Team Coaching Case Study: Building Trust, Strategic Focus and Leadership Cohesion
Team Coaching Case Study: Building Trust, Strategic Focus and Leadership Cohesion
The Challenge
A senior commercial leadership team in a global consumer business approached The Leadership Coaches at a time of significant change. The team had recently welcomed a new leader and was navigating structural shifts and evolving business priorities.
While highly capable, they recognised a need to strengthen collaboration, improve the quality of dialogue, and operate at a more strategic level. Discovery work revealed that discussions often focused on operational detail, with limited peer challenge and a tendency to avoid difficult conversations, limiting the team’s ability to lead the wider business effectively.
Our Approach
The Leadership Coaches began with a comprehensive needs analysis, including team interviews, stakeholder discussions, and observation of meetings.
From this, clear priorities emerged:
Build psychological safety and openness.
Develop the ability to hold courageous, constructive conversations.
Strengthen collective strategic thinking.
Embed accountability and shared ownership.
A series of team coaching sessions delivered over twelve months supported the team to reflect, challenge, and grow together. Mid-point and end-poit reviews provided space to evaluate progress and refine focus areas, ensuring that learning translated directly into practical business outcomes.
Tangible Outcomes
By the end of the programme, the team demonstrated significant behavioural and cultural shifts that directly enhanced leadership effectiveness and, by extension, organisational performance:
Open, composed dialogue: Leaders now engage in robust discussions without emotional charge, enabling faster, more confident decision-making.
Greater professional vulnerability: The team became more open to feedback and self-reflection, a vital foundation for high performance and continuous improvement.
Improved collaboration and trust: Members described the team as more cohesive, supportive, and aligned, reducing friction and increasing delivery efficiency.
Strategic thinking in action: Meetings were restructured to prioritise long-term focus. This sustained change allowed the team to better anticipate challenges, align resources, and drive results across the business.
These changes have strengthened leadership capability and clarity of focus, outcomes that research consistently links to improved engagement, innovation, and bottom-line growth.
Lasting Impact
The team has evolved from a group of capable individuals into a unified leadership group operating with shared purpose and courage. Their increased openness, trust, and strategic discipline continue to influence the wider organisation, shaping a culture where leaders challenge well, make better decisions, and drive collective success.
“We’ve learned to speak openly without conflict, that’s been transformative for us as a leadership team.” Senior Leadership Team Member
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