Promotion to head of sales at corporate level, under a new boss, simultaneously when the boss also has been promoted to the board of the company, leads to a 4-dimensional change for the VP sales. Recognising the complexity of the transition, the CHRO of the mid-size Pharma company invited me to coach and mentor the VP sales. In this blog, I share my case study and holistic approach to coaching and mentoring this client. I have changed all names to mask their identity.

Coaching Context

I was returning home after completing a coaching session. My friend and Managing director of a well-known psychometric assessment company called. He asked me if I would coach a recently promoted national sales head. The company is a mid-size Pharma company who is their long-term client. I agreed and he fixed my meeting with their Chief Human Resourcing Officer (CHRO), Modi.

Modi was eagerly awaiting to meet me. He explained “We have made important organizational changes at the top level”. Our head of sales who has been with the company for 35+ years retired 3 months ago. We have promoted, Sarika, head of marketing, to the board of the company. Sarika is now the Director of sales and marketing. We promoted Raman, General manager sales of one vertical, as Vice President Sales. Raman is now responsible for all verticals, reporting to Sarika.  Raman’s transition is complex. We have recognised that Raman will need an executive coach to help him transit to his new role.

Modi asked me to meet Raman for an initial chemistry meeting and let him know if I can accept this challenge. Modi had already told Raman to be available for a meeting with me. Raman joined us soon after, and we talked about the coaching process and my business & coaching experience. Raman was very happy. He said “Coaching and mentoring will certainly help me perform to my best as VP sales”. We agreed and signed the contract for eight sessions.

Raman’s Challenges

In the first session I asked Raman to describe his new and old role. I asked him “What will it take for him to be effective in his new role”. “What do you see as challenges as VP sales”. Raman wrote down several points on a white board. We looked at the list to group them under different headings. Soon Raman summarised that he will have challenges from four different dimensions described below.

• Raman’s scope has increased as he has to now lead 6 General managers of sales. The company has over 3000 employees in the sales. His previous peers are now reporting to him.

• Raman will need to align with his new boss Sarika. She is very knowledgeable. She is well read and has successfully handled marketing. Sarika also had a brilliant academic career. She is well connected to top doctors. However, the boss has not handled large sales team.

• Raman now participates in corporate meetings with the Managing director and other functional heads. These meetings are to discuss matters of business and strategic planning. Raman is required to head the sales operations and be strategic.

• Raman must connect well and build strategic alliances to work with heads of Manufacturing, R&D, Marketing, Finance, and HR

Raman’s leadership profile, strengths and development area

In our next session, we discussed the results from the Thomas PPA, and Big 5 assessment reports. (These assessments were done 6 months prior to coaching). The assessments confirmed Raman’s innate personality of being a people person (High “I” in DISC). He is a typical sales person who has reached his current level starting from lowest level in sales. He loves the connection he makes with his customers. He enjoys working in the field with the sales team and sharing his experiences of how to train on the job. Raman is very sincere and keen to learn. Raman is a good listener. He is process oriented.

Raman’s Thomas profile highlighted that his Stress levels were high. I asked questions to identify his sources of pressure. He self-identified his stress was due to managing time, managing resources and managing conflicts.

I probed to understand his concerns. We discovered:

a)    Raman has worked in sales all these years. He is not sure if he will be able to connect with other Vice Presidents and understand technical and financial aspects.

b)    Another question that was on his mind “How will I find time to deal with the increased breadth of my role?”

c)    Raman is not comfortable with conflicts. He feels stressed in meetings with Sarika. Sarika is known for giving new challenges frequently. He is worried, “Will I be able to align with her expectations?”. (Sarika has a High D in her DISC profile).

Strategy and Action Plan

I have found that the probability of success is high when you and people around you are happy. It is easy to create a happy environment. Simply appreciate and express gratitude to people who help you. I start my coaching sessions by exchanging happy stories, since the last session. I have noticed that storytelling is one of the best ways to unmask and reveal true feelings. I wanted him to feel comfortable that he can handle challenges as he himself has many strengths.  At the same time, he also needed to learn new skills.  At the end of second session, I gave him some introspection home work to do between our sessions.

a)    Write 3 happy stories every day. Three things that went well and why it went well.

b)    Look for people who helped and express gratitude to 3 people every day.

c)    Read Marshall Goldsmith’s book “What got you here will not get you there”.

d)    Write down “Who am I”. My strengths and My preferences. My dreams and aspirations. What I like and what I do not like. 

