One-to-one coaching for a senior member of non-academic staff as she undertook a strategic review of her team.
Three coaching objectives were established by the coachee: (1) to support her in the strategic review of her team; (2) to help her explore ways to create time to complete her strategic review; and (3) to equip her with tools and techniques to improve her effectiveness when thinking through complex problems.
We met for six ninety-minute sessions over a nine-month period, meeting early in the morning to suit the coachee’s work patterns. Some sessions focussed specifically on her coaching objectives while others were spent considering other pressing matters such as effectively managing personality conflicts within the team. Using Stephen Covey’s Circle of Influence/Concern helped the coachee re-frame her view of what she could realistically achieve. This in turn helped her shift away from her apprehension that the strategic review of her team felt like ‘navel-gazing’ in the context of her being a ‘do-er’.
When we reviewed our work together the coachee reported significant improvements against each of her objectives. She also reported managing her time differently by delegating more, realising that ‘less is more’, preparing differently for meetings by focussing on purpose and desired outcome and learning to accept things about herself and others and letting go of matters outside her control.