Whatever your political leaning, the result of the election and subsequent events are expected to lead to an era of compromise and collaboration in the new government. Hopefully this "new politics" will also hasten our economic recovery.  It has led us to contemplate how coaching may fit into and indeed contribute to the new order.

"Coaching can help us respond to a world beset by challenges with no predetermined answers as (it) creates a space where new solutions can emerge" (Dublin declaration on coaching, 2008). The current and emerging environment for business does not have clearly defined answers and may also require greater compromise and collaboration. 

We contemplated some of our experience over the past year, asking how that plays in this "new" world. Here we share with you our observations about what lessons we could learn from CEO's, about sales growth and performance.

Let us know what you think or get in touch to discuss any of the ideas in this newsletter:                                                                                                                                                           

Annelie Green

info@westminstercoaching.com                                                                                                            
0845 070 7320

David Griffiths

The last two years have produced numerous cases of eye-watering ineptitude and incompetence. Because of their high profiles, the respective falls from grace of some CEO's were spectacular. And yet their failings were only too human and not a special privilege of their exalted position. In other words, there are lessons to be learned by all of us.

The banking crisis and recession have produced examples of spectacular business failures. Whilst blame for this situation has been placed on exogenous factors such as the economy itself and overcapacity the spotlight has also been focused on the management style of the CEOs responsible. To what extent is it possible to single out human failure as the cause of loss and value destruction? And what does this human failure look like.

Taking the case of three contemporary executives who managed businesses which failed it is possible to identify some common threads

The first thread is absence of feedback, i.e. the unwillingness of the CEO concerned to receive critical comment from those closest to him. In extreme cases this leads to the “shoot the messenger” syndrome which has the effect that information particularly bad news is filtered thereby limiting the proper responses of senior management

The second thread is known as the over-optimism or overconfidence effect and the human tendency to select out only those facts and matters which support our own views. This is a form of perceptual distortion which has its roots in our unwillingness to face the facts.

Thirdly, the psychological dysfunction of loss aversion, i.e. the human tendency to take only few risks to make a small gain as opposed to taking bigger risks to avoid losses. This has the effect that a business in a loss making phase will take ever greater business risks either to recoup the situation or return to a previous pattern of growth.

It is apparent that these are common failings and are by no means the exclusive characteristic of the CEO who failed, whatever his prominence.They are only too human and shared by us all.

Read more about failed leaders on http://www.westminstercoaching.com/news/index.html, or click on the title of the article above
 

Gary Palmer

As the economy balances on the brink of recovery and many organisations have turned the cost cutting corner in order to protect the bottom line, attention is turning to top line (sales) as a means of breaking loose from the shackles of the recession.

It is fair to say that we have seen the full spectrum of responses to this challenge among our clients as they grapple with making reduced resource ends meet and achieve ever greater sales expectations - often with significantly reduced headcount. We have witnessed some incredible performance recovery where organisations have addressed the core principles of managing and driving sales performance with courage, determination and sensitivity.

Undoubtedly, these chastened times have caused many companies to rethink their marketing and sales strategy and many are fitter and better prepared as a result. Sales people have been properly performance managed (some of them for the first time in 10 years), many erstwhile salespeople under this level of scrutiny have fallen by the wayside and many have been re-energised by effective performance management; the best among them finding themselves in high demand across all sectors.

Companies have also been forced to rethink their marketing strategy and decide what their proposition to existing and prospective customers really is. Many have used the opportunity to close unprofitable lines of business, to focus on their key competencies and trim back to strong markets where they know they have a competitive position.

In all cases where we have seen a turnaround we have seen a focus on performance and in many cases this focus on performance has ignited extraordinary output - whether better thinking or greater activity - by many employees; salespeople chief among them.

So what part does coaching play in Driving Sales Performance?

 Read more about driving sales performance on http://www.westminstercoaching.com/news/index.html by clicking on the title of the article above

Annelie Green

What we are doing today is unlikely to be enough tomorrow and what we do as leaders today is unlikely to be enough to sustain our business in the long term. Ongoing management and a sharp focus on performance is the key to sustained success. 

We agree with Peter Hawkins that “your business culture will eat your strategy for breakfast”. If your leadership, culture and business processes are not supporting high performance, your business will not be achieving all it could and may even be sabotaging your success.

In our experience as Directors, MD's, Chairman and Non-Executive Directors of a number of highly successful businesses, we have seen what it takes to be a high performane business - not just for short term shareholder return, but sustained long term performance.

We have seen a thing or two about getting businesses to perform at their peak. How would you answer the following questions?

• How do I measure overall business performance?
• Are these the right measures?
• How fit is my business to sustain performance?
• How do I measure and manage people performance?
• Do I ever consider the performance of the Board? Can it be improved?
• How often do I give feedback on performance - good and bad?
• Do I have poeple on my team who do not perform, but I am not dealing with it?
• How effective is my Sales process? (or Finance, or Supply Chain, or Customer Services, etc)

We can only influence those things we pay attention to. Measuring is the start of that process. Performance improvement comes from what we choose to do about it.

What questions do you need to be asking to change the performance of your business?

Having spent 20 years in the IT industry, Gary Palmer’s role as business development director at Mitel Networks crystallised his fascination in the behaviour and psychology of success in business and set a whole new career direction.

Following a return to study he founded his training and executive coaching practice in 2003 and has since worked with executives and senior managers across a wide range of organisations. As an associate of Ashridge Management College and the Lancaster University Management School, Gary has worked on issues of leadership with corporate executives, academic principals and directors of small businesses. His coaching and facilitation work has taken him around the globe with assignments in Europe, United States and the Far East (including China).

David Griffiths is a coach, mediator and practising solicitor. His coaching clients include managing partners of law firms as well as senior executives in commerce and higher education. He is responsible for the personal and professional development of lawyers at his former law firm where he works as a consultant.

David’s industry experience is in the legal world where for many years he was a senior partner in a leading regional law firm. He has acted as trusted adviser to both large PLC’s and individuals in conflict management. He is also an active and qualified mediator.

You can meet the whole team on http://www.westminstercoaching.com/about_us/our_team.html

info@westminstercoaching.com
www.westminstercoaching.com
0845 070 7320