Case Studies and Testimonials

Coaching and Mentoring

Case Study #1: Redundancy and new role

The client: David had worked with the same organisation for the last 14 years and was facing redundancy in the next three months. He was already in a Senior Finance role and had achieved good results.

The issue: It had been a long time since David had been on the job market. He was not clear on what he wanted next or on what he had to offer.

The process: Our starting point was to get David to understand himself and what really mattered to him. We then moved on clarifying what he wanted from his next role and exploring what he offered potential employers. Having completed this discovery phase, we then spent time on his curriculum vitae and his interview skills.

The outcome: Just 4 weeks after starting working together, David was able to secure a Senior Finance role in an organisation in a sector that he was interested in and was in line with his values. David commented that our sessions had helped him to identify what he really valued, enabled him to identify the vast range of skills, knowledge and personal attributes that he possessed, supported him in creating a powerful CV and got him to a position where he performed much more effectively in interviews.

He also said "I am sure it would have taken me far longer to secure a job had I been left to my own devices."

Case Study #2: Developing as a manager

The client: Sue is Financial Controller of a major transport organisation who had a track record for delivering high quality financial information.

The issue: While Sue knew that she was a great technical accountant, she lacked confidence in her management capabilities.

The process: Our initial focus was on helping Sue to recognise her significant achievements, skills and the self imposed barriers that were holding her back as a manager. We then spent a lot of time on building her skills through role play, discussion and Sue putting into practice her new learning between sessions.

The outcome: Sue has developed a whole set of management competencies that she is putting into practice day to day and is also using as the foundations for realising personal ambitions.

Case Study #3: Starting a business

The client: Bridget was an experienced leader in education and wanted to set up her own business.

The issue: Bridget had worked at a senior level in education but had no experience of setting up a business, attracting clients, making money. In addition, she was unclear about who she wanted to work with.

The process: In our initial sessions we spent time on getting things in place to get the business moving. As we moved into action, resistance and some fears started to appear which we worked through. As we moved forward, the sessions became a mixture of working on specific business building activities and on wider lifestyle issues. The key was continually re-designing how we worked to make it as powerful as possible.

The outcome: Bridget made huge progress and is now reaching the point where she has to make powerful choices so that she does not become overloaded.

She said "I realise that, over this last year, I have truly found my niche. I consider my areas of expertise to be Leadership, Management and Collaborative Practice. It is the challenges within these areas that truly drive me.

In working with you, I understand my strengths and how to use these more effectively; I have the confidence to take work on or turn it away. I am much thicker skinned and take far less personally, instead looking at the learning each opportunity brings.

How I use you as my coach has also changed and developed. At one point, I was very reliant on you to affirm, acknowledge and support my very small steps into independence - like a toddler learning to walk, turning for approval from a parent. Now I feel I use you more to challenge, provoke and stretch my thinking and direction. You really are throwing down the gauntlet to me to step into my power and see what happens. Instead of having a nervousness in the pit of my stomach as I peer over the edge of the unknown, I am looking and leaping! All this AND I am afraid of heights!

I was playing with an aspiration of a six figure income. Now I am in that bracket and, instead, am looking at how to keep my work-life balance and earn 'enough', taking on work that I love. My parameters have changed. I am no longer money focused but am instead energy and family focused. What amazes me is I can have these parameters met AND still bring in a large income in these times of financial constraints.

I realise that, as a business-woman, I need to be strong. You allow me to be honest, with all that this brings; owning up to my strengths, fears and weaknesses. I can share my worst fears and highest hopes and know that each will be received positively."

"Having reflected on the coaching sessions I have found them to an invaluable tool for assessing my own capability in performing my role and to gain a collection of ideas that I can use to further develop in my career and in life outside of work. Talking to someone who is not directly involved in my role or my employer was important - it encouraged me to open up more and I have benefited from the feedback, interpretation and unbiased opinion.

I like to talk openly and the sessions were a very positive stimulant - they made me think quiet hard about the values I have and helped me to understand that there are sometimes undiscovered ideas, as well as skills, that are not utilised or realised often enough.

During the coaching sessions I agreed to take forward some actions and always felt encouraged to tackle situations or challenges I encountered. The sessions included looking at strengths, areas for improvement, aspirations, career development, achievements and lifelong ambitions.

I would recommend that anyone who considers having coaching sessions enters into them without any pre-conceived ideas and talks honestly and openly – I used this approach and I gained a lot in a very short amount of time."

Kurt Djemal,
Microbiology Laboratory Manager
Dartford & Gravesham NHS Trust

"Thank you for the coaching session yesterday.

