As a leader, you face complex and intricate challenges every day. At times it can be hard to pinpoint or even articulate these challenges. But until you can fully address and resolve them, they have the potential to stall your professional and personal growth, your career, and your team’s success. This is where professional coaching comes in.John is the CEO of a company that has been acquired by a private equity firm. A new board has been brought in to oversee some critical structural changes to the organization and a new chairman appointed. For John, this is a challenge. He has led the organization for many years and feels a strong sense of ownership and responsibility for its people and its future. He feels that he lacks real visibility of the decisions that are being taken by the board and its new chairman and is concerned that they may not all be on the same page.
Recently, news has traveled back to John that the chairman has been in communication with the CEO of a similar company in the same sector. His chairman has failed to mention this to him explicitly, leaving John to guess at his motivation. In the absence of clear communication, John starts to worry that the board is considering restructuring the company’s leadership. He begins to wonder if the chairman will start looking for a replacement CEO and that he will be fired.
John realizes that his situation is fast becoming untenable. The negative energy circulating around the leadership of the company has begun to infiltrate his team and their reports. At a loss and feeling anxious and frustrated, John decides to contact an executive coach.
The most important issue at play here is trust – and, specifically, the breakdown of trust between John and his chairman.
The coaching journey begins with what the coach calls a diagnostic session. John is asked to explain what has happened and put into words exactly why it is that he believes he is going to be fired. From this first session, something key emerges. It becomes clear that the most important issue at play here is trust – and, specifically, the breakdown of trust between John and his chairman. Pressed by the coach to elaborate, John outlines just how important trust is to him. Without trust, he says, he has started to feel personally threatened and even paralyzed. He also believes that respect is an important value to him and a mutual principle that must be shared between both parties.
The coach then asks John how often he has initiated contact with the board or proactively reached out to start a conversation. Something new emerges. In his efforts to simply continue with business as usual, John has failed to speak up or to come to the table and to ask the new chairman questions about the future direction of the organization.
The coach now asks John to consider articulating what trust is, what his personal values look like, and how the “ideal situation” with his chairman might work. He is asked what he needs to be in a “secure base leadership” scenario: what he would require from his chairman to have courage, step out of his comfort zone, take risks, and do what is needed for the organization. This is a light bulb moment for John. He realizes that instead of making assumptions, he needs to find out what the board and chairman require from him as a leader to drive business transformation and whether they are aligned in their expectations. The time has come to request a meeting with the chairman and to have a frank and open conversation about what each party wants.
The prospect of this makes John anxious. He is still afraid of being fired. To help him prepare, the coach suggests they role-play the conversation with each of them taking a turn to play both parts. This is another discovery moment for John. For the first time, he can see the chairman as a human being with ideas and needs, instead of an adversary to be tackled. Armed with this insight, John does two things: he reaches out to the chairman to suggest an informal coffee, and he chooses a neutral environment – a local hotel – where he will feel more at ease and better equipped to talk openly.
“John and the chairman can see each other as human beings. They have found a place to start building trust. ”
With the help of his coach, John comes to this meeting feeling tranquil and composed. Ahead of their talk, he finds a moment to sit in stillness, to ground himself in positive energy, and to focus on what he wants from their encounter. Instead of focusing on frightening questions – whether he will be sacked and forced to find a new job – John centers his mind on the outcome that really matters: establishing trust.
The talk goes very well. John is careful to listen and to talk less. He learns that the chairman has also been insecure about this relationship and needs John’s input on how to forge ahead with the new strategy. Having made this important first step, John and the chairman can see each other as human beings. They have found a place to start building trust. From here, they decide to make it a priority to check in with each other regularly and test ideas. A new collaboration founded on mutual certainty and confidence is forged.
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In this series, we share real-world cases that come from our work with leaders. Read on to discover the specific challenges that face each of the leaders we have coached – and the insights that have helped them navigate their multifaceted challenges to find their own solutions. How might these insights and questions apply to you?
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