Monique A. Honaman
Written by Shala Hainer
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Her extensive community involvement includes membership in the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), the Enterprising Women’s Advisory Council, the Michigan State University Alumni Relations Board, the Zoo Atlanta Leadership Council and the Emerge Advisory Board. In 2010, Honaman published her first book, “The High Road Has Less Traffic.”
She lives in Atlanta with her husband and two children.
Womenetics: As a successful female business owner, how did you help your company continue to grow during a depressed economy?
Monique Honaman: We continued to do what we have always done (be it in a good economy or a depressed economy) and that is to build solid partnerships with our clients, provide customized solutions to their needs and over-deliver on their expectations with our amazing team. The “we” refers to me and my two business partners, Stacy Sollenberger and Ellen Dotts.
Since we make a living assessing, developing and coaching leadership talent, we certainly need to practice what we preach. We know how to leverage each of our unique strengths and use those strengths to laser-focus our strategy, respond to our clients, demonstrate agility and continue to position our business for future growth.
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Womenetics: You are very passionate about the effects of divorce and how to cope, even writing the book "The High Road Has Less Traffic: Honest Advice on the Path Through Love and Divorce." How did your divorce experience inspire you to reach out and encourage other women in the same situation?
Honaman: When I was first confronted with my own divorce, I recall saying to my minister, “I won’t go through this ordeal without helping others figure out how to get through it as well.” I had no idea at that time what it would look like. I just knew I would make something good come out of it.
I started receiving calls weekly from people going through divorce asking for advice or support. I realized many of the things I was saying were consistent and centered on the need to move forward, find forgiveness and demonstrate “high-road” behavior. I was attending a conference and sitting in my hotel room one evening, and I just started typing. Before I knew it, I had 23 chapters outlined, then the name, “The High Road Has Less Traffic” came to me, and it just flowed from there!
Divorce is an epidemic in our country. If we assume divorce is going to continue, then we need to figure out how to get through divorce with our heads held high for the good of all involved… especially our children! There isn’t room for hatred, anger, guilt and low-road behavior!
Womenetics: How do you make your team of consultants feel valued, especially when many work remotely, sometimes out of the country?
Honaman: Regular communication. Regular feedback. Regular touchpoints. Our team is located across the globe, and for the most part, they work very independently. Stacy, Ellen and I are in regular communication with each of our team members and strive to make each person feel connected on a larger level. We provide great opportunities to work with great clients doing great work for great pay! It’s a win/win for all involved!
Womenetics: You're a very active member of several women's professional groups, even coaxing the Atlanta Chapter of the Women Presidents Organization (WPO) back to capacity after membership numbers dwindled. Why are the professional groups so important, and how do you make an impact with them?
Honaman: You’re right. I am an active member of several professional women’s groups such as the WPO and the Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC). There are certainly business/bottom-line reasons for being involved. For example, GWBC has certified ISHR Group as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE), which is an important designation for many of our corporate clients with strong supplier diversity programs.
Even more importantly, however, these groups provide a network, an accountability group, a membership of women and professionals who understand the challenges of being a working woman, a working mom and a business owner. They provide a platform for building relationships, networking and connecting people. At the end of the day, it really is all about building relationships with people. You make an impact with these groups by getting involved. You can be a member, or you can be an active member. I say “why bother?” if you are going to join a group and not try to make a positive difference.
Womenetics: In addition to work, professional associations and responsibilities as a wife and mother, you also make time to volunteer and encourage your family to be involved. Why is volunteering so important, locally and internationally?
Honaman: Giving back is an important value in my life and manifests itself both professionally and personally. ISHR Group supports the community in a number of different ways, including doing pro bono work for a number of organizations (especially those that impact the lives of our future leaders!) and sponsoring organizations such as Emerge through scholarships.
Personally, I get a thrill out of volunteering and helping others. My service work currently focuses on volunteering with the middle school environment at Buckhead Church and speaking to various groups about “taking the high road” in relationships, marriage and divorce. My 13-year-old daughter and I went on a mission trip to Mexico last summer, and I’m already looking forward to making the same trip with my son next summer. I want “giving back and paying it forward” to become second-nature with my kids. I believe that “to whom much is given, much is expected,” and I think it is important for them to recognize and understand that it’s a big world out there! Suburban Atlanta living does not reflect the real world!
Womenetics: What has been your biggest obstacle in your professional career?
Honaman: Making the transition from being a solopreneur to bringing on Stacy and Ellen as business partners and deciding to make our firm a true force to be reckoned with in the world of leadership development! It’s tough to let go of the reins a bit, but building out the team is absolutely the right thing to do!
Womenetics: What is the most challenging piece of managing a growing international business, with clients as far away as Australia?
Honaman: There are a few obvious challenges such as dealing with different time zones, but given our global society today, those challenges become more of a normal course of business rather than an exception to the rule. Since our business is “Leadership” we love to discover those similarities and those differences that exist in leadership across the globe. While there are obviously cultural differences and nuances to be aware of, there are also consistent behaviors that leaders demonstrate around the world.
Womenetics: What makes ISHR Group different than other leadership consulting firms?
Honaman: Many things! If you look at the statistics, most women-owned start-ups fail within the first five years, and even fewer make it to the 10-year mark. We have been in business for 13 years! We owe that to an amazing partnership team, a great team of consultants with a skill-set and a customer focus that can’t be surpassed and to developing great relationships with our clients. We are always looking forward to determine how best to add new value for our clients with what we offer.
Our business focuses on leadership assessment, development and coaching. We know what we do and what we do well, and we stay focused on that, but at the same time we keep our momentum and our energy moving forward. While we have been coaching leaders for years, we realized that there is a real need for clients to create their own internal culture of coaching. The most successful leaders are those who truly coach their teams and colleagues, rather than simply telling people how to do things. This builds alignment and engagement, which is critical for the long-term success of an organization.
Stacy and Ellen took their experiences coaching leaders, formulated this idea around creating a true culture of coaching and developed our own GUIDE Coaching model. We have been delivering this model to clients all over the world to rave reviews. We have just finished writing a book, “GUIDE Coaching: A Leader’s Strategy for Building Alignment and Engagement,” which will be available in July.
So back to your question: What is it about ISHR Group that makes us different? It’s about not becoming complacent and always looking for something else that differentiates you from your competition.
Womenetics: We know what your work life is like. Can you give us a picture of your life outside the office?
Honaman: I remarried three years ago to an incredible man named Justin Honaman. I have two amazing children who make me so proud. Kendall is 13, and Harrison is 11. We love being involved in their lives, traveling with them, going to their sporting events, helping out with their small groups at church, etc. We also have two rescue dogs - an old yellow lab who likes to sit on the porch and watch the world go by and a younger dog who we thought was going to look like a yellow lab, but whose legs never grew (so she looks like a lab on a dachshund’s body!). In my free time, I love to travel and take photos … and mix those two things together!
Read about more women focused on developing leadership:
Fellow 2012 POW! Award winner Susan Hitchcock is a self-described “champion of women's leadership and advancement.”
Brigid Moynahan's leadership coaching approach focuses on confidence and is sure to take your career to the next level.
After feeling like she'd reached a professional plateau, Gwen Jewett decided it was time to help other women discover their leadership identities.
Based near Atlanta, Shala Hainer has been writing and copyediting since 1995. Beginning her career at newspapers such as the Marietta Daily Journal and the Atlanta Business Chronicle, she most recently wrote and edited articles for several nonprofit organizations before purchasing a flower shop in 2006. She earned a bachelor’s in communications from Jacksonville State University.
