Anne had worked for the same organization for nine years and had been promoted steadily until she was in senior management. However, she wasn’t happy.  Her social life was non-existent and she no longer wanted to live in the city housing corporate headquarters.  She wanted to move closer to her aging parents and extended family.  But she loved her work, and didn’t want to lose her expertise and seniority.  She was stuck.

Michele says: “In coaching, we explored Anne’s strengths, values, passions and goals. Anne came to the realization that she had the influence within her organization to ask for what she wanted – so she did.  She prepared a business case to move to her dream city and continue to work for the company, and presented it to her boss.  Within 24 hours, her proposal was accepted!”
Outcome: Anne now lives in her favorite city and continues to excel within her organization.

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Sandra had a particularly difficult challenge.  She was brought in to manage a team that had been leaderless for over a year.  The team was also all-male, and had difficulty adapting to a) having a woman for a boss, and b) having any boss at all.  Sandra was frustrated that her directions were not followed, her plans were not executed and her management was not accepted.

Michele says: “Sandra needed to learn how to be direct, and give feedback her team would listen to and respect. She needed to be clear about her expectations and clear about consequences for non-performance.  I counseled her to make one ally among her team – an ally that could serve as a bridge with the rest of the team, and build alliances for her.”

Outcome: Sandra did fire several of the team members who would not accept her leadership, which gave her the chance to fill the positions with her own selected people.  Today, she has a solid, high-performing team who consistently exceed expectations.

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Jeff’s organization is in constant go-go motion.  It’s fast-paced, it’s hectic, it’s results-oriented. As CEO, Jeff worried that the constant reaction to crisis prevented good communication and development of long-term strategy. At times, his leadership team worked at cross purposes because the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing.

Michele says: “We started by carving time out of Jeff’s schedule to work on his own vision for the organization, and focus on what was working as well as what wasn’t working.  From there, he could set goals, expectations and intentions. Clarifying his goals allowed Jeff to be in a better position to relay them to his team, and let them spread the vision throughout the organization. We also instituted a regular senior staff strategy process which helped smooth out the chaos and prevent problems.”

Outcome: The organization has been able to grow by 25% with a drop in team burnout/turnover and a significant increase in effectiveness.

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Tom had been with the same organization for over seven years and while he had received pay increases, his job title had never changed.  He was frustrated and concerned that he was not “seen” as a player.  How could he get that big title?

Michele says: “I asked Tom to look at who had been promoted in the organization – what did they do?  How were they different from Tom?  What did that tell him about what his organization valued?  Then, we looked at his past performance review and he began to deliver the results outlined by his boss.  Finally, he became more assertive in authentically ‘tooting his own horn.’”

Outcome: Tom walked into his next performance review, and before he could say anything, his boss said, “Congratulations!  You’re getting a new job title – you deserve it!”

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Lynn is a CEO viewed as a hotshot in her industry – but at age 47, she was ready for a change. She successfully sold her business and began to think about what was next.

Michele says: “Lynn defined herself by the CEO yardstick which held her back in many ways.  In a few months of solid work together, we uncovered her strengths, her interests, her passions, her life goals, and created an out-of-the-box strategy to completely change her professional life. “

Outcome: Lynn has pursued further education and is fully immersed in a new non-profit venture.  She reports that she’s having more fun than ever before.

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