director support

a newly appointed operations director of a european media business requested individual support to optimise his leadership effectiveness from day one in his new role. A specific challenge was for him to demonstrate his ability and readiness for promotion into the role of Managing Director, when the current incumbent retired 12 months later.

one-to-one coaching and mentoring sessions with an experienced, senior consultant focused on identifying, developing and leveraging the director’s personally distinctive style of leadership, whilst broadening his skills and ability to lead the business.

initial sessions focused on surfacing the director’s underlying assumptions about leadership and on exploring the strengths and limitations of his style. Subsequent sessions focused on helping the director tackle, reflect upon and make sense of ongoing business issues and challenges.

exploration of business issues and challenges, during the sessions, illuminated individual and organisational development goals that were addressed over the course of this assignment. For example:

  • introducing transparent forecasting and reporting systems into the business
  • improving communication processes and practices
  • developing a three year business plan to increase revenue

each session with this director comprised a blend of high support, high challenge and workplace action. This sufficiently stretched him to demonstrate his broadened skill set and gain confidence in his ability to lead the business. Additionally, the experience gained from the practical assignments conducted between sessions, informed the director’s organisational development strategy which, helped influence the board’s decision to promote him to Managing Director.