Director Development - Leadership Skills and Confidence
Client Organisation:
Scientific Sector Company
Position:
Departmental Director
Context:
The Director had been newly appointed within the last 6 months. He had moved into a niche business which,·despite an extensive background in the wider sector,·required a fairly steep learing curve in terms of product and niche market knowledge. This would have been true for almost anyone as the company was engaged in leading edge R&D and current legislation or best practice·for its products did not yet exist.
Rather than accept that anyone taking on the role would face a similarly steep learing curve, the newly appointed Director began to question his own abilities in the role. These doubts took hold and were cemented when another member of his management team began to question his decisions.
Eventually his doubts and lack of confidence·began to significantly affect his decision making and his confidence. The client organisation decided that his long term credibility was under threat if he didn't resolve the problem quickly.
Coaching Objectives:
A number of objectives were identified. As a matter of urgency he needed to gain control of the relationship with one of his subordinates, a particularly confident manager who had begun to question his decisions. Additionally his self confidence needed bolstering so that he was better able to·make and communicate decisions.
Format & Duration:
Two face to face meetings, follow up support and exercises by telephone and e-mail. The first face to face meeting focused on improving confidence and state whilst in work. This·work involved the use of NLP and specifically new code nlp state building games.·The second face to face was used to work through some personal effectiveness and management tools that were of specific relevance to his situation. Follow up support was provided by e-mail and telephone.
Outcomes:
The Director was quickly able to re-establish control in the relationship with his subordinate manager and reported that he quickly felt comfortable in communicating more and more of his decision making. In fact the entire issue seemed to revolve around his own self confidence and when that had improved so a direct improvement in performance followed.
Comments:
Self doubt in any leader is a major issue if it is not addressed quickly. Managers expect their leaders to be personally accountable for the decisions they make and credibility as a leader stems, in large part, from a congruent approach to communication. That is, demonstrating a real belief in what is being communicated.
Often what separates the truly high achievers from the merely adequate is that they have better control over their own internal states. This control equips them with a greater degree of behavioural flexibility whereby they can choose their responses to external events rather than external events dictating the results.