From Five-Year Planning To Adaptive Strategy
Details Client: Academic InstitutionIndustry: Post-Secondary EducationSize: Large Public Institution The Opportunity Our client had developed a broad mandate over time, […]
Building a Cohesive Operations Team Across a Complex Institution
Details Client: Academic InstitutionIndustry: Post-Secondary EducationSize: Institutional Operations Division | 400+ Employees The Opportunity Several of our client’s operational departments
Transforming an IT Division Into a Unified Leadership Team
Details Client: Academic InstitutionIndustry: Post-Secondary EducationSize: Enterprise IT Division The Opportunity Our client’s Information Technology division played a critical role
Scaling Beyond the Founder by Establishing a Core Leadership Team
Details Client: Professional Services FirmIndustry: Professional ServicesSize: 100+ professionalsOwnership: Founder-led The Opportunity The firm had experienced significant growth over a
Preparing a Second-Generation Business for Its Next Stage of Growth
Details Client: Second-generation manufacturing businessIndustry: ManufacturingSize: Mid-marketOwnership: Family-owned The Opportunity The business had built a strong reputation over decades of
Modernizing Leadership Feedback to Drive Development
Details Client: Investment Management FirmIndustry: Financial ServicesSize: Mid-Sized Investment Firm The Opportunity As our client continued to invest in its
Building Leadership Capability To Support Rapid Growth
Details Client: Manufacturing CompanyIndustry: Advanced ManufacturingSize: $150M Manufacturing Operation The Opportunity Our client had experienced years of strong organic growth,
Aligning a New Leadership Team To Support Organizational Growth
Details Client: National Professional AssociationIndustry: Not-for-Profit / Membership AssociationSize: Mid-Sized National Association The Opportunity To better support its people, operations,
Redesigning The Company To Support A New Business Model
Details Client: Mid-Market Technology CompanyIndustry: TechnologySize: Mid-Market | Private Company The Opportunity Our client had reached a strategic inflection point
Rebuilding Culture During a Leadership Transition Period
Details Client: Large Canadian MunicipalityIndustry: Municipal GovernmentSize: 1,000+ Employees The Opportunity Our client had experienced significant executive turnover, including several
It’s Kind of Like Beachball Coaching; Bouncing Back Ideas & Resisting Advice Giving
I once coached a CEO when one of their VPs interrupted to ask what colour the boss wanted the office painted.
The CEO offered their opinion and then refocused on our conversation. I responded, “Do you really feel that picking out paint colours is a wise use of your mental energy as CEO?” Their counter was, “I don’t stop to think about it much. If someone asks me for my opinion, then I give it to them.”
Oh, the double-edged sword of leadership. Senior leaders must become exceptionally good at making decisions with limited data and be comfortable just making the call. Overusing this style can create a check-in culture where the team becomes overly reliant on the boss’s opinion and hesitates to move without consultation.
It’s Kind of Like Coaching Poolside or Chairside; Coaching In The Moment or Another Time
Coaching can be intimidating to both novice and experienced leaders.
For the recently trained manager, there is pressure to provide good coaching to their team, but uncertainty and fear about how to do it correctly.
The truth is that bad coaching is better than no coaching, and the only way to improve is to keep experimenting with different tactics. I encourage leaders not to put a lot of pressure on themselves and to rarely, if ever, say, “Let me provide you some coaching on this.”
You don’t need to announce that you are coaching for it to be effective; it is better if you don’t.
Coaching can be done in the moment, like during a meeting, while observing a task, or in a more planned setting, like a one-on-one. Both approaches have benefits.
