Coaching conversations

A series of real-life coaching vignettes from
SeaChangers’ associates

Coaching Conversation #1

“As Chief Exec of a mid-sized software group, my client faces a continual challenge to recruit and retain software developers. Good candidates know they are in a seller’s market, are subject to a stream of recruitment approaches and can pick and choose their employer. Now the pandemic has shown that remote working is possible, young software engineers expect to be able to work from home with the obvious adverse consequences for affiliation, learning and co-ordination. If a company requires people to spend even some days in the office each week, that appears to be a disincentive so, as CEO, what to do? How to configure a response to this challenge which is now the rate-limiting factor on growth?


If a company requires people to spend even some days in the office each week, that appears to be a disincentive so, as CEO, what to do?

One strand of the conversation was predicated on Sinek’s observation that people don’t buy what you do but why you do it. If that is the case, then a CEO can respond by consistently and powerfully emphasising the societal purpose of the business beyond the economic. Keeping the mission, the ‘why’, up front and central in all communication constitutes a continuous invitation for individuals to buy into and identify with this corporate purpose. Since the business in question supplies sophisticated transport software which massively reduces the environmental impact of freight movement there is a clear and obvious ‘why’ available.

Accepting this premise, the next step is for my client to keep delivering that message authentically however, is he genuinely committed to working towards net zero and, if so, how might a life-long introvert manifest that in words and deed?

Answering these last two questions is the coaching work!”

Author
Simon Bennett

Having worked at the highest level in the industry Simon is acutely aware the most powerful leaders are those that can access the inner resources necessary to achieve their personal and leadership potential. His coaching blends process and content to help them access and apply those resources, at all times balancing the needs of the individual with those of the organisation.

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If King Charles III wants a coach…