Sarah was a high level senior vice president, preparing for her promotion. She knew that in order to move up, she needed to be ready to replace herself. Leonard was her top choice. He had worked for her for several years; he was ambitious and hard working. He was familiar with the organization, and forthright in his opinions. He was effective in addressing customer complaints: calm, receptive, and reassuring. He wanted the job.
When we started our coaching sessions, Sarah was intellectually ready to think through a timeline for Leonard’s transition into her role. She expressed a few concerns she had about Leonard. She thought they could be addressed by having him work with a coach. Before we explored that possibility, I wanted to be sure Leonard knew of her concerns. More importantly, I wanted to be sure she was aware of her concerns. Sometimes when we’re on a path, with a goal in mind, we don’t even hear our reluctance or hesitation, but someone else can.
As we began to work together, Sarah shifted the spotlight from her logical analysis of why Leonard was the right choice, to a willingness to listen to her gut feeling. She changed from the thinking lens to the feeling lens. There was something in Leonard’s delivery which was a little too outspoken. He had an edge that was not consistent with their collegial culture. His humor was sometimes insulting. While he could be relied upon to deliver on results, he was not building strong relationships with other department heads. A few of the supervisors who worked for him complained about his black and white thinking, and blunt delivery.
At first Sarah was shining the light on her own goal of advancement, and using the logical thinking lens to enable that outcome. When she shined the light on her feeling of apprehension about her choice, she was able to connect more deeply to her own values, and to what mattered most in replacing herself.
If you find yourself thinking that someone else needs some executive coaching, check in with yourself:
- Reflect on the change someone else should make.
- Identify how you would benefit if that other person changed.
- Consider how you can gain that benefit with another action.
- Explore your own feelings about you in the situation.
- Consider how your own changes might yield the results you are wishing for.
Learn more about the different leadership lenses in this book, Zoom Leadership: Change Your Focus, Change Your Insights.