Sutton Turner
Executive Coach
Sutton brings more than 30 years of executive leadership experience across business, nonprofit, and church contexts, with a particular passion for helping leaders navigate complexity, conflict, and growth with clarity and care.
Before stepping into church leadership, Sutton served as CEO of 5 organizations across the U.S., Qatar, and the UAE. His work spanned real estate, investment, development, operations, and organizational turnaround—often stepping into environments experiencing strain, misalignment, or rapid growth and helping teams rebuild healthy systems, trust, and direction.
One consistent thread throughout Sutton’s career has been leading in moments of tension. He has helped organizations clarify roles, align leadership teams, rebuild culture, and move forward when things felt stuck or strained.
Sutton served two churches as Executive Pastor during his career: in 2006 at Celebration Church in Georgetown, Texas, and in 2011 at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. He was also a Board Member of Acts29 Church Network. From 2018-2021, Sutton served 100s of churches as the COO at Vanderbloemen, an executive search firm.
In each of those roles, Sutton gained firsthand experience navigating the realities of church governance, elder dynamics, leadership pressure, and organizational health. Those years shaped his deep commitment to helping churches build healthy cultures led by strong, humble, and caring leaders.
Today, Sutton works closely with pastors, elders, and executive leaders as a coach and advisor, with strength in mediation, governance clarity, organizational design, and leadership alignment. His approach is practical, relational, and grounded in real-world experience, not theory.
Sutton is an ACC-certified coach by the International Coaching Federation, an Everything DiSC Certified Associate, and a Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team Certified Associate. He and his family live in College Station, TX.
At LeadingSmart, Sutton serves churches that need a steady, trusted guide—especially in seasons of tension, transition, or leadership strain—helping teams slow down, listen well, and move forward together in healthier ways.
Sutton’s focus:
Coaching executive church leaders
Coaching leadership boards