It was again very helpful in that it enabled me to pull together my thoughts and questions that have evolved from attending the leadership and management course. Key areas of focus for future development were identified as well as valuable pointers for the preparation of future project posters and presentation.

Previous discussion of areas highlighted from the leadership impact report and the 360 feedback assessment enabled me to focus on weaker areas of my leadership and management approaches and identify ways to improve these.

I found that your approach was open and friendly with the ability to suggest improvements in the weak areas identified without appearing to be critical or judgemental.

I would wholly recommend your coaching sessions to others who need similar help and support in these areas."

Graham Terrey
Head Biomedical Scientist in the Microbiology and Infection Service
Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton

Training Courses

KPI workshops: Measures That Matter

The client: CIMA, The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, is a global accountancy body with over 171,000 members and students worldwide.

The requirement: CIMA approached us to discuss the possibility of us designing and delivering a half day workshop on key performance indicators as part of their CPD Technical Update programme. The workshops were to be delivered at various venues across the UK.

Our approach: We met with the client to discuss objectives and brainstorm potential approaches that we could take. As a result of this meeting we agreed an approach that provided an element of presentation, facilitation and practical case studies.

The results: The events have proved incredibly popular, with over 150 senior financial professionals attending the first three workshops. Delegate feedback on the value included the following:

• Provided a structure that we can use in our current policy deployment process to help all managers develop their own KPIs in a consistent manner
• Encourages organisations to think about spending time on what will make a positive influence on results
• It has made me consider in more detail about how to develop KPIs - it has been thought provoking
• We are at present using KPIs that have been in for years and I'm not sure if they are relevant. This course shows they need to be addressed
• It will help me to focus on KPIs that will add value to my company and not just be introduced to comply with ISO requirements
• Making me think 'outside the box' and how to add value (i.e. not just number crunch)
• The event has given me a new look and different perspective on KPIs and how to structure the review and creation of new KPIs

Leadership Skills for Doctors

The client: The Welsh Deanery is responsible for postgraduate medical and dental education across the whole of Wales.

The requirement: The Deanery invited bids from organisations to develop, design and deliver a 1 day Leadership Skills for doctors whose next career step would be to Consultant.

Our approach: We proposed a training programme which kept the level of theory on the day to a minimum. Core to this was a series of practical activities based around real life scenarios they could face in their role as Clinical Leaders.

The results: The feedback from the events has been extremely positive. Over 250 doctors attended the training since 2008/09 with around 75% rating the training as excellent or very good. In addition, delegates reported an increase of between 40 and 50% on their assessment of their understanding and skills in leadership at the end of the course compared to the start of the course.

Team Working For Doctors

The client: The Welsh Deanery is responsible for postgraduate medical and dental education across the whole of Wales.

The requirement: The Deanery sought bids for a programme that would enhance team leadership skills and equip the doctors to work effectively outside of their own areas of clinical expertise.

Our approach: We developed a programme that drew heavily on their existing experience of working in clinical teams. We also created opportunities for participants to experience how different teams in the NHS might view a problem. The day was designed to present opportunities to work on activities which sometimes required high levels of collaboration and at other times were competitive.

The results: Delegates were extremely supportive of the highly practical nature of the day. Over 250 doctors attended the training since 2008/09 with around 70% rating the training as excellent or very good.

Presentation Skills

The client: The South East Coast Strategic Health Authority takes the lead on Finance Skills Development across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

The requirement: The Authority sought our help to create an introductory level presentation skills course for those relatively new to giving formal presentations..

Our approach: We developed a highly practical course that provided the opportunity to learn, build confidence and put the learning into practice.

The results: 84% of those attendending rated the event excellent.

Speaking and Short Workshops

Coaching Skills for Accountants

This 90 minute workshop on behalf of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants South East was delivered to around 70 members and provided them with some practical hints and tips on how to coach others that they managed or lead.

In excess of 80% of those attending rated the short workshop as either good or very good. Specific delegate comments included:

"Given the depth of the subject I thought it was a highly effective session"

"Despite having received a fair amount of training in this area, Duncan provided some food for thought in his presentation methods, his willingness to take risk by coaching publicly. He also managed to demonstrate the power of great questioning in a short period of time and involve the audience"

"One of the best events I have attended for some time. It was just brilliant and I learned a lot from the evening"

Creating and Delivering Powerful Presentations

This two hour event was delivered on behalf of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants South East.

Delegate comments included:

"There was the right mix of theory and practical which made it very engaging"

"Duncan was very good at presenting which gave a good idea of how it should be done"

"It was an excellent introduction to creating and delivering presentations"

"I felt that it was pitched very well with just the right mix of information and practice"