Unlocking team performance through collaborative leadership
International consulting firm
Industry:
Professional services
Role:
Head of Emerging Markets
Focus:
Leadership development and team performance
Impact & lasting value:
- More collaborative leadership
- More effective delegation
- Greater team empowerment and motivation
- Promotion following the engagement
- Highest-performing regional team within nine months
Client feedback:
360-degree feedback at the end of the engagement, and again six months later, confirmed sustained changes in leadership behavior, with the coachee demonstrating greater collaboration and more effective delegation.
Direct reports reported greater empowerment, motivation and satisfaction at work.
The coachee was subsequently promoted, and within nine months the Emerging Markets team became the highest-performing team in the North America business.
Moving from individual expertise to collaborative leadership
The Head of Emerging Markets at an international consulting firm was a highly effective individual contributor leading the fastest-growing area of the business through significant change and transition.
As the team expanded, the leadership demands of the role were changing. Continuing to operate as a “heroic” leader risked constraining both the coachee’s effectiveness and the development of the team around him.
To support continued growth, he needed to lead more collaboratively, work more effectively through others and create conditions for a high-performing team.
The organization had already invested in development. Twelve months earlier, the coachee had completed relevant internal training followed by six one-to-one coaching sessions. Initial changes appeared positive, but within three months of that coaching ending, previous behaviors had returned.
The challenge was therefore not simply to build greater awareness. It was to understand what was preventing sustained behavior change and help the coachee translate insight into lasting leadership practice.
Addressing the barriers preventing sustainable behavior change
The executive coaching engagement initially focused on helping the coachee understand why a more collaborative leadership style was essential in the context of the firm’s strategic priorities, business drivers and changing team environment.
Greater insight and self-awareness alone, however, were not enough to produce the necessary shift.
Using evidence-based coaching techniques, the work explored the competing commitments and behaviors that were limiting the coachee’s effectiveness. This included identifying patterns such as risk avoidance and perfectionism that were contributing to self-handicapping behavior and preventing sustained change.
The coaching therefore went beyond developing leadership techniques. It addressed the underlying factors keeping established behaviors in place, enabling the coachee to adopt a more collaborative approach with greater consistency.
360-degree feedback gathered through semi-structured interviews provided an external perspective on leadership behavior. Feedback was collected at the beginning and end of the engagement and again six months later, allowing behavioral change to be assessed over time rather than only at the conclusion of the coaching.
Key areas of focus
- Developing a more collaborative leadership style
- Leading effectively through others
- Strengthening delegation
- Identifying barriers to behavior change
- Addressing risk avoidance and perfectionism
- Building sustainable leadership behaviors
- Supporting the development of a high-performing team
Why the approach worked
- Coaching was grounded in the firm’s strategic and business context
- The work addressed underlying barriers rather than symptoms alone
- Evidence-based techniques supported sustainable behavioral change
- 360-degree feedback provided multiple stakeholder perspectives
- Follow-up feedback tested whether changes had been maintained
- Leadership development was directly connected to team effectiveness
Sustainable leadership change strengthened both individual effectiveness and team performance
The coachee adopted a more collaborative leadership approach, while follow-up feedback demonstrated that changes in delegation and leadership behavior were sustained beyond the engagement.
Leader
The coachee moved toward a more collaborative leadership style and became more effective at achieving results through others.
- More collaborative leadership behavior
- More effective and efficient delegation
- Greater ability to work through others
- Sustained behavioral change at six-month follow-up
- Promotion at the conclusion of the engagement
Teams
Direct reports experienced greater empowerment and motivation as leadership became more collaborative and responsibility was more effectively shared.
- Greater sense of empowerment
- Increased motivation
- Higher satisfaction at work
- More effective delegation
- Stronger conditions for team performance
Organization
Leadership development translated into measurable business value as the emerging markets team continued to grow and perform.
- Stronger leadership capability in a fast-growing business area
- Leadership better aligned with changing organizational needs
- Sustainable behavioral change validated through 360-degree feedback
- Coachee promoted following the engagement
- Emerging markets became the highest-performing team in the North America business within nine months
Quality assured
- Evidence-based coaching approach
- 360-degree stakeholder feedback
- Feedback gathered before and after coaching
- Six-month follow-up to assess sustainability
- Development connected to strategic business priorities
- Focus on lasting behavioral change