Client Stories: Leadership Coaching
Enhancing Your Leadership
Stephanie had been a star performer all her life, though you would never know it from her understated style. Graduating at the top of her class from world class educational institutions, both college and business school, she had worked hard to gain her current position, one that recognized her business acumen, creative thinking, and drive toward process improvement and innovation. Stephanie could and did effectively juggle more concepts, functions and outcomes in a week than many of us do in a month. Her performance reviews consistently reflected her intelligence, creativity, perseverance, and drive toward results, but they also showed the down side of her laser mind: people sometimes felt she was racing ahead without having listened, and complained that she didn't take time for the small talk or personal affiliations that often help people round out their work experience.
Stephanie recognized that when one reaches a certain level in upper management, personal development is about fine-tuning skills that are already pretty strong. She had been able to get valuable information about areas for improvement through a 360-degree assessment, and to her credit, was open to receiving feedback; in fact, she invited it. Wisely, Stephanie concluded that, "these assessments are only useful when accompanied by a development plan that helps me to figure out how to strengthen the weak areas." She also realized that her boss, the CEO, "doesn't have the time to help with this, and courses aren't specific enough to meet my needs."
That is where executive coaching—specifically Wynne Miller—fits so well. Wynne encourages me to find ways that I can naturally expand into areas that need strengthening, stretching just enough out of my comfort zone. She then supplements this with objective and very specific ideas that are tailored for me, and follows up to see if these ideas are working. It helps, too, that she reminds me to celebrate when I do show progress. I'm always encouraged after meeting with Wynne—she clearly wants me to realize my full potential within the context of my personal and professional goals, and helps me to find the right path to take to achieve this. Based on my recent assessment, I am a much more well-rounded person and a better leader since I started working with Wynne.
—Senior Vice President, Business Design, Medical Manufacturing