Meanwhile, as Raman has to work with various stake holders. I decided to carry out an interview based 360. I asked open ended questions and encourage the respondents to share some real-life examples. My questions were:

a)    What do you admire most about this person?

b)    Is there anything you dislike about him?  

c)    What in your opinion are his strength? Why do you believe so? Examples.

d)    What in your opinion are his weakness? Examples?

e)    What is one behavior that he should stop doing?

f)      What is one thing that he is not doing and will gain a lot by starting?

g)    When you hear this name, what are the top of mind words that come to your mind, spontaneously?

I interviewed his previous boss (who had retired), new boss Sarika, three peers and three subordinates to feedback to him at our next meeting.

In the next session, Raman was very pleased to share his happy stories. He also felt that giving gratitude helped him to see the positive contribution made by others. Raman had also started reading Marshall’s book and agreed to complete before the next session. I then gave him a “Gift of Truth” (I present my 360 report as gift of truth).

His homework following this session was to

a)    Continue noting three happy stories and giving gratitude every day.

b)    Complete reading the book.

c)    Review all reports given in the last two sessions and make a list of actions that he should start, stop, continue and modify.

d)    Thank all the stake holders that gave me time for preparing gift of truth.

In the 4th session Raman stared talking about the positive environment he was building around him. He felt that giving gratitude was beneficial. He also started appreciating the work done by people. He also reported that as he thanked stake holders for their feedback, they welcomed him and assured support in future. He had also completed reading Marshall’s book. He liked the book so much that he suggested his next level team to read the book.

Raman had also reviewed all the reports, and designed a 2x2 matrix that had the following axes: start, stop, continue and modify all completed with various actions.

We discussed the 2 x 2 matrix he presented. Raman then identified that he will work on:

a) Time management so that he can find time for his total portfolio

b) Delegation to motivate and empower his team

c) Networking with peers from other functions to understand them and their challenges.

d) Developing his communication style to resolve differing views with Sarika 

I was happy to note how Raman took a positive view and mindset to the situation, in particular.

“Conflict is an opportunity to solve differing views”.

Later in that session, we brain stormed and listed some of his and my suggestions and then he made his detailed action plan.

1.     Time Management.

I will review my diary on the last day of each month. I will classify my activities in a 2 X 2 matrix of Important and Urgent. At the start of each month, I will make a monthly plan. I will first provide time for Important and Urgent items. I will block one hour every day, for any unplanned/ short notice meetings, from my senior leaders (Call it VIP time). I will delegate all items which are not important. I will decide to do it myself or delegate important and not urgent items on case to case basis. I will review my diary at the end of each week, reflect on what I have accomplished. I will then revise my strategy and refresh my plan for next week. I will increase % of task completed against task planned, week after week.

2.     Delegation.

a)    I will connect with subordinates who were my peers. I will discuss with them what I prefer and what I do not prefer. I will talk to them on what I expect and ask them their expectations from me. We will develop job descriptions and KRA. We will agree to boundary. “What I will do and what you will do”.

b)    I will prepare a list of decisions and activities for delegation. I will discuss this list with my General Managers. I will provide their need for any training or information. Every week, I will review progress of learning and their motivation. I will ask “How can I help?”. I will ensure that each one has mastered the task. I do not want delegation to reverse in future. In effect I will certify the person for a particular activity.

3.     Networking with peers.

I will connect with VP of other functions. I will learn about their functions and their challenges. We will discuss how can we help each other. I will develop relation of mutual trust and respect with each of them. I will develop a measurement tool and measure my progress.

4.     Communication to resolve differing views.

Raman decided that I will focus with him on “how and what I respond”. Raman agreed that he will follow a three steps process.

a)    Listen to understand,

b)    Pause to think of response and

c)    Respond.

            How and what of response

i)               I will respond with Yes…and. I will avoid Yes…but.

ii)              I will respond to increase shared information by asking or telling as necessary.

iii)             I will respond to take discussions forward.

iv)            I will respond to make a bridge to connect two differing views.

v)             I will be open to experiment ideas. I will explore them by assessing and discussing consequences.

