Coaching for the Transition to Leadership 

A Case Study

Client

A global financial services company


Situation

The company’s senior vice president of human resources asked us to work with Bill*, the division’s controller and a high potential who the company was considering for a general manager position.  Though he had proven himself highly capable of grappling with the company’s complex accounting issues, he needed better interpersonal communication skills to be an effective leader to his employees and among his peers.  The move to general management would also require developing the ability to manage the entire business, not just accounting and finance functions.

The MMI Approach

Mike Martorella initially met with Bill one-on-one to discuss a coaching relationship. Bill was very positive, and thought that working with an executive coach was an opportunity to focus on specific development areas that would help him in his career and increase his effectiveness in his new leadership role.  Bill and Mike agreed to meet monthly face-to-face.

Setting the stage

Mike and Bill established coaching roles and responsibilities. They discussed and set guidelines for confidentiality, trust and conflicts of interest. Most importantly, they talked about what success would look like; agreeing that one measure of success would be how people responded to Bill and how their perception of him changed.

Assessing the situation

In the next few sessions, they explored Bill’s strengths and gaps.  Bill’s “homework” included putting together a list of his development needs based on his own evaluation as well as feedback he had received and recent performance reviews. Mike used this list as the starting point.

From his past experience, Mike understood Bill’s level in the organization and its responsibilities, politics and challenges of the job.  Mike was sensitive to these issues as he conducted a 360-degree assessment.  They had decided that the assessment would be conducted as personal interviews, rather than using MMI’s online tools, so that Mike could ask in-depth questions and explore areas that would be beneficial for Bill’s development as a leader.

Setting specific goals

When Mike and Bill reviewed the assessment results, Mike presented both positive and negative feedback in a constructive way, with the focus on developing the skills and behaviors Bill would need in order to grow as a leader.

Mike pointed out similarities and trends in the feedback. For example, those interviewees who had known and worked with Bill over a longer period described him as honest and open, whereas those who were newer to his organization considered Bill to be intimidating, unapproachable and even abrasive. In other words, you were either part of the inner-circle or you were an outsider. While openness and honesty were strengths, Bill realized, with Mike’s guidance, that he had to work on engaging others, be more open-minded and inspire them to want to contribute to solutions.  He needed to improve his participative listening skills and “tune in” so that he could engage others effectively.  These became Bill’s first development goals. 

Coaching for leadership growth

Mike guided Bill in using several simple, effective techniques for relaxation and active listening that would help Bill focus and stay present with the situation at hand. They also used role playing to work through the different interactions Bill typically encountered. 

Bill shared with Mike that his regularly scheduled global team meetings were conducted on the phone.  Since many of the 150 participants on the call were geographically dispersed, Bill had not met them all in person and didn’t think he had much rapport with them. Mike and Bill talked about ways to connect with call participants. Mike suggested that Bill contact some of the participants off-line and ask for feedback – how the calls were working, did people feel involved, were they tuned in during the call. 

Bill also agreed to ask a different participant to host the conference call each time. These tactics freed Bill to be present in the situation and listen actively, and fostered greater involvement among call participants. Bill began to realize that he didn’t have to have all the answers.  He would more effectively motivate others to contribute with his participative listening and by asking the right questions. 

During their one-on-one working sessions, Mike video and audio taped Bill’s presentations.  They reviewed the tapes and critiqued Bill’s approach and style in each situation, which helped to strengthen and refine Bill’s leadership communication abilities. 

As time went on and Bill achieved success on the initial goals, they moved on to consensus building and collaboration with his peer group. These had also been identified as gaps in the initial feedback sessions. 

Mike and Bill explored leadership, and what it would look like for Bill. Mike’s approach was to pose questions to Bill that would lead to deeper insights:

    What are your values and beliefs as a leader? 
    How do they align with the company’s mission and values?
    How do you act on those values and beliefs as a leader? 
    What is the persona of General Manager? 
    How do you prepare for and speak to a group of 5 or 500 people, when you’re the GM? 

Through this exploration Bill clarified his own values and aligned them with the company’s.  He began to gain a deeper understanding of the general manager’s role and the different audiences and their expectations of him as a leader. 

Creating a safe zone

Over time, Bill developed a deep trust and confidence in Mike, and was able to confide in Mike without sugar-coating the issues.  Bill came to Mike to work on effective approaches and test, through role playing, specific solutions and ideas.

Mike became a sounding board for Bill. For example, when a relationship with a particular executive wasn’t working as well as it could, Bill was comfortable confiding these feelings and attitudes to Mike. They’d work on how he could build a more effective relationship with that person.
 

Outcomes

With Mike’s coaching, Bill transitioned from being strictly a “numbers guy” to someone who understood the big picture and was capable of managing an entire business.

Bill’s everyday effectiveness increased, as did his comfort level and confidence in his approach.  He was more attuned to expectations and the reaction he created among people by his style. He was able to read situations more accurately and adapt his approach and message depending on the audience.  He made fewer missteps, and his ability to influence others increased.  Bill felt he was able to get to the appropriate solutions faster, because he knew what “homework” to do and how to ask the right questions.

Moving on.

As Bill began to move into more senior positions, he continued to rely on Mike as a trusted advisor for specific issues that arose. Today, Bill seeks advice and counsel from Mike on an informal basis, rather than in the context of a formal coaching relationship.

* We’ve used a composite of several MMI clients to respect client confidentiality.