Supporting and challenging to increase confidence and capability during our client’s transition to CEO
EXECUTIVE COACHING
Background
LloydsDirect is an innovative and ethical presence in the world of pharmacy and is part of the Lloyds Pharmacy Group. Lloyds Direct became a B Corp in 2022 and is ambitious to build on its sustainability and ethical credentials. Part of this work is in its treatment of workers and their benefits. Lloyds Direct invests both time and financial resources in the development of its people and makes coaching available to its senior leaders.
Lloyds Direct appreciates the increasingly isolated state that the most senior leaders occupy. It is said that the higher up the ladder one gets, the lonelier it is. While ‘lonely’ is a subjective term, there is no question that senior leaders have fewer people to fall back on for support which is where coaching plays a critical role in the toolkit of a senior leader.
With new private equity ownership, new boss, new role and some other significant changes in personnel at senior leadership positions, senior executives and the wider ELT found themselves dealing with a lot of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.
Our task
Our task was to support a member of the ELT in the adoption of their new role as CEO. Bert Stemarthe from Motion Learning was commissioned to help in this endeavour. Bert worked with the individual to help them to understand and build their leadership presence, characterised as, ‘how do you turn up?’ Coach and coachee worked on using effective leadership styles, understanding the differences in power bases and how to use power in the most effective way.
Bert’s approach of not separating the person from the executive was profitable as they addressed the ambiguity that was faced and the emotional response to it, which can be overwhelming without the right support. In time, confidence has grown out of a clearer understanding of roles and responsibilities, a healthier relationship with control has also been a positive outcome and all these things have come together to allow this joint CEO to feel that they have greater impact on the organisation.
Provide meaningful support
Over a period of ten months, Bert met with the executive every two to six weeks, more often to begin with and less often as time went on. Bert was able to support the leader in their personal challenges that arose from outside work that were affecting performance within work. He was able to challenge long held beliefs and shed light on emotional responses that made the workplace more challenging by drawing on thousands of hours of therapy experience while maintaining clear coaching boundaries.
Drawing on his expertise as a Business and Organisational psychologist enabled him to share models of leadership, team building and other constructs of organisational dynamics that helped add clarity and direction to leadership challenges that were exceedingly complex and ever-changing.
Results
Our client continues to work with Bert and new goals have been set. However, the executive has already:
Made the transition to Joint CEO which involved taking on greater responsibility and exerting influence on the wider organisation.
Increased their confidence and belief in their personal capabilities in leading the organisation.
Gained greater confidence and belief in using different leadership styles and creating their leadership presence.
Developed their capabilities to achieve productive outcomes from difficult conversations.
Increased their understanding of their personal power and how to use it effectively.
All with the result of a far greater impact on the organisation through their positive leadership
“Bert is an excellent coach: I’ve found his style to be supportive and challenging in that I feel safe to bring all matters professional and personal to the coaching arena but he challenges me in my assumptions and natural responses.
I also appreciate the structure and frameworks he gives me to deal with different situations without judgement.”
