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Executive Coaching Case Study: How Peter turned tension into teamwork

Announcement posted by Melinda Fell Consulting Pty Ltd 27 Apr 2017

When Peter*, a senior executive at a large financial organisation, began the coaching program with me, our conversations ranged from subjects as concrete as board relations to less tangible areas such as the emotional drivers for success.

Taking the challenge

It was a challenge for both of us to identify and relate emotions and business success and to explore the relationships between them.

As Peter’s 360 review progressed an unexpected focus developed and we spent the remainder of the session discussing and unraveling the reasons for tension amongst the executive team, most of it originating from Peter himself.

Peter, though aware that he was personally challenged by periods of tension, had no idea of the affect it had on his other team members.  

This was Peter’s most difficult leadership experience in his time as a senior executive, he needed someone to help identify his blind spots and be a sounding board. 

Honesty can be difficult

Candid feedback is always difficult to hear and digest, but I had to help Peter to change his behavior, to manage his tensions for the benefit of his team and company.

The coaching process provided analysis and feedback on Peter’s actions, comparing what he thought he was doing with what he was actually doing. 

Through coaching we worked towards a systemic personal inquiry, identifying what roles and responsibilities could be delegated and those he should focus on so that he could turn his full attention to leading his business.

An essential part of the executive coaching process, 360 reviews help participants evaluate their positions, action and goals, providing information that can help shape their leadership and can provide reference points in their personal journey. 

The insights of an outsider

In this instance, Peter learnt that he could become overly involved in his teams’ work, be too optimistic and consequently very tense when his expectations were not realised. Often this tension caused him to launch into attack mode, especially if he didn’t have full visibility of projects.

Through the 360 review process, Peter realised that his behavior just transferred the pressure to others and made them feel uncomfortable speaking with him.  Consequently, his team members thought he didn’t appreciate how difficult their tasks were to accomplish, and that he undervalued their efforts.

Spreading the power of change

After such honest critical feedback, it would have been easy for Peter to simply change his leadership style and to bury the new information about himself, but instead he chose to lead by example and share it with the rest of the company.  

The result was a wave of change that created a more open and supportive environment for his leadership team. One that recognised that both emotional and business perspectives have important roles in a happy and productive workplace.

Peter himself, now makes a point of going out of his way to recognise people and their efforts, sharing the learning he gained from the coaching process.

If you would like to discuss how executive coaching can drive positive change for you, your team members or your organisation, please contact Melinda Fell email: melinda@melindafellconsulting.com.au or www.melindafellconsulting.com.au

*his name has been changed at his request

My name is Melinda Fell – Director - MFC Consulting I’m an executive coach and talent management consultant. I’ve been working in coaching and recruitment in the retail banking sector – across Australia and Asia Pacific – working with major banks and mortgage brokers (peer2peer lenders) – for the last 13 years and I specialise in coaching very busy time poor, corporate executives on how to design, recruit, and then build, manage and fine tune a totally aligned, high performing team.   I’ve observed over the last 13 years in working with over 12,000 C suite corporate executives, that the higher an executive climbs the corporate ladder, the less day-to-day direct engagement, management and control they have over their team and we often discover – misalignment. Inevitably a high percentage of corporate executives I work with have either delegated this function or simply dropped the talent management ball altogether.