Skill Kit For Leaders: Real Leadership Success Stories

Read four examples of how my Skill Kit for Leaders has been used to boost performance and drive results.

US Department of Labor

Situation: The Office of Human Resources within the US Department of Labor (DOL) was experiencing classic issues of entitlement and bureaucracy with a need for better teaming, communication, emotional intelligence, and results. They also wanted to tie their leadership efforts into achieving the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which recognizes U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors for performance excellence

Actions: I introduced coaching through focus groups to get buy-in of DOL leaders and employees at different levels. I then implemented a 6-month pilot coaching program using the Emotional Competency Inventory (ECI) and internal 360 programs. Internal HR Reps were certified as coaches, mentored by me, and assigned to coach specific individuals with a focus on developing their leadership competencies using resources from my Skill Kit for Leaders. My mentoring and group-coaching of the DOL’s internal HR coaches worked on tougher issues such as “Managing Conflict” and the “Coaching Culture Model,” and was reinforced in two-day training, mid-point training, and final personal evaluations of their efforts with follow-up 360s.

Results:

• Productivity doubled in targeted leaders’ offices as measured by a yearly organizational assessment.
• The ECI re-run showed great gains by all participants on emotional intelligence and communication.
• Private evaluation sessions with external consultant/coach were extremely positive, with claims such as, “I did not think I could change or the organization could get better, but we definitely did!”
• The program was expanded over a number of years to other large organizations within the DOL.

Private, Employee-owned Commercial Contracting & Development Holding Corporation with Four Independent Strong Subsidiary Companies

Situation: This organization expressed a desire to build a “Coaching Culture,” continue building better teams and communication, and introduce a strong leadership competency-building program. They also wanted to be named a “Best Place to Work” for the city of Phoenix.

Actions: The organization brought in Corporate Coaching Clinic training, hiring Diane Foster & Associates as coaches of key leaders, including the CEO. The Skill Kit for Leaders program was used by all coaches for leadership competency development.

Results:

• Named one of the “Best Places to Work” in Phoenix.
• CEO awarded Special Leadership award for Phoenix.
• Front page article published in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “Construction Firm Rebuilds Manager to Make Them Soft,” announced the company’s success of building the coaching program into an on-going leadership development program and a positive, work culture.
• Entire organization Honored in 2014 with a Most Admired Company Award highlighting the executive leadership.

Non-Profit Community Blood Center Providing Blood and Blood Products for Local Hospitals Throughout the United States

Situation: The Executive Director of this organization wanted to build improved leadership competencies in his team. He was convinced that he needed a program that could be cascaded down through the organization following successful implementation with his team and backed up by coaching.

Actions: The organization purchased the Skill Kit for Leaders program for the Executive Director and his direct reports. Following an introduction on the Skill Kit for Leaders process by Diane Foster and how to deploy it for self-study and self-improvement, each leader identified his or her development needs and opportunities using various Skill Kit for Leaders tools:  The Analyzer, Development Plan, Evaluation Log, and appropriate Skill Kit for Leaders resource units. Diane conducted group coaching sessions twice a month, for six months.

Results:

• The program was judged a success and rolled out to the direct reports of the company’s top leadership team (many of whom were located in other states), with Diane providing group coaching support and guidance virtually.

International Children and Family Services Non-Profit

Situation: This organization realized that it needed an internal consultant to improve coaching effectiveness and facilitate self-directed leadership development to leverage the organization’s Talent Management investment through individual coaching (15 leaders) and group coaching (25 leaders).

Actions: The organization purchased the Skill Kit for Leaders program for its 40 coaches/leaders. The Skill Kit for Leaders leadership competency definitions aligned well with the organization’s already-established core leadership competencies, which meant nearly seamless integration with the development plans of those in the program. Individuals used various Skill Kit for Leaders resource units for their own development and reported progress in group coaching sessions. With success, this group went on to coach a second tier of participants.

Results:

• Coaching took hold for leadership development on core competencies supported by the Skill Kit for Leaders resource units.
• The program cascaded down to encompass additional tiers of leaders.
• The program has resulted in a unified approach to building a coaching culture that is bound with consistent language about leadership competency across the organization.
• This organization was recently designated one of eight local non-profit beneficiaries to receive a $1.125 million award.