What type of situations bring our clients
to Executive Focus?
Our clients typically find
themselves experiencing at least one of the following situations:
The following coaching and team
case studies are from actual clients of Executive Focus.
PROBLEM
The senior leadership team for a young
Fortune 1000 company displayed several common and challenging
symptoms. At team meetings, all
decisions were made collaboratively yet not everyone weighed in,
trivial topics were discussed at length without purpose, promises
were made with no little follow up, and members were not speaking
openly. There were valid questions about one members’ progress
yet the issue was raised jokingly and quickly dropped.
WHAT WE DID
We interviewed the team and key stakeholders
to identify the cause of the symptoms. We
put together a prioritized list of issues we would address for
our CEO client. We found that the leadership team was not clear
on their individual roles or the handoffs they had to each other.
One way the trust was being eroded was that no one knew what the
other was supposed to do – yet each had unmet and unspoken
expectations. In the resulting first work session, we utilized
several tools to clarify their individual roles, as well as their
deliverables. We also helped the
team create ground rules for meetings in addition to necessary
steps for increased accountability. To
demonstrate and build greater trust, we employed a risky live
360 feedback exercise.
RESULTS
The live feedback was one of the most
powerful experiences for the team.
It increased their candor dramatically, as well as gave them a
“how to” guide for respectful feedback. The team left
with a better understanding of who did what, including an action
plan which they actually carried out for once. The
work session was quoted as “the most effective and useful
offsite they've ever attended.” – CEO/President
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PROBLEM
A Fortune 500 senior executive inherited
several marginally performing direct reports when he was promoted.
Their previous performance was tolerated
when he was one of their peers. Now he was their boss, was accountable
for the results, yet was afraid to confront his ex-peers.
WHAT WE DID
We coached him first to gain comfort
within his new role and what it meant for him to lead.
We then helped him look for and articulate
the business case of the performance improvement. Then everything
fell into place. We helped him create his talking points and we
role played the conversation several times. Each successive go
around came more easily, as he got his message more and more succinct.
RESULTS
The senior executive rose to the occasion
and had the difficult conversation. Although
he said it didn’t feel good, it went well and the direct
report knew what he had to do differently going forward. The senior
executive also maintained the good relationship he had developed
with the direct report. We helped him adjust his style for the
situation instead of making him into something he wasn’t.
The prep work we did was cited
as making a big difference in the comfort level and the outcome.
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PROBLEM
A bright, young, fast-tracked VP in a
Fortune 100 company had a track record of strong results, but
they came at a cost. He had a need
to win all arguments, be seen as right, and would damage relationships
through negotiation. This behavior was career limiting within
a collaborative and respectful culture. His SVP boss and HR told
him that this behavior would stall his upward mobility. Although
the VP’s “win at all costs” approach served him
well in prior roles, it wasn’t working now – or in all
situations. He was in a different
corporate culture which had different values.
WHAT WE DID
The VP needed to see that there was something
in it for him to play differently with others. We
started with making sure he was engaged, beginning with what he
stood to gain and lose from any changes. Once he was engaged we
helped him see the negative impact of his current behavior and
gave him some tools for challenging situations. We
then helped Tom clarify his intended outcome and consider alternate
strategies.
We coached him to prepare for potentially
hot situations: anticipating responses,
applying questions instead of statements, active listening, and
alternate phrasings. We practiced the new behaviors and role played
in a safe environment until comfortable.
RESULTS
Both the VP’s boss and HR representative
noticed the change and progress. His
boss now compliments him on handling challenging situations diplomatically.
More importantly for Tom, he gets his colleagues to see, buy in,
and often own his idea with much less resistance – which
helps him accomplish his goals more quickly. He
learned that HOW you approach people and accomplishing his goals
has more benefit than just being right.
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PROBLEM
An Executive Director within a Fortune
500 firm where had risen quickly through the company. She
was in a highly competitive environment where it was challenging
to get honest feedback and unbiased advice – without politics.
She had also created a professional development plan but had a
track record of not making progress against previous plans. This
time, she wanted to make sure she made progress against her goals.
She needed a sounding board for her strategy
and someone to hold her accountable for her executive development.
WHAT WE DID
We coached the Executive Director in
an ongoing basis, acting as sounding board for her ideas, and
coach for her development. As one
would expect, the strategy and development goals were linked,
as were the opportunities to align needed actions. During a re-organization,
we helped her clarify the new direction for her team, as well
as talk through the behaviors she would need to demonstrate.
RESULTS
The Executive Director found herself
more confident in her role and pleased with her progress against
her development plan. Previously,
she would create a plan that would go no where and leave her feeling
frustrated. This time, she held herself accountable through a
coach while taking steps to develop herself. She
stated that having someone as a regular sounding board was one
of the most useful tools in her development as a leader.
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PROBLEM
A highly competent IT expert promoted
to Director within a Fortune 500 company. She
had attended the company’s Supervisor Training and still
experienced difficulty and poor results getting work done through
others. She was beginning to think she had several performance
issues. This Director felt the
pressure of being under mountains of work yet still thought it
faster to do many things herself. Conversely,
her staff complained that their boss was overly controlling, would
cryptically delegate work, and that she would surprise them with
new direction half way through projects. The Director’s technical
skills were unquestioned. Her less developed communication and
coaching skills held back her teams’ potential and increased
her frustration. She had learned
the basics of delegation, but like almost managers, had difficulty
applying it well.
WHAT WE DID
We first normalized the Director’s
apprehension. Delegation is one
of the most common issues we encounter. It looks easy on paper
but can be hard to get right. Most managers are clear in their
minds what they want to have happen. The problem is that it doesn’t
come out of their mouths, or not in a coherent manner. We
coached the Director to see her role in the potential performance
issue – her lack of clarity around expectations. We
gave her a new tool to articulate the (unspoken) expectations
and coached her to set her team up for success. We
then helped her get clear on the type and frequency of communications
she needed for comfort.
RESULTS
The IT Director now delegates projects
to her team with more comfort, clearly contracting for the scope
of the project, as well as the deliverables, timeline, and communication
pieces. She learned to adjust her
level of direction based on the skill and abilities of her direct
reports. She was then able to identify fairly if there existed
a performance problem. She stated
that the extra 15 minutes she spent with the additional tools
saved countless hours in corrective action weeks later.
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If these sound similar
to your challenges, we can likely help you be more successful.
Learn more About Us.
