L&D leadership.
“Development expands the cup. Learning fills it. That’s our job in L&D—expand the cup.”
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