At the best of times leadership can be a solitary experience, so in this current crisis, leaders are carrying a huge
responsibility for sustaining their organisations – from a revenue, growth, and employment perspective. As an Executive
Coach I provide a focused, time-efficient, confidential space to share your concerns, explore your ideas, and have your
thinking challenged. I help you to make sense of your experience, using it to grow as a human being. In doing so, you
will be able to find new and different ways to lead your team and your organisation when necessary.
We are all facing an entirely new situation. I am convinced this creates opportuni-ties for personal growth and learning;
through coaching I create space for reflection, understanding, and forward thinking. I use my experience of previous
crises and organisational transformation to coach, guide and advise leaders on how to stay aligned with their values.
Trust and confidence of others is essential to bring your organisation through this crisis.
There is an initial session to explore if there is the “chemistry” between us that is essential for successful coaching.
We plan for nine sessions spread over a twelve-month time period. Each session is up to two hours depending on whether it is face to face or virtually.
The coaching meetings are confidential and although I usually in private rooms due to the on-going crisis I am coaching virtually for many clients. The objective is to work in a space that allows for focused sessions without distractions.
Our work together is completely confidential; I do not report back to your organisation at any time during the process. Instead I work with you to identify how you want to discuss the coaching and what you learn with your key stakeholders.
Some examples of my coaching clients :
A recently appointed leader of a multi-country business, needing to lead a cross-cultural workforce and to influence corporately for the first time. Through the coaching he came to understand the visibility of his role, the range of his influence and the scope of the expectations others had of him. This enabled him to lead in new and different ways.
A leader in the French subsidiary of a British company wanted to develop her communication style, especially in relation to the corporate headquarters. The outcome of the coaching assignment was an increased understanding of the inter-cultural differences and how she could be more influential with her corporate colleagues.
An executive with interpersonal problems highlighted through a “verbal 360°” feedback. He became more aware of the impact he had on his peers and staff, making adjustments to his style. He also identified that he “micro-managed” and needed a wider range of leadership styles consistent with his position.
During this period of extended crisis teams are often depleted of their ener-gy. Through Team Coaching I create non-judgemental, psychologically safe spaces – both virtually and physically – for teams to create some regular time to focus on taking care of their team dynamic. This may sound like a luxury! But in the intensity of this turbulent time leadership teams can often focus uniquely on the day to day crisis and so struggle to reconnect with their pur-pose. Yet it is this purpose that gives energy to the entire organisation. So it is particularly important that team members have time to focus on what real-ly matters to them – as individual members and as a collective. This can be not just a source of great energy but also a relief from the, often, lonely work of leadership. As a Team Coach I work closely with your team as a trusted advisor, bringing an outside perspective to strengthen the team.
Every team is different, so I use all my experience and knowledge to create a tailored situation for your
team’s unique situation. Here are some examples of what I can do:
Through confidential discussions individual team members, and possibly attending calls or meetings as an observer. I build up my insights into the team in order to identify how I can best help and support.
I use the Hogan Assessments to look at individual members’ values. Each person gets their own feedback in a one on
one session.
Through conversations we look at where these values are shared and where there may be in conflict. The objective is
to make the most of all the values in the team
I create a safe space for your team to talk about what is really on their mind and to give each other feedback in a constructive way. Team members develop the habit of doing this regularly and frequently to sustain trust in the team.
I facilitate conversations about what happens when the team is under pressure. The team learns to identify the triggers that might “derail” them and how to move quickly in order to miti-gate the risks.
Using a structured approach (“Action Learning”) I help teams harness the collective intelligence of the members to creatively solve problems together.
Some examples of my team coaching
A CEO and his leadership team in the Global Financial Services industry, facing several major changes at the same time. I worked with the team over a period of time to redefine their purpose, to clarify their individual and collective values and to strengthen their relationships through a feedback process and conversation.
A regional leadership team in the Telecommunications sector with a new leader from outside the company. The team was underperforming, and the structure was unclear. I coached the leader and her team to create clarity, improve communica-tion and reduce the conflict in the team. The team went on to become the highest performing team in the global organisation.
An established senior HR team in the High Tech sector, I worked with them as a team coach to help them to agree their approach to Change Management and then subsequently to give each other developmental feedback.