Schneider Ross > Case Studies > Executive Coaching of a senior level Director

Executive Coaching of a senior level Director

Background

The focus for the coaching was the client’s wish to expand his leadership skills: he was moving into a wider arena of influence, and had been promoted into a more senior role, reporting directly to an Executive Director. He was particularly interested to explore how he could more effectively engage with people who were different from him, a common aim among senior leaders leading increasingly diverse teams.

At the same time the function was also going through a review of its effectiveness, so the coaching had to take account of this too.

Coaching Aims

Some aims for the coaching were developed, focusing on a number of core development needs:

• Becoming more effective as a leader by letting go of the detail
• Improving effectiveness of performance conversations with direct reports
• Developing active listening skills and encouraging diverse points of view
• Coaching the team to see the wider patterns and links between projects
• Energizing people – emotionally as well as rationally

After the first session, he undertook a feedback process (designed by Rachael Ross) in order to gather some 360 degree feedback on his leadership style.

This process provided rich material to deepen insights into his own strengths, and further clarified where he wanted to make changes, and focus his learning.

A sporting metaphor emerged during the first session, as part of his personal vision: a football coach who had successfully “moved from player coach to manager.” This gave him an effective way of recalling how he wanted to be and the overall shift in style he wanted to achieve.
At each session (a mix of face to face and phone coaching sessions), he clarified what he wanted from the session as well as moving towards the overall goal. (For example there were two key meetings which took place shortly before a coaching session, and he was able to build in immediate learning by reviewing those immediately afterwards in a coaching session.)

He worked through the development goals he had set himself, reviewing those he had been experimenting with in the intervening weeks, and developing a number of new practices to support his development goals.

Some of these goals included:

• Practising deeper listening,
• engaging in “open performance conversations” with his team, (building on the very open exchange encouraged by the feedback process),
• making changes in how he briefed projects, by giving more clarity on standards required, and stepping back and allowing team members to drive the agenda more often,
• showing own vulnerability by revealing more of “the full me”, and encouraging others to do the same,
• developing an informality in meetings to encourage openness.

During the coaching process we were able to make a clear link between the development areas the client was working on, and how those tied into the overall model of excellence in leadership, recently launched by the organisation, which set out a number of competencies falling into “strategic” and “people related” competencies.

Coaching Results

The results from the coaching were:

- the Coachee felt he had created more space to reflect during his working day, now he had stepped back from the detail,
- he was connecting more easily with a wider variety of people – emotionally as well as strategically / technically.
- feedback from colleagues that he had made some definite changes in his style, eg more useful input to teams re overview
- feedback from HR supplier contacts that direction given to them was clearer
- feedback from a key colleague that he had listened to her proposed approach and changed a meeting design as a result.



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