Strategic Team Coaching (Download)

Case Study

In the beginning of 2008, a large pharmaceutical Company in Japan began a transformation project with the goal of becoming a competitive specialty pharmaceutical company. The transformation project included two strategic initiatives: to implement a strategic alliance with a Japanese company and to restructure the organization to support the goal of becoming a competitive specialty pharmaceutical. The expected end result of the transformation was to create a highly competitive firm focused on specialty medicines that could generate profits in the short and medium term.

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WJM’s Strategic Team Coaching process offers a highly coordinated approach to developing the leadership capabilities of a team of senior executives that is tasked with a specific organizational objective or change. This pragmatic process facilitates both the execution of strategy and the development of leadership competencies in senior executives through an integrated approach to Executive Coaching.

Too often executive coaching is delivered in isolation. That is, an executive’s developmental objectives are determined relative to that particular executive’s personal strengths and opportunities for improvement, with little regard for any particular strategic, organizational objective, or for the development plans of fellow team members. Strategic Team Coaching aligns the entire team towards an outcome and links individual developmental goals to real strategic deliverables. The Coaching focuses on what is really important for achieving results. This powerful approach fosters coordination and cooperation across departmental and functional boundaries, and focuses Coaching on what really matters in accomplishing organizational goals.

WJM Associates offers a rigorously customized Team Coaching program designed to provide practical, long-term solutions to the specific business challenges faced by senior management teams.

Strategic Team Coaching is used to:

  • Improve team effectiveness and alignment
  • Develop and motivate senior leaders
  • Increase accountability among team members
  • Facilitate successful restructurings or other organizational change
  • Efficiently assimilate a new team leader
  • Implement strategic alliances

A team of WJM Executive Coaches, including one consultant acting as Lead Coach, works with the team of executives responsible for one or more strategic initiatives. The coaches are selected for their diversity of practice, experience in business, and sensitivity to cultural requirements. In addition to one-on-one coaching sessions with their coachees, the coaches meet monthly for mentoring sessions with the Lead Coach. During these meetings, organizational issues common to each executive are raised and feedback is given to the organization’s team leader along with suggestions for his or her review. Confidentiality of the individual coaching sessions is maintained throughout the engagement and the executives are encouraged to raise organizational issues that are discussed in the coaching sessions.
 

 
WJM's Strategic Coaching Approach

The team’s strategic plan is translated into achievable strategic objectives for each of the executives undergoing coaching.  These objectives describe in detail the role and responsibilities, including deliverables with deadlines, that each team member is responsible for vis-à-vis the team’s strategic plan.  These objectives will form the basis of measurement criteria used to later gauge the effectiveness of the Strategic Coaching program.
 

Each executive is assessed via a customized set of instruments designed to increase self-awareness and measure the team’s collective ability to execute the strategy.   Using this data, leadership competencies necessary to accomplish the team members’ strategic objectives are determined for each team member.  In addition, the Team Leader identifies particular skills based on corporate values that the coaches and their executives will also need to consider in their coaching contracts. 
 

The coach reviews all relevant data with the executive and then works with him or her and the Team Leader to create a developmental action plan, which leverages strengths and addresses the executive’s developmental opportunities.  The development plan will contain 2 - 3 actionable items to assist the executive in meeting his or her strategic objectives.
 

During six months of Coaching, the executive gains awareness of her/himself, leverages strengths, understands the impact he or she has on others, creates new alliances with the Leader, fellow team members and subordinates, applies new behaviors to see results in very specific business situations and transfers coaching skills to subordinates.
 

Each month while the individual coaching is being delivered, the coaches meet for mentoring sessions with the Lead Coach that raise organizational issues common to each executive and give feedback to the Team Leader along with suggestions for his review.  Confidentiality of the individual coaching sessions is maintained throughout the engagement and the executives are encouraged to raise organizational issues that are discussed in the coaching sessions with other team members and the Leader.
 

Measures of progress against the individual executive’s strategic objectives are collected and reviewed by the coaches and consolidated in a report to HR and the Team Leader.
 

Each executive is given homework to reflect on what worked in their coaching and to try out techniques to accomplish follow-on goals.  Several months later, a workshop is commenced, attended by both the Team and the coaches to review the coaching process, evaluate the homework results and practice new skills that would enhance the results of the program.