The Power of

Coaching in
the VUCA
Environment

The Power of Coaching in the VUCA

Environment

May 10th, 2019

Agenda
Objective of the Study
Research Methodology
Learnings and Implications
 Objective of the Study

Has coaching helped organisations in India combat the

VUCA environment by reaching VUCA Prime*?
Did Coaching enable the movement?

VUCA VUCA Prime

Volatility Vision
Uncertainty Understanding
COACHING
Complexity Clarity
Ambiguity Agility
Research Methodology: Empirical data collected through real life
coaching sessions conducted across 3 MNCs/39 Coachees
Case 1: Case 2: Case 3:
Organisation flux (mergers Leadership flux (engagement & Professional flux (Job
& acquisitions / spin-offs) in career progression in a high transitions due to layoffs) in a
a Fortune 50 chemical attrition environment) in one of Fortune 100 American
company. (Fortune 500, the ‘Big 4’ accounting & multinational financial services
2019) management consulting firms. corporation. (Fortune 500,
2019)

Number of Coachees: 14 Number of Coachees: 15 Number of Coachees: 10

Number of Number of Number of

Conversations/Coaching Hours: Conversations/Coaching Hours: Conversations/Coaching Hours: 60
98 18/27
Duration of Coaching Journey: 8 Duration of Coaching Journey: 6 Duration of Coaching Journey: 3
months months months

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Learnings and Implications
Coaching journeys (at least 6 months) are far more powerful than one -
time/3 months coaching interventions.
Coaching created a space where the coachees could examine conflicting
ideas and explore which works for them. While the coaching intervention
was focussed on certain competencies and outcomes, the benefits
obtained by the coachees were broad-based.
The ‘will of the coachee’ plays a critical role in the effectiveness of a coaching
journey. In our case, the leaders were hi-potential or in a highly challenging
situation, which made them open to the idea of coaching.
The focus of coaching conversations for millennial leaders has been on
‘leading self’ and ‘leading teams’.
In a leadership coaching journey, the role of team-leaders becomes critical in
enhancing effectiveness of the coaching intervention. Involvement, inputs
and encouragement from the managers go a long way in encouraging the
participants. However, in all the three cases, the required leadership 6

involvement and encouragement was a key challenge.

Authors

Lovely Kumar, Director, Larks Learning Private Limited, Gurgaon and Co-
founder, WomenLead India (lovely@larkslearning.com; #09899108659)

Gitanjali Saksena, Director, LagomWorks PLC, Gurgaon and Co-founder,

WomenLead India (gitanjali@lagomworks.com; #9650026464)

Anila Rattan, Director, Larks Learning Private Limited, Gurgaon and Co-
founder, WomenLead India (anila@larkslearning.com; #09810335546)

May 10th, 2019

Thank You
Case 1: Organisation flux (mergers & acquisitions / spin-offs) in a
Fortune 50 chemical company. (Fortune 500, 2019)
Number of Coachees: 14
Number of
Conversations/Coaching Hours:
98
Duration of Coaching Journey: 7
months
Situation:
• The company was to be
bifurcated and the two parts
to be merged with two
separate companies.
• Need to have double the
people at every leadership
level.
• The need for leadership
development at all levels was
therefore acute.
Task:
• To enhance the leadership competencies of the 14 hi-pot's that had been selected
for the coaching intervention.
• Millennials, Diverse, Professional experience of 7-10 years
• Actively seeking a People Manager role
Action:
• Discovery Phase: Faced with confusion, low confidence
• Co-opting Managers: Request for feed-forward
• DISC, Personal Values Assessment, Discovery Coaching Qnr
• Individual Coaching Sessions: DISC styles / style flexing, journaling, mindfulness, skill/
will matrix, urgency / importance matrix, ego states, visualisation, area of concern /
area of control, box of life & continuous learning options – reading, apps / podcasts
etc.
• Wrap up session: devoted to the coachees thinking through how they could continue
growing after formal coaching ends
Results:
• Promotions for ____ leaders!
• They were feeling energised about the future, confidence levels had increased significantly
• They were moving out of their comfort zone on a constant basis – increased Agility
• Many reported an increase in happiness both at home as well as work
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Case 2: Leadership flux (engagement & career progression in a high
attrition environment) in one of the ‘Big 4’ firms.
Number of Coachees: 15
Number of
Conversations/Coaching Hours:
18/27
Duration of Coaching Journey: 6
months
Situation:
• High attrition at critical work
levels among the women
employees
• Lack of leadership face time,
conducive work culture
• Formal Program designed to
retain and develop these
women leaders; combination of
internal partner connects, in –
person development sessions
and coaching journey
Task:
• To support the professional aspirations/concerns of 15 women leaders and
enhance their leadership competencies according to their competency framework
• Hi-potential, nominated by senior Partners/Directors; Millennials
Action:
• Discovery Phase: Faced with excitement
• Psychometric Assessment: Extended DISC
• Group Coaching Sessions: Creating a safe space, Code of Conduct
• Tools: Visualization, wheel of life, letter to future self, 3E approach, networking
essentials (proactive, purposeful, meaningful), essentials of personal brand
(why/what/how/for who?), starting with why, transactional analysis, essentials of team
leadership etc.
• Wrap up session: Kirkpatrick 4 level evaluation on Reaction, Learning, Behaviour and
Results.
Results:
• Promotions for 100% of the leaders in Batch 1!
• Shift of focus from external to internal: ability to value themselves and respect their
needs
• Becoming more assertive: standing up for their thoughts and beliefs
• Assuming team leadership responsibilities in their current roles; increased networking
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Case 3: Professional flux (Job transitions due to layoffs) in Fortune 100
American financial services firm. (Fortune 500, 2019)
Number of Coachees: 10
Number of
Conversations/Coaching Hours:
60
Duration of Coaching Journey: 3
months
Situation:
The company had closed down
a specific business vertical and it
had impacted some roles. This
meant that there was a need to
either move laterally within the
organization or move out.
Task:
• support the career transition for the impacted employees both emotionally and in the job search.
Action:
• Attend to emotions shock, stress and distress. understand the career progression and current role and
dissect the competencies that the coachee excelled in.
• compared the internal opportunities available against other organizations in the similar industry.
• planned action points to be achieved till the next session with deadlines and a reporting mechanism
between coach and coachee.
• Frameworks used
• Other frameworks/techniques that were shared were SWOT, SMARTER+ goals, Urgency / Importance
Matrix, Possibility thinking, Affirmations, Visualisation, Continuous learning options.
• The coaching was wrapped up either if a job offer was accepted or 6 sessions were over.The coaching
intervention ended with creating a plan for continuous learning.
Results:
• Placement of 3 people internally and 6 people externally out of a total of 10 people who we started coaching
with
• Their confidence levels had increased significantly.
• They had understood the importance of life-long learning and its impact in todays business climate.
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Q&A