Executive Coaching to Develop a Strategic Mindset
Worldwide, businesses and their people encounter challenges every single day. To keep up with the ever-changing demands of the landscape, now more than ever, senior leaders are working towards developing a strategic mindset to support them in identifying opportunities, overcoming challenges, and envisioning what the future may look like.
Recently, Changlei*, a senior leader, was recommended coaching by his sponsor, Alana*. After speaking with Changlei, Alana believed it was the right time for him to prioritise his development and put him forward for executive coaching.
Find out more about Changlei’s story and how he progressed through coaching below.
Changlei’s Leadership Situation
Having approached The Leadership Coaches about coaching, Alana put Changlei into contact with our Senior Leadership Team. From here, the team spent time learning more about him, his needs, and his aspirations following coaching.
Understanding that Changlei wanted to develop a strategic mindset and felt that barriers to change and a lack of strategic direction were amongst the factors holding him back from flourishing in his role, The Leadership Coaches matched him with executive coach Simon.
Beginning Executive Coaching
Over an agreed period, Changlei and his coach worked together to uncover what was holding him back from achieving his goals. They also discussed factors including:
What’s important to him when working with a coach.
What energises him.
What prevents him from being his best.
What saps him.
What brought him to coaching.
Where he wants to be at the end of his coaching journey.
In contracting the coaching relationship and understanding the answers to the above questions, Simon was able to support Changlei in progressing in his professional life.
Reflecting On His Journey Success
As their coaching sessions drew to a close, Changlei and Simon took a moment to reflect on the progress made. What once seemed like a challenge had grown into a newfound sense of confidence and clarity in Changlei's leadership capabilities.
With the support of coaching, Changlei noticed a shift in his approaches and found himself embracing strategic thinking. By adopting a more streamlined and forward-thinking mindset, he found himself able to navigate complex situations with ease. Not only did this lead to a reduction in the amount of time he spent in meetings, but it offered a more efficient use of time for both him and his team.
Using his time more efficiently, Changlei was able to offer further support to wider teams, which proved instrumental in fostering a collaborative and cohesive working environment. With clear goals in mind, everyone felt aligned and motivated to work towards a shared vision. Improved communication also fostered more deliberate interactions at work.
Although noticeable differences and benefits were felt by his team, Changlei shared that coaching had helped him widen his understanding and increase his confidence and self-perception. He now believed that he was able to have difficult conversations that he may not have previously felt comfortable having before coaching.
Business Value
After Changlei completed his coaching journey, Alana, his sponsor, took a moment to share some observations. She expressed how she had noticed changes in Changlei. Her perspective shed light on just how impactful the coaching experience had been for Changlei.
She remarked on his dedication and drive in tackling his workload, positioning him as a standout member of the senior team. Alana also noted the shift she had noticed in their conversations about Changlei's future.
Alana's reflections served as a reminder of the profound impact that executive coaching can have on professional development.
*Changlei and Alana: names have been changed for confidentiality purposes.
We Are Your One Stop Coaching Panel Provider
At The Leadership Coaches, we provided coaching to this client as a ‘one-stop panel provider’ where they had the opportunity to select from twenty executive coaches all under one roof. We do all the due diligence for them, and we also do the coach matching service if required.
Our coaching matching services see the coachee and our CEO, Zoé Lewis, having a conversation to establish their expectations of coaching and what’s important to them when working with a coach. Zoé then looks across the team and matches them with one or two coaches whom they review on the website and then have chemistry calls with those they resonate with.
All of this is completely free of charge – clients only start to pay once they’ve selected their coach and started working with them.