TROUBLESHOOTER: BALL OF CONFUSION

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A university marketing admissions team have conflicting issues and goals. A coaching intervention has been offered. Can they make it work? The issue You’ve been invited to coach a team of six responsible for all marketing and admissions into a well-established university summer school programme. Team members have been in their roles from between 10 years to having just joined, and they have plenty of experience between them. From interviewing each of the team members in advance of a two-hour group session, you learn that: their targets are too challenging some don’t respect Jean, their boss, who is part of […]

TROUBLESHOOTER: THE SUM OF OUR PARTS

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A manager in an offshore bank is finding the jurisdictions under her control isolated and antagonistic. Can she improve this with a limited coaching budget?   The Issue Dani is a mid-level manager in an offshore bank responsible for regulatory compliance of anti-money laundering activities. She oversees the reporting of suspicious financial activity across six legal and financial jurisdictions in western Europe. Dani’s team is made up of reporting officers with sole responsibility for their respective jurisdictions. Two members support cross-jurisdiction issues. The team totals nine people, including Dani. But there are deep and long-standing issues. There is distrust and […]

TROUBLESHOOTER – SUCCESS ON A BUDGET

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A company has set up leadership teams across Europe which must be bedded in – but on a budget. How can its HR director deliver while keeping costs down?   THE ISSUE Ann is HR director in a global manufacturing organisation. Five new leadership teams with different functions and line managers have recently been set up across five locations in Europe. With new products, ways of working and potential changes in legislation, Ann wants to provide individual support for these leaders over the next 12 months as they ‘bed in’ to their new roles. She also wants them to grow […]

TROUBLESHOOTER: PICKING UP THE PIECES

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A serious case of workplace bullying, though resolved, continues to undermine the confidence of an otherwise ambitious manager. How can she move on? The issue Jenny is an ambitious senior manager in a public sector organisation who has been career ‘fast tracked’. During her early training she experienced a very unpleasant episode of bullying and harassment which severely undermined her confidence. She made a formal complaint and the individuals responsible were dealt with – something that ultimately led to their dismissal. Though Jenny received help and support to deal with the aftermath, she has always struggled to put the episode behind […]

TROUBLESHOOTER: CONFLICT RESOLUTION

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Friction within a team of healthcare consultants is being felt throughout the organisation. Can a team coaching intervention help heal the rift? THE ISSUE Marcus, the HR director in a healthcare organisation, is keen to find an intervention to reduce conflict in a team of consultants. The conflict has built up over a number of years, as two or three consultants have come into the team with a different skill set and more innovative approaches. There has been enthusiastic championing of innovative techniques and practices, with some positive impact on outcomes. However, as things have progressed, a surprising, persistent and deep […]

TROUBLESHOOTER: TAKE TIME TO COOL OFF

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An executive needs his team to ‘switch off’ after work, to reduce stress and thus increase productivity. Could virtual coaching help in this busy organisation? The issue John, a CEO at an engineering firm, wants to understand how virtual coaching could help him and his workforce develop a greater sense of well-being by improving personal effectiveness and productivity. In coaching, John explains that his team is capable and successful but his concern is that his people have an ‘always on’ mentality. They aren’t switching off during evenings and weekends. John says his team spends much of the day huddled in rooms […]

TROUBLESHOOTER: READY TO DIVE IN?

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A team coach faces a familiar situation and needs to decide whether the team is ready to be coached. Given the facts, would you coach them? The Issue You have been invited to meet the human resource director (HRD) of a FTSE 250 insurance business. You have a very close working relationship with her having been contracted as a team coach on several occasions in her last two organisations. The HRD is commissioning team coaching on behalf of the CEO. The company tried team coaching a few months earlier with the four members of the executive leadership team and 20 […]

TROUBLESHOOTER: WHERE ARE MY LOYALTIES?

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An internal coach discloses in supervision, client reports of bullying. She must take a stand but also she wants to leave. How can supervision help? The issue Beth is a highly qualified, experienced internal coach in a global organisation. She has been working with you, her supervisor, for six months, and is normally very upbeat when she comes to sessions. Today she’s come to her supervision with a frown on her face and her energy feels very different. She tells you that she’s been hearing in her coaching, and through her employee engagement role, stories about some disturbing behaviours. She’s […]

TROUBLESHOOTER: AN END TO HOSTILITIES

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A coach is getting confusing signals in his meetings with two leaders of an NGO. There is a distinct lack of trust and dynamics. How can he find a way forward? The Issue A coach is currently working with two board members and co-founders of an NGO, Sebastian and Mia. The overall agenda is to help the leaders improve their leadership capability. The coach feels that the topics being raised are not of great importance to the NGO or to the clients’ development as leaders. He feels there is underlying hostility between the two board members. At the last coaching […]

TROUBLESHOOTER: WHEN IS IT MY TURN?

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An ambitious account manager is ready to progress, but his CEO says he needs more development. He feels sidelined. How could coaching get him ‘unstuck’? The issue Paul is an account manager in a digital transformation agency. His team are responsible for delivering million-pound projects to the biggest, most well known businesses in operation today. He’s ambitious, with a growing family and lives in London. But Paul is very frustrated with his work life and his lack of progression. He really wants to make things work at the organisation, but he is prepared to leave if it doesn’t happen in […]