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click here to read recent articles by Nanci Raphael at Ezine articles.
Read Nanci Raphael's article in
Personal Excellence
Premier Executive Coaching Firm for Visionary Organizations
"The goal of coaching is the goal of good management: to make the most of an organization's valuable resources."
~HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
Message from Sam Sklaroff
“As the CEO of an organization, large or small, it is lonely at the top. We spend time talking to our direct reports, our partners, our professional advisors and our peers. And although I enjoy speaking to them, they are not the people to be guiding me day in and day out with my own growth both professionally and personally. In the past I’ve been in various executive development and coaching programs. However, Nanci Raphael’s work with me was refreshingly different, and quite unique. Immediately I knew from the first time I sat down with her, that she would be the one coach who could take me and my team anywhere we wanted to go. And she did. Right away my every day, business as usual, thoughts and actions shifted to an extraordinary and exciting intensity. Amazing, unexpected results started showing up. Nanci creates a safe place to brag about your highest achievements and unload your worst defeats. You feel safe discussing and facing your biggest fears. In this secure environment, it was easy to clear the fog, make sound decisions and then act with strength and confidence. Nanci helped me hold myself accountable and follow through in the toughest of situations. After every meeting, I always gained clarity and found it much easier to be an effective leader. If you or your team are not getting the results that you want, then coaching with Nanci is a must!"
CLIENT RESULTS
Some of the coaching issues we’ve encountered and the results attained….
Burnt out and not attaining goals
Transitioned a negative organizational climate to one of accelerated performance and productivity with a more balanced lifestyle
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A difficult boss
Communicating clearly and effectively toward conflict resolution
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Promoted from a group of peers - to now manage them
Transitioning into a new role; empowerment and innovation leading to a cohesive team
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A partnership on the road to destruction
Driving results with a focus on commitment and alignment
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Fear of public speaking and self promotion
Projecting strong leadership qualities in stressful situations resulting in a promotion and a new found freedom
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Micro-management suffocating team
Focus on team building through delegation and succession planning
“I never cease to be amazed at the power of the coaching process to draw out the skills or talents that were previously hidden within an individual, and which invariably finds a way to solve a problem previously thought unsolvable.”
~John Russell, Managing Director, Harley-Davidson Europe Ltd.
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CLIENT CASE STUDIES
Carol is a vice president for a multi-billion dollar company. She was burnt out and feeling defeated upon entering coaching. With a loss of confidence she was unsure whether she could do the job anymore and considered moving to another position of lesser responsibility. One hundred million dollars under goal for the year with dissatisfied employees and direct reports leaving the company, Carol knew she was drowning. Her family life was suffering too; when she was at home, she was always trying to catch up on work.
We administered a 360-degree feedback survey and the responses were startling and illuminating for Carol. A plan was developed that challenged and tackled her barriers for more effective leadership, and a strategy was developed to stabilize her team and accelerate sales.
Carol began to take on a renewed outlook and approach to her role. Her communication skills sharpened and she stopped shying away from holding others accountable. The president of the company commented on her new confidence and revitalized leadership. By year end, Carol’s numbers were in the black. Her work was still demanding, but it took less effort to get the job done. She spent quality time with her children and began to enjoy a more balanced lifestyle.
Transitioned a negative organizational climate to one of accelerated performance and productivity with a more balanced lifestyle
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Issue
Don was promoted to an executive level position in a division of a multi-million dollar privately held, family-owned company. He disliked and avoided his new boss, the president of the division, who he claimed used intimidation to lead. Don’s passion for his company was dwindling… quickly. His attitude was contagious and it began to impact his team causing low morale and consequently, revenue loss. Don laid out his choices. He could leave the company, although that was not his first preference. He could ignore the president, knowing this would not solve his problem, or he could transfer to another role within the company.
