The coachee was the SVP of a £4bn European organisation with 20,000 + Staff

The coachee had not experienced coaching before, however, she recognised that in facing the challenges of the role she would welcome a confidential coaching relationship. She was not looking for mentoring, she wanted to be able to talk through the many issues she faced in a confidential environment.

The work initially involved building trust through my professional credibility and professional coaching skill and experience. The coachee responded positively to an environment which allowed her to put out her thoughts in a sometimes seemingly random fashion, engage in a discussion which supported the identification of themes and patterns, questioned and challenged her assumptions and perceptions and enabled her to identify her habitual processes and responses.

This enabled her to gain greater flexibility and choice and provided a sounding board and space to offload to an independent and objective partner.

Topics covered included decision making (particularly where there was a straight choice between two options), leadership style, vision and values, relationship with the chairman, work/life balance, gender issues, emotional intelligence, “being” rather than “doing”, personal and career history, going with her gut, succession planning.

My role as the coach was to provide a “safe container” which allowed exploration of these topics and the underlying emotions feelings and responses of the SVP. As a result of our discussions she reported she felt able to better lead the organisation, interact with colleagues, had greater influence within the business and achieved “Peak Performance”