My F4G coaching has been the most powerful professional experience of my career. Of particular value to me was to be released from the ‘shackles’ of the constraints imposed by major events in my life; and that being me is OK. I believe this coaching has provided me with the tools to be effective as a manager and leader and to operate and be influential on an enterprise-wide basis. Moreover, to seek solutions that are holistic and that ultimately will secure business growth. My personal passion for quality and doing the right thing for our whole business and for customers has, I believe, been strengthened through coaching. It has given me the tools to take these further into the organisation and I am looking forward to scaling more leadership heights moving forward. Thank you.
Since we began this Team Effectiveness Program six months ago, I and the team have moved away from focusing on and talking about short-term targets and issues to spending 50%+ of our time building the business for the next 12/15 months. We connect as people and Managers first, and we are proactively asking for and offering help. The team and each individual is so much stronger as a result. And commercial results have never been so good.
Before this programme, my Management Team was already delivering good business results. Now I know that we were a bunch of individual ‘experts’ who were micro-managing our functional areas to deliver targets. We have collectively increased our mutual trust levels and identified so many exciting areas for future growth. I hardly recognise our Management Team meetings. I have delegated 75% of BAU to the team and for the first time I’m focusing on strategic growth initiatives.
My coaching programme has been a life changing experience that has enabled me to gain greater understanding of myself and others. I have been able to develop my leadership and communication skills, enabling me to be more effective in my role as a director and to significantly improve my relationships with peers and subordinates.
My leadership coaching has been vital - without it, I know I would not have been ready for this new role. It has been instrumental in helping me manage up-line and to prepare strategic arguments for my boss by understanding his perspective.
I think I would have fallen into a negative mindset with some of the situations I have been faced with – but knowing the value of standing back has meant that nearly every time the result has been as I had hoped. It is as if I can engineer an outcome from a situation, which in the past I would have seen as a threat – which is very powerful.
I brought F4G into my business to work with my newly formed senior leadership team to help me ‘form’ the team. In particular to increase the camaraderie and trust at SLT meetings, to deliver a mindset change in the way actions were discussed and completed without delay or me chasing, and to signpost the requirement for increased innovative and creative thinking in the team. We achieved all of this and much more and I can see a vast improvement in the quality of dialogue in the SLT – or in smaller groups. We are practicing better listening, better challenge/support, asking more incisive questions, people are open to feedback and our team decision making is improved.
The position of CEO can be a lonely one, particularly when guidance, advice or indeed support is required. Going to colleagues or shareholders would be inappropriate and Foundations4Growth provides a confidential space to explore and learn new approaches to problems. Their input has resulted in significant added value to our business.
I have been on many management trainings before and this is the first time I have learnt how to be a more effective manager. These sessions are refreshingly practical and I find I am able to apply what I have learnt back in the work environment. Plus, now that we have completed Phase One of the Directors Programme, all of the Directors are more motivated, ‘buzzy’ and focussed. The whole team is acting faster and talking about acting less. We are now clear collectively and individually what we need to do to grow the business and we’re getting on with it.
