Executive Coaching Scenarios
1. Objective: Improved Working Relationships
A Vice President in a global electronic information company asked us to work with a high-potential, experienced employee to help with interpersonal interactions. Respected for his significant skills, his coworkers thought he was not a team player. In meetings, he often seemed to either disapprove or disengage and they found him hard to read. These challenges were hindering his promotion to Vice President.
Solution
We work together to understand what he is thinking in various business and social situations, and to raise his awareness of the impact of his demeanor on others. We identify several strategies to improve his connection with his colleagues, including a greater focus on observing and reading the physical cues of others, and improving his active listening skills. He also begins using strategies for changing his tendency toward conflict-based thinking.
Outcome
Upon completion of the coaching engagement, the feedback from key stakeholders included that he had become “much more collaborative, more supportive.” Soon thereafter, he achieved the promotion he and his manager sought.
2. Objective: Enhanced Executive Presence
The Executive Vice President for a top financial services firm engaged us to work with a highly valued employee whose results merited promotion, yet she continued to be overlooked.
Solution
We gathered insights from colleagues who worked closely with her, accounted for the culture of the organization and the thinking-and-working styles of her superiors, and collaborated with her to clarify her leadership style.
While addressing key elements of success such as her thinking style, communication, demeanor, and vocal presence, we ensured that she only undertook changes that she could assimilate authentically without violating deeply held values.
Outcome
She wholeheartedly embraced the changes, and her hard work put her in a position to fulfill more of her significant potential. The feedback from superiors was that she had undergone “a transformation,” and her promotion to Vice President followed soon thereafter.
Workshops
Objective: Increased Influence and Impact
A global corporation saw the opportunity to benefit from untapped potential by raising the level of impact of their leaders through clear, concise, compelling communication. They believed that increasing the influence of hundreds of leaders in the company would add significant value toward the achievement of their growth goals.
Solution/Outcome: The Leadership Presence Program
Working with the internal corporate university, we designed and delivered the Leadership Presence Program. Focused on leaders ranging from director to president, we have helped over 400 graduates and counting
A Common Need Addressed Through Workshops:
A Vice President delivered significant business results and was trusted and respected by those close to his work. Yet there were those who, having little interaction with him, had to make decisions about his qualifications to go to the next level.
During a major project update to an executive team, he failed to get to the point in a concise, compelling, memorable way. Running into him at the coffee break during a user conference, a key executive got the impression that he was a bit removed, uncertain. They were not close enough to his day-to-day work to know how effective a leader he was, and, in these few interactions each year, he had not inspired the confidence they needed to assign a high-visibility initiative to him.
In the Leadership Presence workshop, he received instruction on key principles and approaches to powerful communication. Insights from a pre-class survey, an interview with his manager, and moment-to-moment observations allowed the instructor to help him discover his unique style. He was encouraged to magnify his personal assets and remove distractions.
Having experienced significant improvement by the end of Day 2, he left the workshop with simple and clear plans to continue his growth. The 1-1 coaching session, held 6-8 weeks after the workshop, began with his progress report on those development efforts.
During this focused follow-up session, the coach worked with him to deepen the valuable skills he had learned, clarify how to apply them in different contexts, and provide additional concepts that would further enhance his impact.
Over the next few months, his leadership presence came into congruence with the quality of his thinking and his ability to deliver results. His impact on the organization grew, and his manager referred more of her employees to the Leadership Presence Program.