5 Examples of How Executive Coaching Uncovers Hidden Strengths
Uncovering hidden strengths can transform an executive's leadership journey in unimaginable ways. Insights from a Founder & Creative Director and an Executive Communication Coach reveal groundbreaking strategies for identifying and utilizing these strengths. Learn how strategic vision can empower leaders in the first insight and the impact of incorporating storytelling in presentations in the last. With a total of five expert insights, this article promises to elevate your understanding of effective executive development.
- Empower Through Strategic Vision
- Leverage Humor and Metaphors
- Highlight Impact Over Titles
- Transform Accommodating Into Leadership
- Incorporate Storytelling in Presentations
Empower Through Strategic Vision
At FemFounder and Marquet Media, I worked with an executive who struggled with delegation, often taking on too many tasks herself. After discussing her strengths and interests, we realized her hidden strength was strategic vision and leadership rather than day-to-day operations.
I helped her focus on empowering her team by identifying key areas where she could delegate effectively, allowing her to focus on long-term strategy and business development. This shift relieved her stress and increased overall team productivity, leading to more innovative solutions and a 20% increase in project efficiency. The impact was clear: by leveraging her leadership strength, she could drive the company forward while fostering a more empowered and engaged team.
Leverage Humor and Metaphors
I worked with a biotech client who felt uncomfortable leading meetings with company colleagues. He would hold back on expressing opinions and was told by his manager to increase his amount of talking. He was referred to me in order to enhance his visibility and impact as a speaker and leader.
As we developed our coaching relationship, I noted and affirmed his sharp sense of humor and use of metaphors and quotes. As a result, he used that strength to begin each meeting with anecdotes, quotes, or metaphors—and received positive reactions from the group. As an example, when his company received a bit of negative publicity due to delayed clinical trials, he quoted Mark Twain: "Whether it's good news or bad news, it's making the news that counts."
Highlight Impact Over Titles
I once coached a senior executive aiming for a C-level position—a step they had never taken before. Through in-depth discussions, we not only explored their strengths but also pinpointed gaps in their experience. By identifying these gaps, we could focus on their closest achievements to bridge them. We discovered they had been operating at a C-level scale without the official title. So, instead of focusing on titles in their resume, we highlighted the impact, scale, and responsibilities they had already been managing. This approach opened doors for favorable conversations and opportunities and empowered my client. They gained profound self-awareness and confidence in their readiness to take the leap to C-level.
Transform Accommodating Into Leadership
A VP was concerned she was 'too accommodating.' Some explorative questions about her childhood revealed she was the peacemaker in her chaotic upbringing, which led to an awareness of the strengths that she hyper-developed. Her approach with her org and her leadership shifted almost immediately, as 'accommodating' gave way to: deeply seeing people where they are, mediating her peer group toward alignment, and building the story of the way forward that everyone could get behind. By tapping into strengths, she became the key driver of the leadership team, and ultimately was tapped by the board to succeed the CEO.
Incorporate Storytelling in Presentations
I worked with an executive at YogiTimes who was great at strategy and data but had trouble getting people interested in their presentations. I saw that their presentations at a meeting were mostly about statistics and didn't have any human elements that would have made the data more interesting. I thought it would be a good idea for them to use a skill they hadn't been using much: telling stories. I told them to start thinking about the facts like they were a story with a start, middle, and end. Instead of just showing the numbers, they might also talk about how they showed growth, problems, and successes.
Things changed so much after we started doing this. A lot more people were interested in what the executives were talking about. To give you an example, they wouldn't just show a slide about sales growth; they would weave it into a story about how the company overcame early problems to get there and what that meant for the workers. Even the clients started to respond better as everyone paid more attention. After one of our storytelling sessions, a client who had been hesitant before agreed to do a big job. The change not only made the team work better, but it also helped the company get more project approvals and build stronger relationships with customers. It seemed like the facts had come to life.
