Case Studies

FINDING TRUE NORTH

Through our lives we search for answers. Sometimes answers are easily found while other times, they elude us and hold us back from achieving greatness. Bill (fictitious name) was such a person. He was extremely talented, intelligent, and a good manager. He wanted to also be a great leader. A leader people would look up to and respect for all he did.

Bill had attended all the training opportunities offered to him by his organization. He felt he had gained competency but really wanted to achieve a higher level...a level of leadership greatness. Bill's supervisor suggested coaching as a way to achieve the leadership greatness he desired. And so the relationship began. Bill was serious about coaching and wanted to achieve results. Bill wrote the following thoughts in my request for an overview of his coaching experience after six months.

"I have thought a great deal about our coaching efforts the past six months and briefly came up with these ten things I have gained from the experience.

1. Learned to better leverage my skills and those of my team.
2. Learned to step back quickly from a situation and consider different interpretations to my message.
3. Learned to give more weight to my different interpretations to the messages I receive and ask more questions to ascertain message/intent before I respond and conclude.
4. Made me a better listener by honing on specific methods and develop them into a skill or habit ( other coaches talk generalizations or theory and not practice specific skills, Steve explained how and what we mean in our daily practice).
5. Stepped back and started driving my business instead of having my business drive me.
6. Got back in touch with my goals and where I want to go.
7. Explored the challenges, my inner thoughts, feelings and interpretations in a trusting and non threatening environment where a true assessment and diagnoses of complex business relationships where explored, evaluated and re-aligned.
8. Helped me re-align my career to these goals, thoughts, challenges and new perspectives and made clear decisions without misgivings doubts or confusion.
9. Steve with his feedback helped me see myself the way my colleagues, employees and clients see me, he objectively evaluated my situation looking from the outside in.
10. We are working now on my VISION to transcend it into practice and achievement.

In difficult stressful situations, things get muddy, unclear, and the personal/career road map becomes just a road without a map, because you are not sure any more of true North and self confidence is shaken. This is when coaching helped me to regain my competitive advantage, get back on the Road with a newly drawn and clear map headed to my true North.

Thank you very much Steve,
I will see you soon

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Building Your Future - Building a Career

All of us at some time in our lives spend time deliberating about our future. Tim was no exception. He spent four years "thinking" about what he wanted to do with his career and made few decisions. Then he hired me as a coach. Like many, Tim had great aspirations but couldn't seem to get focused. He was therefore very frustrated which not only bothered him, but those around him.

Coaching Tim for four months was a great experience. He quickly decided his focus, established goals for the next five years with some discussion of his career as a whole. Next he developed specific action plans with timelines to keep him on track. All this sounds simple, however, we all know that we have many distractions in our lives. A coach can help you establish the focus you need to achieve.

Tim is now a highly successful executive. His journey took him six years, but he made it! We have once again started coaching, this time to work on "life balance," a challenge many executives face to maintain work and family life.