One-to-one Coaching within the Directors of Finance Talent Pipeline Programme
Context
As part of a long-term learning partnership with NHS Wales Finance Academy, which has included various projects supporting their organisational development goals, we delivered a programme aimed at aspiring senior finance leaders working in Welsh NHS organisations. The programme had a robust admission process, ensuring those taking part were suitable candidates to form the next generation of talented Finance Directors in NHS Wales, as well as the right fit to benefit from the learning on offer.
Solution
As part of their bespoke development programme, each candidate benefited from the services of an experienced coach to help them reflect on their goals, frame their learning and better develop their potential. The purpose of this case study is to use real, anonymised quotes from one of these coaching relationships to illustrate the profoundly beneficial impact that one-to-one coaching can have on someone’s development – prompting them to think differently, self-reflect and – ultimately – find solutions to their challenges and make practical plans to solve their problems.
One of Eliesha’s experienced coaches, ‘Coach A’, was chosen to work with ‘Coachee B’, who joined the Directors of Finance Talent Pipeline whilst working as a Deputy Director of Finance:
Coach A:
“My coachee, had already undertaken a psychometric assessment which identified a couple of key areas for development – particularly around self-confidence and personal impact.
“We were able to have our first session face-to-face and we chose to have a walking session in a local park. This gave me the opportunity to not just listen to Coachee B and to offer them challenge and reflection on their words, but to also assess and provide insight on the way they carried and presented themself.”
Coachee B:
“Coach A stood out as a match for me – they were compassionate, kind and thoughtful. When they suggested that we go for a walk for our first session I knew I had made the right choice.”
Coach A:
“Coachee B is particularly calm and measured, with a high level of self-awareness, so we settled into a comfortable working practice of looking at what an ideal outcome would look and feel like and then examining the barriers and challenges to achieving it. I would ask questions to encourage Coachee B to verbalise their goals, thoughts and solutions; reflect back to them on what I was hearing and prompt them to focus on success and the steps towards it.
“In particular, we focused on their existing contributions to success and how that learning could be distilled and applied elsewhere.”
Coachee B:
“At each session I would throw a different challenge at them and they were always able to recognise what it was that I needed from our discussion. They were always able to pull something out of their bag of tricks to make me think in a different way, consider things differently or just ask a question that took my thinking somewhere new.
“The reflections on my progress that Coach A was able to offer were hugely valuable because of their independence, because they were outside of the situation and so didn’t have an investment in it.
Coach A:
“The sessions created a safe space for the exploration of challenges that were, at times, very personal. I have found that during the lockdown periods there has been an increase in coachees feeling isolated from their colleagues and potentially falling foul of ‘imposter syndrome’ as a result of missing the personal validations that can come via interactions with colleagues.
“Coachee B chose their over-arching goals around confidence and impact and then used each session to work through particular scenarios relating to those topics. With a limited set of just 6 sessions, it was important that we settled into a pattern of problem-solving and development so that Coachee B was, effectively, leading their own sessions by the end.
Coachee B:
“We met in person to start with but then had to switch to virtual. We made it work because we had to, and it did work. We were still able to talk and discuss, and at the end of each session we would review our work and plan for the next session depending on what was coming up and what I might need.
“Other interventions, such as training, are often about knowledge or technical skill. I can’t think of anything other than coaching that is so focused on personal development and the softer skills. I wanted to work on my confidence and I don’t know what other intervention could happen that would affect something like that so effectively. What’s missing isn’t knowledge or skill, it’s more personal, it’s about belief, feeling and thinking.“
Coach A:
“During an assignment I will review progress against our agreed goals and, as crucially, I am looking for the pattern of a problem to drop-off during our time working together.
“Coaching creates the ability to explore personal performance; it allows the coachee to organise their thoughts; it facilitates a reality check in a totally non-judgmental environment and enables the coachee to feel empowered because they are making their own decisions. In this way it accelerates personal development performance.”
Coachee B:
“From working our way through my challenges and achieving the goals that I set, I came away from the sessions with both tangible benefits, such as an improved CV, and other more personal benefits such as feeling differently about myself.
“As a result of the experience and the way in which we worked together I feel able to apply the approach to my challenges. The coaching the process of asking questions and reflecting has become second nature and so I am now able to challenge myself and ask myself questions in the same way in order to find solutions that I can now work on.”
Outcome
The one-to-one coaching that Coachee B received was just one part of their wider development programme but, as you can see, had a profound effect on their ability to reflect on, manage and, ultimately, improve their own performance – an essential trait for their future as a Finance Director within the Welsh NHS.
