A director in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) prepares for a merger with another hospital. A coach will guide her through it. Yet the changes are unsettling and she feels she has no time for sessions
Carol, a woman in her late 40s, has been with the NHS for 20 years. She has worked her way up to director level. The hospital where she works is merging with another and she is feeling overwhelmed and overworked in preparation for this, a reaction that is taking her by surprise. Her teenage children need more attention as exams loom, and her husband has recently shared with her that he wants to take three years out to go to university. She has always led a busy life as a full-time working mother, yet now she is struggling in a way she has not experienced before.
Carol has a team of six direct reports who are also feeling demoralised and worried about their jobs. Each director has been asked to lead their teams through this complex change, while maintaining high morale and standards of patient care. Directors have been allocated an external leadership coach to support them through the merger. Carol likes the idea of leadership coaching but doesn’t know how she will find time for it.
Directors and coaches have gone through a matching process and each director has been allocated six in-person sessions. Coaches will be asked to share common themes that emerge, though not to disclose client information or discussion specifics.
Jan M Portillo – Leadership coach and consultant, Coaching Works!
My coaching conversations with Carol would focus on her strengths, and help her generate options in addressing current challenges. Together, we would design our coaching alliance in the initial session, to be conscious and intentional. Contracting would include respecting the confidentiality of client identity and coaching conversations. I would give Carol my code of ethics and agree logistics.
We would then clarify the key focuses, expectations and desired outcomes.
I would create a safe space, being fully present with Carol, listening for values and strengths, and inviting her to articulate:
- her context, successes and what she is proud of
- why she came into this service
- her current challenges
- what is important to her as a leader, and what impact she wants to have
- what she would like to be different
- what resources she has to help her become the leader she wants to be.
I would help her identify for herself what is working well; what she wants to develop and change; the strengths and support that could be leveraged or built on, and what else is desirable.
I would be curious, and notice shifts in energy and body signals, asking blank access questions such as: “What do you notice?”, to deepen exploration.
We would use reflection: tracking changes, reflecting on differences, and articulating how these have happened to deepen her learning.
I would challenge and support Carol’s reflection, learning and action to become the leader and person she aspires to be.
Deborah Price – Leadership trainer and executive coach, Deborah Price Consulting
Finding space for coaching, at any time, can be a challenge. For some it is a luxury; for others a potential waste of time – how will talking to a complete stranger help my situation?
At our first meeting I would address Carol’s concerns about the best use of her time, issues of confidentiality and what “sharing common themes” might mean.
Our outcome would be focused on her personal performance at work, which is being affected by a range of stresses and demands. She is experiencing an unexpected response to the situation – is this a natural part of the transition or is there something else going on?
Often, simply taking time to fully evaluate a situation can be enough to release some of the tension. To feel more resilient Carol would need sufficient respite to gain perspective and plan how to re-engage with her situation more effectively.
I would give Carol the chance to express her own needs and to make sure that her plan for moving through this transition is not focused solely on the needs of others. Carol needs to put herself as a priority and coaching can be a way for her to give herself some time out to think things through, reflect and prepare for each stage of this period in her life and the lives of those around her.
In taking care of herself, Carol is also role modelling the importance of self-care to others, and opening the way for discussions with her family and her team about their own self-care.
Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 5