Shortly into our coaching program, Don realized his boss was not the enemy. His state of anxiety had clouded his judgments. He confronted the president about their failing relationship and was surprised to discover that his boss felt the same way about him – intimidated. With communication lines now open, this once distant relationship shifted to one of respect.
Don was promoted again – this time by the president. With acquired tools for conflict resolution, he has become the spokesperson in the organization for compressing the layers between management and employees to create greater alignment.
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Coaching Result
Communicating clearly and effectively toward conflict resolution creating greater alignment
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Issue
John is a sales and marketing executive for a public company, recently promoted from a group of his peers. These peers became his new direct reports. John felt uncomfortable and awkward giving direction to this new group of managers, resulting in a decline of communication and team productivity. In the Leadership & Executive Development coaching program, John developed an action plan to involve his managers in more strategic planning and decision making, giving them greater responsibility. The corner was turned and his managers began to feel empowered – creating a cohesive team environment.
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Coaching Result
Transitioning into a new role; empowerment and innovation leading to a cohesive team
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Issue
A partnership on the road to destruction
Mark is a successful entrepreneur and owner of a $50M company. He has two partners who did not have confidence in his role as president, and continually undermined him. Their ongoing power struggle permeated the company and employees were operating as factions, not as a team. This impacted performance and results. Sales were inconsistent, and no one was holding the sales team accountable for their goals. Operations were ineffective and inefficient, and customer satisfaction had tanked.
Mark and his partners enrolled in our coaching program. A direct, honest and less destructive approach was created for giving feedback to each other. With a plan in place to create alignment amongst the partners, the focus was shifted to the health and future of the company. A rebirth of the organization began to take place. The partnership team learned how to communicate for results, not for annihilation. When alignment was present they could address problems and issues with quicker resolve. The directors of sales and operations were replaced. Customer satisfaction turned around and is currently on track to support the company’s mission for superior customer service. In addition to short term goals, a long range plan is now in effect. With stronger lines of communication occurring, more innovative thinking is present.
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Coaching Result
Driving results with a focus on commitment and alignment
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Issue
Fear of public speaking and self promotion
Karen is a senior manager of a service oriented company. She started at ground level and moved up through the ranks over a fifteen year period. Her feelings of inadequacy were heightened by not having attained a college degree. Others considered her to be a valued leader and people liked working for her. But Karen focused on her weaknesses. She continually overproduced as a function of needing to prove her self.
Public speaking was one of Karen’s greatest fears. Although she knew this would ruin her career, she continually refused assignments when asked to speak in front of groups. One-to-one conversations with her executive management were also difficult when she had to make requests, challenge decisions, or even discuss promotions.
Through executive coaching Karen became more confident and vocalized her opinions. She developed stronger communication skills speaking to small and large groups. Karen came to realize that she is a very engaging speaker beneath all of her hidden fears. She can captivate an audience naturally because she is genuine – she speaks from her heart - the most authentic communication of all. Karen is more engaging and light-hearted. She is a leader who reinvented herself.
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Coaching Result
Projecting strong leadership qualities in stressful situations resulting in a promotion plus a new found freedom
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Issue
Rob over-functioned. As an intense leader, he took his role and responsibilities seriously while continually reaching his goals. Rob came into coaching because he was overpowering, micro-managing, and suffocating his people. Delegation was not part of his vocabulary. His boss complained that Rob undermined his managers. Consequently he was not promoted by executive management, causing him additional frustration. He was burning out and beginning to show health problems.
In coaching, we explored the issues of control, delegation, and grooming his managers for advancement. Rob discovered that his issues were self-imposed and to break this cycle he switched gears to focus more on his team. He evaluated each of his managers determining if they were the right fit and then developed a succession plan for continual growth of his key employees. Shifting from micro-managing to delegating, he was building the foundation for a strong team. Rob now recognizes his staff more for their achievements than their failures. His health has improved and Rob is now viewed as a respected team player.
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Coaching Result
Focus on team building through delegation and succession planning
