Credit Suisse Case Study
- Client:
- Credit Suisse
- Project:
- Executive coaching for senior managers
"My coach has helped me deal with issues of trust within the team, and enabled me to create a much more productive atmosphere."
European Operations Group Manager
Result: The group gained the following:
- They moved from being short-term focused and frantically busy people to strategically aware leaders who were no longer distracted by unimportant 'urgent' tasks.
- No longer aloof and hierarchically dependent, the directors began managing their teams in a way that was inclusive, seeking synergies where they existed and putting aside internal competition.
- They also became less reactive 'passers-on' of directives, and instead set inspirational and challenging examples for their teams.
- They adopted a more external, customer-focused perspective.
Situation: We began work with a group of directors in the European and Global Operations division of the international investment bank, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). The bank was at that time going through a period of critical transition, which involved a dramatic headcount reduction within the operations division.
Task: The directors in question required support to enable them to encourage, motivate, and lead their teams through what was a difficult change. At the same time they were required to maintain a high level of operational expertise and remain focused on bottom-line business priorities.
Action: Our team worked with the group to design a series of sessions with a clear focus on specific, measurable objectives. These were strongly aligned with the division's own set of leadership competencies, to ensure that the language, culture, and context of the organisation fully informed our work.
We worked with 360° feedback data to aid the directors' self-understanding in the areas of personal impact and influence, communication, and teamwork. This work was reinforced using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator TM, which proved an excellent way of providing a 'softer' vocabulary for the group to discuss some of the more intangible issues they were facing.
Feedback:
"Having a new role, and moving away from direct programme management into wider, more strategic programme direction, meant I needed to review and improve my people management skills. My coach helped me to think about my style differently, and to work effectively within the organisational politics."
Global Head of Strategic Change
