{"id":2979,"date":"2019-07-31T21:39:41","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T21:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carolinegourlay.wordpress.com\/?p=2979"},"modified":"2021-06-01T11:56:01","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T11:56:01","slug":"a-leadership-coaching-journey-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carolinegourlay.co.uk\/a-leadership-coaching-journey-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 1: A leadership coaching journey \u2013 Improving working relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leadership coaching is one of the key services I offer but it’s not easy to explain what it’s actually like. So over the next couple of months I’m going to tell the story of one person’s coaching journey to try to bring it to life. This is a real client, who has kindly given his permission (thanks “Andrew”). Whilst it reflects his experience, I’ve changed some of the details to maintain his anonymity.<\/p>\n

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The client<\/h2>\n

Andrew was the newly appointed MD of a medium-sized IT company employing around 150 people. He had recently taken over from Tony, who retired after several decades in charge. Although Tony had seen Andrew as his natural successor, it wasn’t a universally popular appointment. Graham, the non-exec chair, had reservations and some of Andrew’s colleagues, who would now be working for him, were alarmed at his appointment. They saw him as a tough micro-manager. With Tony gone, Andrew was without his closest ally and there were rumours of possible resignations.<\/p>\n

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Why coaching?<\/h2>\n

Although Tony and Graham recommended that he get some support to step up to the top job, Andrew wasn’t sure. He’d been preparing himself to take over and felt ready. Once he actually got the corner office, however, the reality of being responsible for the whole organisation and having no one to confide in really hit home. He liked the idea of one-to-one support, tailored to his needs.<\/p>\n

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Why me as a coach?<\/h2>\n

My involvement had actually started earlier. Although Andrew was the heir apparent, the company still went through a rigorous competitive process to be sure.\u00a0 I carried out in-depth psychological assessments<\/a> of Andrew and an external candidate ahead of his appointment.<\/p>\n

For Andrew there were pros and cons to using me as a coach.\u00a0 I already knew a lot about him, which gave us a good starting point for coaching. However, not all of the things I’d uncovered were positive. There would be nowhere for him to hide. But we’d developed a good rapport and Andrew was up for it, so we embarked on a six-month coaching adventure – monthly two-hour, face-to-face sessions and telephone contact in between.<\/p>\n

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The starting point<\/h2>\n

We had three sources of information to draw on when working out where to start:<\/p>\n