Case studies

Alison: moral and strategic dilemmas in an NHS hospital

Alison is an exceptional leader and now runs a large hospital in the NHS. Dream job turned to nightmare, at the point when she uncovered a major waiting list falsification.  How should Alison handle the aftermath?   Should she close Intensive Care beds at cost of patient safety?  Alison also revealed that the Secretary of State had rung her personally to pile on pressure. 

Through coaching, Alison developed both an interim and a longer-term financial recovery plan; kept the Health Authority at bay, agreed a media strategy, anticipated a call for merger with a bigger competitor trust and developed a contingency plan for handling it. 

Hanif: the first 100 days as a leader

Hanif is MD of a UK Division in an American-owned investment bank.  His wife is also Pakistani and he has 4 children growing up in the UK.  Hanif was sceptical about coaching. His worry was that he might appear to be a ‘weakling’. 

Hanif was amazed and cheered by the detailed report from his 360 feedback.  People saw him as good humoured, energising, inspirational – but also chronically disorganised, exasperating and most definitely not a leader – more a hands-on salesman – his previous role, in which he had been a star performer.

His coaching programme covered what leadership actually is, how to delegate; how to run a team meeting; how to work with his exasperated PA; how to control the boyish sense of humour which was sometimes being expressed in inappropriate ways.  Hanif’s Division has just reported record profits and Hanif makes a direct connection between this and his coaching.

Preston: how to get that job

Preston is a senior civil servant, preparing to compete for his first Director-level job.  A mid-term review had revealed that, while colleagues saw Preston as strong on the policy side with heavy-weight intellectual strengths, they found him somewhat lacking in personal impact.  More detailed feedback revealed that Preston could look under-confident at meetings or when giving presentations and, that in a previous job round, Preston had failed at the interview stage. 

His coach recommended a separate session with our voice specialist who immediately spotted some long-standing breathing, articulation and postural difficulties.  With a rigorous practice and exercise regime, Preston was quickly able to transform his oral communication.  Meanwhile, he and his coach prepared for the job interview.  Like many other clients, Preston had failed to realise the importance of giving real evidence of previous track record and had no technique for doing so.  He is now in that director role and is on track for further promotion.

Judy: getting a life

Judy works for an international financial services company.  She came for coaching because she reported that her stress levels were getting out of control.  Her long, long days and the many hours of international travel meant that she scarcely saw her husband and children. As the breadwinner in the family she felt under enormous pressure to achieve her targets.  She was putting her team under the same intense pressure and they had begun complaining that she was either bullying or by-passing them. 

Undertaking a battery of psychometric tests plus a full 360 feedback gave her a useful profile for understanding her own hot buttons.  She also realised that her strong drive to perfectionism was leading her to undertake tasks that should have been given to her team and that her excuses for not delegating did not stand up to closer scrutiny. Through coaching, Judy has learnt how to delegate, how to build a team and how to say no.  She has re-negotiated her role and re-located to Australia.  She now works a 4 day week of normal office hours and is considered a star performer and role model to other women in the firm – an example of how to hold a senior job and also have a life.