Setting the scene:
Identifying the right candidate to succeed a Group Managing Director (GMD) in a large organization can be a taunting task especially where there is no clear successor. Coaching often provides an ideal opportunity for the internal potential successors to take a moment to reflect on their readiness to take on such an onerous responsibility.
Scenario:
A large financial institution with branches in East Africa region set out to identify the successor for the GMD position. An internal scan indicated possible candidates but there was no clear successor. My client, a General Manager of a subsidiary financial institution operating in a highly volatile economy was one of the contenders. Our meeting with his sponsor gave us clarity of the size of the challenge ahead. This included helping my client improve his strategic thinking capability with the big picture in focus, increase his versatility, widen his perspectives and develop ability to stand out as the leader among equals. A review of his leadership versatility index (LVI) revealed that he was very strong in operations but had challenges in the areas of being strategic, forceful and enabling.
Our Approach:
Armed with the above knowledge and an extremely passionate client, the coach met the client online for next six months. In each session, the coach challenged the client to develop an open mind, broaden his view of the organization and use current team to test insights gained and tools developed.
Outcomes:
At the end of the coaching period, the client had significantly increased his visibility, created more time for strategic thinking , had become comfortable dealing with ambiguity, more visionary, more adaptable and absolutely confident. Our client was among the top two candidates for the role losing only on the account of the size of the team he had managed.
“I am the coach for top leaders who want to dramatically transform their leadership style “
