Jeff Jones, a Vice President in an international engineering firm, started coaching to help him transition from operating as a team manager to one of the firm’s senior leaders.  Initially, our focus was to increase Jeff’s self-awareness.  I interviewed several of Jeff’s key co-workers and provided him with a themed feedback report.  The feedback was constructive because the input was objective, and his co-workers would not have shared this information directly with him.

Also, we used assessment tools to gain greater self-awareness.  The Kolbe A Index revealed that Jeff solves problems in great detail, with a strategic and procedural perspective and a need for stability. Jeff found the insights to be spot on, so we created strategies to leverage his talents.

The Realise2 strengths assessment provided the most dramatic insights to create real leadership change.   It reported that Jeff was at his best when he was working on mission and solving complex problems.  It also revealed that although he was adept at working with a keen sense of work ethic, this work ethic actually exhausted him.

We did a couple of things to fine-tune Jeff’s approach. First, we detailed tasks that he engaged in when he was using his “work ethic.”  Jeff realized that he needed to delegate these tasks (i.e., project management) to his team.  He is probably one of the best project managers in the firm; however, he needed to provide leadership to those whose jobs it was to deliver the project management.  Jeff rationalized that he was so adept at managing projects, it was easier not to delegate.  This was a huge wake-up call.

Next, we wrote a LEADERSHIP MISSION STATEMENT.  Jeff used this mission statement as a guide to provide a focus; we knew that working from a place of “mission” energized him.     He could come back to the statement when he was determining how to use his time best.  This is his Leadership Mission Statement:

At first, Jeff found remembering the insights and the mission statement difficult.  Over time, he watched himself for what gave him energy or depleted it.  Jeff naturally moved into spending more of his time leading as he had defined in the mission statement, ensuring he was delegating consistently.

Jeff was thrilled with the new energy level he had for work and developed a deeper understanding of how to contribute more powerfully to the firm without being so exhausted each day.  He moved his focus from mostly managing his teams to taking on more significant issues facing how work gets done throughout the firm.  This allowed him to use his energizing strengths while providing a tremendous contribution to the firm’s results.

Since beginning coaching, Jeff has been promoted to Senior Vice President, and just recently, the firm recognized the significant contributions he is making and asked him to lead additional teams.  Interestingly, he is now leading double the teams and employees than when he began the coaching work and has much better energy!   He attributes the energy increase to greater self-awareness, embracing his leadership mission statement, and leveraging his strengths.

It is a delight to hear the excitement and energy Jeff has for his work!