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An executive coaching client success story

Aug 24, 2020 | Executive Coaching Blogs, Gen X in the Workplace

Friends, by now you know that I love to share tips and tricks on how you can fix your hot messes! Today’s post is great if you’ve been asking “What is executive coaching?” after watching some of our videos.
 
This is a great success story from an executive coaching client who used our time together to improve his work and his team in 2020. It’s also a great example of Gen X in the workplace and indicative of some of the top frustrations of small business owners.
 
If this story inspires you, you can read more about executive coaching and team training opportunities with me, or schedule a time to see where your organization might benefit.
 

Here’s his story! 

My client and I got started with coaching right as COVID-19 was rocking the world. He’s on the partner track in a large accounting firm and needed help with time management.
 
My client has been with his firm for more than 15 years. As a proud Gen Xer, he learned from Baby Boomers and older Gen Xers how to be successful: work hard and fast; pick up skills along the way; support your manager whenever needed, and teach the younger generation when/if you can.
 
Baby Boomers often taught their staff how to work by throwing them into the deep end: sink or swim. Gen X in the workplace followed suit. They just learned how to work in these cultures and are often left perplexed with why this doesn’t work with Millennials. In contrast, Millennials were taught to learn with very specific instructions and feedback. Their expectation is that they are given swimming lessons with floaties on, not thrown into the deep end.
 
As my client learned during coaching, he also needed to take more responsibility for training his staff. He realized that what he was doing wasn’t working. He was teaching them, but not holding them accountable to really learning. He had a lot of late nights correcting his team’s work and a lot of projects that came in just under the wire.

Lead Kick Ass Meetings

Download this toolkit and you'll get resources to:

  • Easily manage task items from every meeting
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  • Have your staff turn in meaningful updates so meetings are shorter
  • Start meetings in an engaging way. Get everyone to laugh, not roll their eyes.

I see many managers doing this: skimping on their team’s development because they think it takes too much time. Then the manager is left with more work in the end because their team can’t deliver correctly.
 
During our coaching, my client learned that he didn’t need better time management skills. He needed to lead through his values in a new way and really take responsibility for engaging, training, and developing his junior staff. He couldn’t be freed up to do better work until they were too.
 
Once he saw his problems from a new perspective, he was a quick study! He even had a complex transaction a week ahead of schedule. His boss even noticed how much happier and confident he was.
 

Friends, these are my favorite stories. I’d love to add your executive coaching or team training success story to my growing list of happy clients! 

I hit a bump in the road. It became increasingly apparent that I had to learn new skills to help me lead rather than drive results. That’s where Stefanie’s guidance helped me become a better employee and a better manager. I learned to think about leadership in a different light. I learned how to challenge people in a way that made them feel the desire to do more for the team and for the company.

Using the skills I learned from Stefanie, I was able to transition into a new role in less than a year; a role specifically designed for talent management, learning, and developing others. Stefanie’s knowledge related to coaching has been instrumental in helping me learn to succeed in light of new demands and a changing cultural landscape.

Jamie, Director of Organizational Development and Learning

When we put our values into action,
incredible things can happen.

You might be a one-person show or leading a team, but my mission is always the same. How can we align your work with your values? And what can we do to launch your organization to the next level?

My work resonates with good people wanting to do great things. Whether you’re looking for an engaging speaker for your next event, someone to organize your team-building workshop, or a personal coach to accelerate your growth—I’m here for you!

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