CASE STUDY #1

The Client: Director, Forbes International Top 100, Electronics Company

Coaching Goals

Coaching was initiated as part of a leadership training program for high potential directors. The coaching goals were:

• To increase networking skills and gain more visibility at an executive level in his organization.
• To network up, down and cross-functionally.
• To develop a greater leadership presence and influence, using cross-functional team participation to develop and leverage his abilities.
• To improve skill in coaching and developing direct reports.
• To explore career path and it’s implementation.

The Process

"I learned how to focus what was important in order to achieve my goals. When you're not comfortable in a situation you'll find ways to postpone it. But I knew I'd be accountable to Barbara for my results. The structure of regular meetings, our calls and prep forms with specific objectives and metrics ensured that."

Coaching Direct Reports

"I learned specific coaching strategies and techniques, like how to approach my direct managers.

She taught me different ways to approach each individual direct report and individual situation. I learned to prepare for these conversations better. I incorporated strategies to analyze the employee and develop a strategy to approach that situation."

Networking, Visibility & Influencing Others

"She gave me specific suggestions on how to target my network, rather than using a shotgun approach.

I learned how to approach individuals with what might be a good course of conversation, and it sounds straightforward but I hadn't done it before.

She gave me a strategy to analyze a specific goal, understand the situation and players, to prepare and approach the individuals and to close the deal. We walked through specific scenarios of what I was going through at the time. I prepared, then took action, then we debriefed after the fact. The debriefing was very helpful and effective."

Career Path

"She helped me understand what could be gained, the risks and rewards of moving out of the comfort zone of a position I'd been in for 13 years.

I learned about the experiences and background of other people regarding career choices. Reflected on how that might apply to my personal situation and my own career choices."

The Benefits

• "I'm going into a new, expanded role now, branching out into a different role than the one I'd been in for 13 years.
• The coaching addressed issues like having an entirely new staff that didn't know me; gaining their trust, and setting clear expectations.
• By applying specific coaching strategies and techniques, I can help my direct reports come to their own conclusion rather than doing it for them.
• Being accountable to Barbara for certain actions facilitated my getting the results in the time line we laid down.
• There was a much faster development of skills than I ever would have done on my own.
• I was surprised at and quite happy with how quickly I could apply the influencing strategy and skills to other situations. I went on to train my direct reports how to utilize this skill, too."

Barbara's Impact

"Being coached by Barbara helped me to focus on my specific needs. It was incredibly positive and helpful.

What she did well was helping me reach my resolution--a lot of things we worked on weren't earth-shattering, but more a matter of looking at things with different perspectives, strategies and how to approach these issues with different skills I was trying to develop. That is the role of a coach: to help you reach your own strategy effective for you and develop your own skills. That, Barbara did extremely well.

On a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of usefulness to my career, Barbara is a 10 because everything we worked on was immediately applicable. The results I got in my program were very positive. Independent scoring from my direct reports, my management and myself confirmed that.

She was very good at intertwining several objectives (networking, increasing visibility and exploring career path): at the same time. It all dovetailed into the skill set I needed to improve.

Barbara helped me put all the pieces together so I could develop an effective strategy for my organization. It feels empowering and very positive to have tools I can apply to the remainder of my career, tools that are essential to my career. I wish I had these 10 years ago.

Her coaching skills are very refined. She's probably very flexible applying her coaching skills to different situations of her clients. In my case, I walked away feeling I could have given her a whole other set of things I wanted to learn and she would have been just as effective.

Her demeanor and personality were very good for me. She is very comfortable to work with. Not out there in either direction. She meshes well with my personality. I think she'd be very adaptive to any client's needs.

I know Barbara has a background in counseling. That was a very helpful addition for me because we could touch on balancing personal objectives while effectively solving the career challenges. It's good to have that in your coach's portfolio."

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