SELECTED EXPERIENCE · ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE ADVISORY
SELECTED EXPERIENCE · ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE ADVISORY
When Leadership Development Alone Is Not Enough
Looking beyond an individual leadership challenge to understand the organizational conditions shaping performance.
The situation
An international organization wanted to strengthen leadership effectiveness and collaboration. Initial expectations focused on individual development, while the situation also raised questions about responsibilities, working relationships and organizational conditions.
The approach
From the outset, I worked closely with the respective leader to align expectations, understand the challenges and establish shared ownership of the process. I conducted confidential stakeholder conversations to identify recurring patterns, while the leader took an active role in exploring the situation, including conducting surveys that complemented the broader assessment. The findings revealed issues requiring action at different levels. Questions concerning organizational mandates, responsibilities and structural conditions were addressed with the sponsors. Leadership capabilities, behavior and personal ownership were explored directly with the leader. I presented my findings and possible approaches to the sponsors, who evaluated the options and decided on the organizational changes to pursue. Implementation combined leadership coaching, facilitated team development and advisory work on responsibilities and processes, with the leader actively involved throughout.
The outcome
Based on the findings, the sponsors clarified mandates and responsibilities and introduced changes to the organizational setup. The leader contributed to shaping these changes and increasingly took ownership of their implementation. Coaching and team development supported the leader in acting more proactively, strengthening collaboration and exercising leadership within the revised organizational setting.
The ON SILK perspective
A function’s performance is shaped not only by the capabilities of its leader, but also by mandates, expectations, processes and relationships across the organization. Meaningful change requires both: an organization willing to examine and adjust its conditions, and leaders willing to take ownership of what they can influence.