Coaching to Navigate Company Politics
Case Study 1) The Family
The Problem
Hugh*, a senior manager, joined a large family company. It had four family owners working in different role levels within it. However, there was widespread rivalry, suspicion, resentment – and worse – between them.
Hugh was stuck in the middle of family and business politics. He was worried and stressed. He didn’t know how to manage the family without taking sides or impacting his ability to do a good job.
How I Helped
Together we worked on an approach – based on openness and honesty. He provided detailed business information to reduce suspicion and resentment. It eased the family members’ worries about being mistreated and enabled High to remain neutral.
The Result
When the plan started delivering the intended results, Hugh’s stress levels and worries about politics dropped quickly.
He built strong and constructive relationships with each owner and kept out of the family politics. He was then able to concentrate on doing his job effectively.
Case Study 2) The Founder
The Problem
Roger*, a company founder, was getting increasingly frustrated and angry about the poor performance and approach of two board members linked to their major investor.
They were not supporting the growth and success of the business. Leading to tension within the board. Roger was unsure how to resolve the problem.
How I Helped
Together we explored a range of responses and steps that could be taken. These ranged from removing the directors to constructive and specific actions to encourage the two directors to become more accountable and proactive in their support of business growth.
The Result
With an escalating set of steps Roger felt a lot more positive, less frustrated and angry. He started to take constructive action to manage the directors’ performance.
He focused his energy on the director group and reduced the tension within it. He ensured the directors supported the growth of the business. As a result, he spent less time managing board politics.
*All names have been changed to protect client confidentiality.