Life Coaching - Dealing With Success

SITUATION: She is running a company that has been in the family for some 45 years and a mother of 2 under the age of 10 but was having problems with work and marriage because of her negativism.

This CEO wasn't reviewing her own notes in life by watching her father and grand father when they was running the company. This was a person that like to talk and any coach would do more listening than discussing with this CEO. She learned how to listen to others and do so with real interest in what the person was saying. Instead of a string around the finger, her index finger over her mouth. This made other assume that she was really interested in what the person was saying. When employees had ideas or concerns the same simple principal would work but also added a suggestion of having the person walk with her while they had a discussion. This relaxed the employee and walking side by side allowed them to be more creative with their ideas. One of these ideas by an employee earned the company a $200,000 contract and that employee was given a nice bonus of which hadn't be done in the past.

SITUATION: The VP of marketing for an OEM was referred by the company president. There had been several incidents where people in the marketing department complained of being the targets of anger and temper outbursts. The team was under a great deal of pressure to meet their goals. The VP was overwhelmed with work, “stressed out”, and under enormous pressure. He was very upset by his own actions, behavior, and willing to take responsibility for making the necessary changes.

SOLUTION: An initial meeting with the VP of Marketing and Sales determined that he was open to establishing a coaching relationship. We initiated a six-month coaching program which included instrumental assessments and a 360-feedback performance appraisal process. Mr. Burns and the VP co-created a Developmental Plan that focused on anger management, staff coaching skills, delegation, emotional intelligence competency, and stress resiliency.

RESULTS: The VP learned how to work more effectively with his marketing team towards common goals. He learned a more effective method of situational control, and individual approach controls which allowed him to empower and inspire his team. He learned how to manage his strong emotions and be more empathetic. Most importantly, he developed powerful management strategies and focused his considerable talent and skills.

SUMMARY: Leaders and managers are being held accountable to achieve sustainable results with fewer resources. Coaching can help leaders improve their performance by learning emotional competence

SITUATION: The CEO of a recognized brand in the retail industry was referred by the HR Manager. The leader of the company was described as brilliant, but very narcissistic. He was perceived as arrogant and condescending to several key direct reports including the CFO. He was frequently very late to meetings and perceived as disorganized. The Board of Directors was very concerned about his behavior and was seriously considering firing him.

SOLUTION: A three-month assessment-based one-on-one Executive Coaching Program was initiated. The company leader was given several leadership assessments that measure emotional intelligence competency. An extensive interview revealed a number of leadership style characteristics that were causing a great deal of interpersonal difficulty. Mr. Burns provided a comprehensive Leadership Report that helped the CEO understand his preferences, attitudes, and behaviors in key dimensions of leadership. The Leadership Report helped focus the coaching meetings on his strengths, areas for his development, goals and action learning. After several months of successful coaching and the development of a trusting relationship, a 360-feedback performance appraisal was conducted.

RESULTS: The CEO learned the qualities of good leadership; improved people skills and a more flexible leadership style. He developed more self awareness and empathy for his people. His self-management and organizational capability improved. Collaborating with his people, he developed a compelling vision for the company. He was retained by the Board and developed vastly improved interpersonal and time management skills. Mr. Burns served as a Trusted Advisor to the Senior Leadership Team.

SUMMARY: Effective leaders are capable of managing themselves—their time and emotions. The CEO was able to learn the requisite emotional intelligence competencies to truly become an inspirational leader.

While there may be a new word developed in the future for the coaching relationship, the term Business/Life Coach (or Personal Coach) fits very well right now. Other terms like personal consultant, life strategist, etc., seem to be too vague and constrained.

We believe life coaching is part of a larger paradigm shift toward people wanting to live their lives more purposefully and intentionally. This could be called a movement away from the paradigm of pathology to the paradigm of possibility. There are many reasons one could cite beyond the scope of this book, but life coaching has evolved because it makes sense to people today to have a partner who will elicit their unique greatness and who will assist them to move from mediocrity to excellence in living. Life coaching exists because it is helpful, and it will prosper because it is transformational.

A bright, young, fast-tracked VP in a Fortune 500 company had a strong track record of delivering results, but they came at a cost. He had a need to be the winner, always right, and would hamper relationships through business dealings. His boss told him this behavior would upset his opportunities for promotions. 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 corporate environment which had different values.

We started with making sure he was enlightened to look at a bigger picture, 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. I then helped him to clarify his intended outcome and consider alternate strategies.

I coached him to prepare for problem situations: anticipating responses, applying questions instead of statements, and actively listening. We practiced the new behaviors and role played in a safe environment until he was comfortable.

The IT Director now delegates projects to the team with more comfort, clearly contracting for the scope of the project, as well as the deliverables, timeline, and communication pieces. He learned to adjust his level of direction based on the skill and abilities of her direct reports. He was then able to identify fairly if there existed a performance situation. He stated the extra 15 minutes he spent with the additional tools saved countless hours in corrective action weeks later.

Robert, self-employed and in his early thirties, had an on-again, off-again relationship with the same woman, Susan, for almost eight years. Although she is established in her own business and works in the same office building, he was feeling his indecision was affecting two areas in his life.

Robert is an intelligent and independent man who had 'made it' on his own, and he was becoming more conscious of how complicated his life had become due to his unwillingness to commit one way or the other to his relationship. Working with Susan, he quickly realized what his indecision and lack of commitment was costing: his peace of mind and lack of direction.

Working with me enabled Robert to distinguish what it was he truly wanted in his life by clarifying what was standing in the way. Once Robert identified his own responsibilities and he ultimately had a choice about how his life was going to pan out, he gained the confidence to plan for and act upon the life he desired.

After only six sessions, Robert learned and practiced the art of saying 'no' to situations that would only bring more stress into his life. He also started to be more spontaneous and adventurous, which added a new dimension to his relationship. In fact, Robert realized how much Susan meant to him and they were engaged a few months later.

Case Study January 2007

Mark was an IT manager in his late twenties with a passion for music and songwriting. When he started coaching, he just couldn't see how he was going to fulfill his lifelong dream of singing and composing his music. In his mind there were just too many obstacles, not to mention a whole lot of fear around making such a drastic change to his career.

Working with his coach gave Mark the opportunity to map out a realistic and workable plan to achieve his goal of working in the music industry. In the end, Mark needed to make a decision as to where his priorities were and what he was willing to do to make his dream come true. In only a couple of months, Mark didn’t quit his job, but enrolled in an evening music college, and moved to a house closer to the college. He also started sending his resume around to various music industry places, he was recording a song with a band, and a music producer was interested in his songs and music.


	© 2008 EMB Consulting