Case Studies Building Senior Leadership Bench Strength Client Challenge: A Fortune 50 financial services organization needed to develop the leadership skills of a high-potential director as part of a division-wide initiative to build leadership bench strength. Preparing next-generation leaders to be more strategic, collaborative, and emotionally intelligent was viewed as crucial for the firm to retain top talent and stay competitive, especially during an economic downturn. Solution: A six-month executive coaching program was viewed as the best development option for this high-potential leader. To raise the leader’s self-awareness and identify critical development needs, Ken used a suite of assessments, including the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and a customized 360° survey. The leader was viewed by colleagues as too curt, and at times volatile. There was also a gap in the ability to think big picture and to better understand the strategic imperatives of the global business. The coaching development plan, based on the assessments’ findings, focused on developing strategic thinking skills and communication and interpersonal skills. Coaching strategies included role plays and targeted exercises and practices to help the leader see the positive and negative impact of their behavior on their own performance and the performance of others. Results and Impact: After several months of coaching and practicing new behaviors, including owning and driving key strategic initiatives and taking a more emotionally intelligent approach with colleagues, the executive was promoted by the senior management team to Managing Director / CFO. The promotion was a result of a positive shift in the leader’s behaviors and skills in being strategic, collaborative, and emotionally intelligent. The personal impact of the coaching program for the leader included:
The impact for the leader’s team and organization included:
Transitioning into a Global Leadership Role Client Challenge: A Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company identified the need for leadership development for the Head of International Marketing. The executive was described as a brilliant strategist with superior technical marketing ability but was also overbearing and often disregarded the viewpoints of others. The executive’s global business partners avoided one-on-one interactions and resisted the executive’s business plans, threatening to stall key marketing strategies that could negatively impact business growth. Solution: Ken engaged the leader in a comprehensive executive coaching program—an initial six-month engagement was extended to one year—that used 360 interviews and a development plan to highlight the leader’s strengths and development areas. A systemic approach was applied by including the coachee’s manager to ensure that the coaching was aligned with organizational imperatives. The executive’s development plan focused on building on strengths in strategic thinking and execution to help increase influence more broadly across the organization. In addition, the executive’s strengths were complemented by increasing their emotional intelligence, i.e. active listening skills, empathy, and respect and appreciation for others’ views. The coaching conversations focused on challenging the executive’s mindset toward an overly directive and intimidating approach and shifting it toward a more empathic and collaborative way of leading. Results and Impact: Over the course of a year of coaching, the executive came to be regarded as a more collaborative and engaging leader and was recently promoted into a broader global marketing role as a member of the senior leadership team. The personal impact of the coaching program for the leader included:
The impact for the leader’s team and organization included:
Developing Senior Team Alignment and Client Challenge: A senior leadership team of a global healthcare company needed to improve communication, collaboration, and cross-functional interaction to meet the needs of a growing national healthcare business. The main concerns were a lack of alignment among the senior leadership team members and poor communication between cross-functional teams in different locations. Senior leaders realized that important knowledge and information critical to the business was not being shared across teams, resulting in tension and inefficiencies. Solution: The Mindful Leadership team, led by Ken, collaborated with the Director of Learning & Development to perform a needs analysis and design and deliver an offsite leadership retreat. The needs analysis revealed the need for better conflict resolution skills as well as strategies for more effective formal and informal communication across teams. The interactive leadership retreat comprised of a module on how to engage in crucial conversations, with exercises and role plays to enhance the learning. In addition, a modified facilitated activity based on “open space technology” was used to develop executive team and cross-functional communication strategies. To help sustain the learning, two team coaching calls were used 30 days and 60 days following the retreat. Results and Impact: As a result of the retreat and executive team development, the management teams collaborated more effectively and developed higher levels of trust. In addition, the teams planned and successfully executed a subsequent acquisition and integration. The personal and team impact of the leadership retreat included:
The impact for organization included:
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