Background to and the nature of the assignment
My relationship with this retail bank followed from my previous consulting work with them and the Executive and Organisational Development Group recommended me to Jeff in 2007. Jeff was a senior functional manager one level below the management board however he was not seen as a candidate for the next promotion. EODG suggested the business coaching assignment to help him develop his candidacy. It was revealing how his initial statement of business coaching requirements was purely tactical:
- Opportunity to talk about managing upwards
- Opportunity to look at tactics for operating in a matrix environment
- Chance to bounce any specific business issue around
- External context to issues and external resources to solutions
- Broaden personal external network/profile
- Tips on getting the best out of diverse teams.
Jeff had left school at 16 to join the Bank. Through a series of increasingly senior roles over the next twenty five years he had gained a detailed understanding of the business and was now seen as a valuable contributor particularly on sales, operational issues and the complex internal plumbing of a major bank.
The focus of the coaching/issues
It became quickly apparent that the meta-issue was ‘developing Jeff’s senior management style’. Jeff did not present as a senior manager. He came across as a head down, hard working operator, a thorough technician who, although undoubtedly smart, analytic and capable, could be reluctant to take the initiative and had an awkward social style. He was visibly more comfortable when working on technical specifics rather than general issues. In part this was because he felt his lack of university education keenly and he just did not see himself as a Director. He did not have a high opinion of himself and became anxious when the centre of attention, such as annual award ceremonies.
Contracting and boundary management considerations
Two aspects of contracting were ‘managing the balance between the overt/covert agenda’ and ‘my personal relationships within the Bank’.
From our first conversation the opportunity for a deeper personal agenda was apparent, yet Jeff was uncomfortable with this being documented as he felt it was an admission of weakness. The contract we agreed, although a valid statement of the purpose, objectives and success measures for the business coaching, was not the full story of the engagement as it only hinted at the personal depth available.
As a consequence of my previous work in the bank I knew the Chief Executive and members of both Main and Retail Boards. Jeff found my having these relationships both attractive and also something of a threat because I might be privy to the thoughts of his boss’s boss.
The nature of the a challenge
As his subsequent career trajectory shows, Jeff had the gift of being a capable general manager. Yet, in 2007, he was unable or unwilling to see either his capabilities or his potential accurately. He felt that he was lucky to have got as far as he had and was operating at the limit of his competence. Taking charge, setting direction and being accountable for the outcome of big decisions on the basis of his own judgement were too challenging for him to accept. In the company of senior people, he was self-effacing, would defer and was uncomfortable. In day-to-day management he would seek approval for big decisions and only felt safe if he knew his thinking had the approval of his boss. The challenge was how to create the circumstances in which he could shift his managerial self image from what appeared to be self-limiting beliefs about himself to one where, grounded on the evidence, he could be confident in the reality of his competence.
What we did
We worked with the situations and opportunities that arose for him and I sought to create a ‘safe enough’ space within which he could explore his thoughts and behaviour. It was soon clear he had strong views on all issues, views which he suppressed. Through being with him in the moment he could try these ideas out and develop some confidence debating them with me. Throughout this process I encouraged Jeff to confront the evidence and see how his ideas, grounded in experience, were robust compared with some of the conceptually grand alternatives his peers suggested. From speaking spontaneously with me, he tested himself in low key situations; finding that his ideas gained support and were adopted reinforced his confidence. These early successes enabled him to progressively raise the level at which he would intervene so although it remained uncomfortable to speak out he came to trust his judgement through testing it in the cut and thrust of senior debate.
Essentially the business coaching provided Jeff a pragmatic lens through which to recalibrate his experience, his business judgement and thus his image of himself. In the light of this changed self image he felt confident to assert his viewpoint and, through repeated experience of successfully cycling from idea through implementation to result, came to trust his judgement and accept his general management abilities.
The outcome
His career took off. He became the go-to person for major crises, a transformational Regional Director and then was given responsibility for ever larger parts of the business. His current role is head of major business unit with several thousand people working for him in multiple locations worldwide and a group of customers which includes royalty and billionaires. Not bad for a boy who left school at 16!
What I learnt from the experience
Through the six months of working with Jeff I learned:
- How to address the underlying issues by working with the presenting ones
- How relationship is a prerequisite for broaching the underlying issues
- How relationship follows from the extent to which I understand my client’s inner world, am honest, direct and demonstrate my belief in them.