At the end of making his detailed action plan, I decided that Raman needed to start building a frame work so that once the coaching assignment is over, he can manage his own development as a leader.  I suggested that he could add,

5.     Share learning from coaching with his team.

6.  Ask for feedback from peers, subordinates and seniors once every two months

We discussed this action plan with Sarika. She liked this and said “Raman, please let me know how I can help you”.

Limiting beliefs

In the next session, as he updated me on his actions. I noticed that Raman was not making adequate efforts in delegation. I decided to help him uncover his limiting beliefs. He soon identified his self-limiting belief. “It is horrible when things are not the way I would like”. We then discussed and challenged if this was always true. Through our discussion he accepted that there can be different ways to reach a goal. He changed his discussion style from ‘how to achieve’ to ‘what to achieve’. He gave freedom to his subordinates to decide the process required to do the task. Raman was now aware of his limiting belief. This also helped him in responding to ideas and suggestions from Sarika.

Actions taken and Outcome

I started every session, by first discussing his happy stories. I found that by reviewing his stories of what had happened since our last session is a good way to measure the progress Raman has made in implementing his action plan. We talked about lessons from each of the stories. This helped Raman to reflect and see when and what worked best for him. He could then try to create similar environments and feel happy with the outcome. Raman continued to appreciate and express gratitude to people he worked with. This created good will for him in the minds of others. Raman also started noticing positive sides of people around him.

Raman maintained his diary very meticulously. He found that one hour a day, for VIP time was not adequate. He changed it to, one hour before lunch and one hour after lunch. He soon increased his % of accomplished task from 60 to 85. Raman was happy and his stress level reduced.

Raman was also able to command respect from his General managers. They were happy as Raman gave them freedom and also shared his new way of doing things. They started similar time management for their work. The whole process soon started cascading down.

Raman also plotted his progress to connect with peers on a spider diagram. We discussed this diagram in our coaching sessions, with focus on what he can do better in future.

Raman also practiced Listen- Pause and Respond. We discussed several situations of differences that he had with Sarika. Raman was feeling very unhappy about some of the views of Sarika. He was finding it hard to explain practical difficulties in implementing. Raman convinced her to meet more often and discuss issue by issue with open mind.

Raman also took feedback from various people. He used it to make an ongoing improvement in his approach.

Closing comments from sponsors.

I closed the Coaching assignment after 8 sessions. The closing session was with Sarika, CHRO Modi and Managing director. They all confirmed that there was a transformational change in the way Raman was leading. Modi’s comments were “I am very happy with the rigors of coaching process and the outcome”.

What worked well in this assignment

• Raman was very keen to make changes required to succeed in his new role. He maintained his coaching journal.

• Raman recognized that real source of pressure was within him. He needs to look at others from their lens.

• Raman shared lessons learnt from coaching session with his team. This increased his own commitment to make a change.

• When we started the journey, Raman had difficulties in keeping his daily commitments. He found concept of VIP time very useful. He kept to himself tasks that he can complete in the remaining time. His people were able to carry out tasks delegated. He was able to find time for strategic work.

• Raman viewed delegation as a process of certification. He validated that the person is now ready to handle on his own. He was able to minimise delegation upward.

• Actions were all connected. For example, increased delegation, helped in generating more time for managing corporate relationship and meetings. He was able to make meaningful contributions in strategic meetings because he connected with peers to know and understand work done by them.

My learnings and reflections

• A complex task can be accomplished by breaking it in to simpler “I can achieve” tasks.

• A Coach is like a catalyst. A right suggestion given will help ignite their thinking.  Once the flow of idea starts the coachee can generate solutions for his own situation. In this case, VIP time, certification before delegation and conflict arises due to differing views helped evolve his action plan.

Connect with Pradip Shroff on Linkedin

Pradip is a certified CEO Coach based in Mumbai, India. In last 9 years as CEO Coach, He has completed 55 Senior level Executive coaching assignments. He has done 4 Leadership Team coaching Programs. He has guided 30 Coach Interns of PG program in Executive coaching.

Pradip Shroff brings over 40 years of business experience, with 25 years at CEO level. He brings a strong business acumen and strategic thinking. He is very analytical and innovative in developing solutions. Pradip uses his corporate experience in his coaching assignment. He is a Case author in CFI's book "Are you ready for the corner office”.