EXECUTIVE COACHING
Learning to let go… and ‘fly higher’
Situation
The verbal 360 feedback for this Country President surfaced blind-spots such as his direct reports feeling that he was not trusting them, was micromanaging too often, and discouraging their input by his love to ‘win over others’ in discussions. His peers mentioned he strived to appear ‘the smartest guy in the room’ and that was not benefitting his image.
At the same time, his business was delivering the strongest performance of all countries in Asia. The Country President had a genuine care for his people and saw himself as a generous leader. He had the ambition to become Regional President next.
Excerpts from our coaching work
We found out how part of what had made the Country President successful in the past (in particular all-round high performance-standards for self and others) was sub-optimal for greater achievements in his new position.
We then had to handle the natural fears of ‘letting go’ of perfectionism and build professional self-respect on new foundations.
The Country President chose specific new behaviors and we monitored their outcomes. He sent a note to all respondents in his verbal 360 feedback to thank them for their insights and inform them about what he was going to improve, inviting them to hold him accountable for the changes and feed him back as frequently as needed.
Outcome
He also evolved his posture in meetings, to help others contribute at their best instead of just contributing his best. As time passed, he received more and more feedback from stakeholders, and his boss told him his beliefs and behavioral shifts had brought him up to play at ‘the level above’ and that was favorable to his career development.