Jane was recently promoted as head of Communications at a global company. She asked HR to engage her with an executive coach to "take her game to the next level." In our first meeting, she expressed her desire to transform the Communications function to become proactive in supporting business goals. This meant having timely knowledge of leadership thinking which would require regular access to the CEO and executive management who were busy with other priorities.
To influence outcomes, she needed to harness her strengths and have a plan of action. Together we started the process of identifying her past successes and underlying key strenghts. She excelled at strategic thinking and relationship building and had the courage to have difficult conversations and give candid advice.
Empowered by the coaching process she:
- initiated regular meetings with the CEO, making Communications' mission a management priority
- gained CEO's trust and helped him clarify and communicate his vision
- championed communication initiatives, proactively promoting CEO and company image in the press
- employed her strategic thinking to effectively manage reputational risk during market downturn
- became a trusted advisor to CEO with her courage to offer candid advice and received a promotion
- earned political capital to transform communications function to align with business objectives