VOX-POP SERIES – Coaching Case Studies #4

A Coaching Case Study as reported by a leadership participant in my 2018 UK Coaching Master Class programme.

Coaching Case Studies

Here is another Coaching Case Study in my Vox-Pop series.

Vox-Pop is from the Latin vox populi and refers to popular sentiment or opinion on a subject – in other words, the voice of the people.

In this series of Blog Posts I explore the sentiments and opinions of leadership participants in my Coaching Master Class (CMC) programme. What do they think about the main coaching topics we explore together in this programme? I look at STAR Coaching Case Study reported by a Leaders of Leaders participating in a UK programme in 2018. By this time my CMC programme had evolved to version 3 and I was using a much more comprehensive STAR template for coaching case study feedback. I look at how the Leader used the GROW Coaching Model and the Coaching Tools taught in the CMC Workshop, and the outcomes they achieved with coaching.

The Coaching Master Class program runs over a 12-18 week period. We kick off with a full day workshop for Leaders of Leaders and Functional Leaders who work in the same team and report in to the same boss. I then complete a series of follow up coach-the-coach sessions according to the ARCH Model (Activity, Results, Capability & Handover). There is more on this in my 2016 article ‘Coaching the Coach – Who, Why, When & What?

The notes I take during these coach-the-coach session give me valuable insights into how programme participants are taking on board and applying the learning from the workshop. Here is a Coaching Case Study as reported by a participant in a programme I ran for a division of Maersk in the UK 2018. It is formatted according to the STAR model – what was the Situation or Task, what Action did you take, what Result did you achieve including your own personal learning?

Leader of Leaders Case Study

Situation/Task
What was the Situation / Task?

Employee transition from a basic one type of aggressive procurement and confrontational style to a more strategic mind-set.

Action
How did you clarify current performance?

Gave real life examples to set the reality on how suppliers were responding given the high pressure techniques involved.

How did you set the scene (trust & rapport)?

Used open questioning to create empathy.

Goal. How did you engage the individual in the Goal for the coaching relating to business priorities?

Highlighted the shorter road this gave us with suppliers vs longer partnerships.

Added this to the PDP for regular updates and encouraged sharing of ideas mid negotiations.

Reality. How did you encourage the Coachee to assess the current situation?

Focused the need to change in line with employees overall goal to be promoted.

Options & Way-forward. What Options were considered, how were they evaluated? How did you and the Coachee agree on the Way-forward?

This made it very easy to establish a longer goal and frame this change in the steps to that goal.Evidence that this is working as the tone has changed and her already excellent work is now better framed and gaining praise from other sources.

Results
What Results were achieved?

Success is that I see her taking a step back from the automatic knee jerk confrontation.

Also see her asking for more feedback adhoc on situations.

Importantly also, she’s not afraid to still use confrontation as a technique when required for results.

Gained feedback from local head as to the change and they were very positive that this will help her progress to the next level after highlighted this issue previously as a possible concern.

Further Reading

Explore the Coaches Toolkit on this Blog for more information on the Tools and Techniques mentioned above.

Search ‘Leadership Interview’ on this Blog for more insights from leaders on how they applying coaching in their day to day work.

Read more about my Coaching Master Class program.

Author: Trevor Sherman

Trevor Sherman: Author, Blogger and Coach. What do I do? I develop leadership training material and personal learning modules. I am the owner and operator of this Blog. I coach senior executives for their development and role transition. I am based in Northamptonshire UK and operate globally - in person and through technology.

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