Promotion from within the team
R faced a difficult transition period when she was promoted from Area Manager to Regional Manager within the same team. The transition from being “one of the team” to being the leader was made more difficult because morale was low and the overall region was underperforming.
R worked with FMW Associates to define her leadership style and tackle some of the people issues she inevitably faced having been promoted from within. She also had to learn to step back and lead, rather than trying to do everything herself.
The one-to-one coaching sessions gave R the space in which to reflect and gain clarity on what was working well, what needed to change and how she would structure the changes. Initially, a lot of time was spent discussing her goals, as leaders are often thrown into situations without being given the time they need to organise what they want to achieve. This, in turn, weakens their internal communication – if they are not clear, how can their teams be?
The coaching environment provided R with a safe place to voice her concerns and confront them. The answers are often dormant within us and FMW use questioning skills that bring them to the fore, providing the clarity and confidence to take action.
Within six months of her promotion, R had restructured her leadership team, created a positive team spirit by participating in charity events and social gatherings, and raised output per sales person by 50%.
Creating a new approach
S threw himself into his work to the detriment of his health. He recently had a major health scare that resulted in 6 months off work. During this time he considered changing career and working for himself. FMW Associates worked with S to help him clarify what he really wanted to achieve going forward.
Initially, the one-to-one sessions revolved around the steps necessary to set up his new business but it soon became apparent that S was unsure of the nature of his business. He had many areas of interest outside of work, but whether these could form the basis of a successful business remained unclear.
Over the course of the sessions, the conversation went back to his current workplace and gradually S realised that he felt let down by his line manager. He felt that he had not been listened to and, therefore, the work had piled up to the point where he had become ill. Through the coaching conversation S realised he did enjoy his work but his recent experiences meant he had lost his confidence. Gradually, S began to clarify exactly what had gone wrong in his workplace and started to pull together a “survival plan” for when he returned. However, during the sessions, he also began to look at the issues from his line manager's perspective and began to understand why some of the situations might have arisen.
After his six months, he decided to return to his current work but with the new approach he had worked through during his coaching sessions. He re-trained within his workplace, had more open and frequent review sessions with his line manager and ensured he did not work excessive hours and become burned out again.
Outside of work, he pursed some of his interests as hobbies, rather than as a business.
A growing business
E had successfully run his service business for several years and then began to expand. He started to employ a team to support him in his expansion but began to feel that things were not working as expected and became increasingly frustrated by the situation.
In his work with FMW associates, E became aware that whilst his business was growing, he was not adapting to his new role and was continuing to do everything he had done before as well as trying to manage his new team. As E reflected, he realized that he needed to set clearer parameters for his team and also clarify what “great service” meant within his business.
He was struggling to cope with the additional complexities of running a business with staff and in the one-to-one sessions, he identified the best way forward, given his skills and work preferences. Initially E was a “reluctant leader” – he wanted the workplace to be relaxed and informal but appreciated that he also had a key role to play in creating the right culture. In reality, he had a preference for developing customer relationships rather than running his team day to day.
This case involved both coaching input in defining E’s leadership style but also technical support in terms of business strategy and organisational structure.
Staying true to his personality, E defined a simple strategy for his new team, worked on his communication skills and set clear parameters for service standards. He employed a manager with similar values to himself to manage the team on a day to day basis. This allowed E to continue to focus on building and extending his customer relationships.