Executive Coaching: CEO, Marketing, and the Board of Directors
07/02/2018 1 Comment
In our series of blogs, we have been highlighting real scenarios where the use of an Executive Coach led to tangible business value.
Brad is the CEO of a major agricultural company, specializing in fruit farming, packaging, and distribution. Originally, Brad engaged our company for leadership training that he wanted to provide to his senior staff. As an add-on to the contract, Brad asked if one of our coaches could meet with him the next morning for a 1:1. I agreed to be Brad's coach --- and our planned 2-hour meeting lasted upwards of 4 hours.
To kick-off the meeting, Brad explained that his fruit business had been growing steadily for the past 15 years, however, in the last few years, he noticed a troubling flattening of demand...and surging costs. There were many factors to this issue, but after some conversation, we pinpointed the root cause at the Board of Directors-level, and their refusal to fund any Marketing efforts.
As we talked, it became evident that the Board of Directors held mixed views on Marketing. We talked about each Board member’s personality, and predicted their motivations for their opinions. Fortunately, the Board had a meeting within a week, and we used the whiteboard to create our action plan for Brad to “pre-sell” his Marketing ideas. Brad let me know that two of the Board members were highly influential at the meetings, and if he got them on board in advance of the meeting, he had a good shot at securing Marketing funds for the company.
Brad effectively used his coach to clarify his strategies - taking latent thoughts and developing tactical action plans. It's worth noting that Brad was able to influence the Board to take significant actions, including removing one resistant leader and launching a multi-million dollar Marketing campaign.
It is a fair to ask, “Well...would the CEO have come to those actions on his own anyway, without the coaching meeting?" We don’t know. We can say that we've seen numerous great ideas, laying dormant for years, springing to life after a few coaching sessions. If you'd like to speak with some of our clients, we'd be happy to furnish references.
For more on Executive Coaching, please contact us at admin@taflat.com.
Author
Jim Glantz is the Managing Partner of The Academy For Leadership And Training (TAFLAT). A 20+ year Executive of Organizational Development & Training, Jim holds a doctoral degree in Organizational Development and a Masters in Education from UCLA. Jim is an Associate Professor & the author of numerous articles.
Comments
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