Coaching for High Potential Leaders

The Challenge

Our client was seeking to support and accelerate the development of high potential talent from across the Asia Pacific region through a "Leadership Academy" program. The program included two cohorts of 20 who were the organisation’s leading "managers of managers" from Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The program aimed to:

– Prepare the next generation of leaders to step into larger responsibilities and roles.
– Close specific leadership gaps identified by various organisational and individual. assessment tools (including a need for the client’s leaders to become better at developing talent, developing people in general and giving timely and appropriate feedback).
– Expand perspectives and enable leaders to use different lenses to look at their role, the company, and the outside world.
– Build deep self-awareness in the new generation.
– Build realistic and actionable career development plans.

The Solution

IECL wove the above objectives into an intensive six day residential program which was the catalyst for self-reflection and personal leadership insights. The residential included a half day workshop delivered by IECL to introduce coaching. Each leader then received five IECL coaching sessions over a six month period in order to:
leverage the learning and deepen insights from the residential week, develop a Career Development Action plan, apply past knowledge and experience and reframe what they already knew to shape new thinking and behaviour, take action on the results of a 360 diagnostic each leader had undertaken at the start of the program.

The Results

The leaders reported that they received great value from IECL coaching. Leaders utilised coaching to explore the following issues and reported benefits in the following key areas:

– Career development including building a plan.
– Development as leaders including specific leadership issues (including preparing for performance conversations, understanding cultural differences and devising strategies to be flexible in different cultures).
– Stretching themselves as leaders to leave the comfort zone of their current leadership style and explore options for engaging with their team.
– Reflecting on their broader leadership status within the organisation.
– Embedding knowledge and skills gained through the initial residential.
– Utilising 360 results to be aware of potential derailers and understand more about their own leadership style.

The strength of "The Leadership Academy" initiative was also recognised by the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD). The program received an award from ASTD for "Excellence in Practice".