Transformational Coaching with Johannes
Introduction to Case Study
This case study is about a Director who, having lived a life of mostly using logics and linear thinking got stuck in moving forward as the business context changed significantly and he couldn’t deliver the planned revenues. The consumer behavior changed so much that he couldn’t see ways to contribute to the bottom line so the business remains profitable. More, he was aware that it is a time-bound game, as the company cannot survive without significant cost reductions for more than 6 months, unless the revenues are back on track. The company had an accelerated growth for the last 5 years from both acquisitions of smaller entities to cover the national territory presence as well as increasing volumes in existing services and diversification and increasing customer experience.
Client Background
Johannes (name changed) comes from a top company in a different business vertical. Before joining this top performer in medical services he was working in banking. He is part of the management team of this company for more than 10 years, moving up the leadership ladder. Throughout his experience he grew up to the level of senior director for the region. His current job is director of a growing business with double digits and accelerated expansion.
He had successful results and took over more and more territories as Operational Director with the aim to bring structure, efficiency and more sales based on unexploited opportunities. He was more entrepreneurial in the first years and then changed after the company was bought by an investment fund 5 years ago and the owner left the company. The current management team coordinating the business is a mix of internal promoted managers and external recruitment with key competencies.
Chemistry Meeting
When I first met Johannes, he gave me the impression of a senior and balanced person with clarity about the goals and fast forward-thinking. On our first online discussion, I observed that he is a competitive and goals driven man who wants overachieved results and has great expectations from everybody, including himself. He is well appreciated in the company and one of the reason for our coaching program is to prepare him for a future promotion. What surprised me when meeting him for the first time was how much he talked about the past job, and his disappointment about the level of maturity and competencies of the people he currently works with, despite having more than 5 years in this company.
During our first meeting, I understood his context, what made him feel disappointed, were he felt stuck and what he wanted to achieve out of our sessions. He opted for achievements that will help him progress little by little .
Goals set by Johannes
To understand what could make his people perform at the expected levels, and also increase the level of initiatives and commitment that he wanted
To know how to deal with the managers perceptions of him (not really building teams or expecting too much all the time)
The Coaching Process:
The entire process took 8 months to complete, during which, I had 10 sessions with Johannes
Bellow, a summary of how Johannes transformation process took place in that period.
To understand what his expectations mean to him and, also, to others
- For a deeper understanding and connection, we started by looking at what prevented Johannes from working with his people in such a way so that they would deliver at the expected levels. The conversation made him aware of how much he believes that people can and want to deliver at his expected levels and what his guts is telling him.
- He realized that he needs to understand better who knows what by recurrent communication with the team members on important projects milestones. He needs first to understand and then to asses the reality and after that to decide what needs to be done further. Therefore, he needs to learn to create the necessary space for people to talk to him and him to be focused on listening and understanding.
- The result was that by the end of the first 3 months, he saw clearly when people needs to be supported and told what to do and when a simple check in is needed, just to make sure everything is on the right track. Once there is progress, he can decide on the support or recognition necessary.
To clarify what and who’s perception we need to change
- Johannes discovered through our conversations that his perception on the relationship with his team was that he needs to be highly involved in everything or, otherwise, his team will have no initiatives and involvement in all important matters. So, he thought that, unless he knows everything that happens and tells each of them how to solve every situation, nothing “will move around here”.
- In our coaching sessions and based on our discussions, I identified Johannes as a controlling type. Now, as we decided to have an open approach of our coaching sessions, I shared this view with him. He didn’t deny it, and he said something like “Yes I think it is correct, but…” and start explaining again that he needs to be like this. So, I shared that it would be good if I can participate to one of his team meetings, and I did. He was right, no initiatives unless people were nominated and the atmosphere was heavy. So, I proposed to have short discussions with the team members. And what came up is that this team is almost the same as one year ago when the director was promoted from another department of the company. And they were doing a lot of things and having initiatives, but with the new director was never ok as he always stopped them and tell them exactly how things should be done. So they stopped trying, they just accepted and looked for his input without any feedback from them.
- The impact was amazing. Like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, I saw him understanding that this is it and accepting it and also try being uncomfortable. He probably knew something about that. His instinct was telling him things and he didn’t listen. It was the confirmation he needed and I felt that it was a good moment to acknowledge him for the courage to accept this.
There were a few actions he decided to take immediately:
Continue one to one’s meetings with focus on listening rather than talking
Change his behavior in the team meetings, help his team re(learn) how to share and ask for their opinion
Exercise getting out of the controlling mindset – being aware when it happens and stop the process
Look forward to exploring and understand his team not just the business context
Engage in fun-filled activities/ out of the office – as well.
His transformation was visible by the end of our 3-month period. His colleagues also started commenting on the same thing, one even congratulating him and as we started some team coaching activities they asked “Ioana, what did you do to Johannes, he is changing“.
A Summary of the Approach based on ICF competencies, Model & Tools Used
Process duration and type
The sessions with Johannes were held over an 8 months period. All the sessions were a mix of online and face to face one hour meetings.
Communication and trust
On the trust that was built between us, Johannes was able to open up and share all that was bothering him and restraining his ability to move forward.
Focus
Everything was really easy, once he had awareness and clarity to take actions which moved him forward towards the goals he wanted to achieve.
The Coaching Model used during the process:
We worked based on the Coach Masters Academy – Transformative Coaching approach during this process as detailed below
Awareness
Reflect the client discussion back to him so that he can see if this is what he wanted once he listened to my reflections. Deepening the discrepancies correlated with dedicated meetings when noticing them and then shared my views with the client so he can decide further what is the meaning of those discrepancies and what to do next.
Clarity
Once we agreed on the topic of our discussions and after making sure that it is understood, clear, and based on facts, etc. – we defined what was the gap between the present and Johannes’ vision on what it should be.
Choice
How ready is the client to take action? What would make sense? What is possible? It is important to understand that choice is a step that can take time, based on his learning style, his context and his challenges.
“In the journey of coaching Johannes, we uncovered the transformative power of trust, openness, and a shift in perspective. Through our collaborative efforts, Johannes not only discovered new ways of thinking but also unlocked his potential to overcome obstacles and achieve his goals.” IOANA MARCU