Case Study 4 – Leadership Presence / Communication / Influence
THE CHALLENGE | New CFO training & development for VP
The VP of Revenue Cycle Management at this 1,800-person healthcare information technology services firm had risen to a role of prominence over 15 years thanks to her strategic acumen, collaborative approach and ability to get results in a style that worked well among the lower ranks of the organization. With a recently hired CFO who brought in 4 fresh direct reports, some of whom he’d worked with previously, Kim* found herself in a much more competitive, fast-paced environment where both men and women began to side-line her authority. She needed CFO training and development. While she “knew her stuff” and was respected for her industry knowledge, her results were slipping.
The company was growing 22% YOY and the CFO’s mandate to assess the structure and talent within his organization to align with future business objectives was raising the bar for Kim and her team. She needed to create a fresh vision to get ahead of changes, step into her own power more forcefully, and inspire her newly diverse team after a recent small acquisition. Kim also needed to adapt her style to this new leader and the fast-paced, agile MBAs Joe* brought on board.
THE APPROACH
This 6-month process of training and development began with a 360 review that revealed Kim needed to learn to speak more of the language of her new colleagues and practice new skills to influence colleagues as well as to assert her authority when appropriate. She began to identify what caused her to withdraw instead of respond with the force of logic and experience when teammates got in her face, and to notice how her physical bearing and choices in her personal style and dress were undermining her credibility and stature.
With specific exercises that helped Kim step more fully into her power, to see herself in fresh ways, and with resources around vocal awareness training, Kim began to find her voice, make her views known with greater clarity and impact, and to stand her ground where needed for the team’s success.
She began to see how her desire to be liked resulted in actions that failed to serve the company well. Kim learned more effective ways to create and deploy visual data that spoke the MBAs’ and CFO’s language, and to use short memos and clear talking points in meetings. Kim invested in building relationships with new colleagues and learned to use open-ended questions to bring out their collaborative side: demonstrating both confidence and open-mindedness, combined with technical insights and strategic thinking that generated newfound respect for her strengths.
“Executive coaching was a quantum leap for me. It made it clear that I needed to think about my role differently. I learned specific ways to be more direct, more clear and to stand my ground during healthy debates … both in communications with my CFO and with my new colleagues. Integration and re-org has enabled my team to reduce DSO by $4 million, and increase productivity so that we could absorb 25% forecasted revenue growth with only 6% growth in headcount.” – Client / VP of Revenue Cycle Management
THE OUTCOMES
By the end of the 6-month engagement Kim had articulated a fresh vision for her team revolving around the metaphor of a powerful river that drove a sense of empowerment in her team. She began to implement a new org chart in her group that elevated 2 of her top Directors and reduced her direct reports so she could spend more time leading or participating on 3 cross-functional teams the CFO had formed. Four months after the engagement ended, when the CFO, colleagues and direct reports were resurveyed, there was a 45% improvement in her average scores: namely, 9.2 on “Challenge the Process”, 8.9 on “Inspire a Shared Vision” and 9.1 on “Model the Way.” More importantly, DSO declined from 59 to 46 over an 8-month period from start of the engagement to followup, increasing forecasted cash flow by $4 million a year.
“Coaching works well for those who are willing to put in the work to change, and it was important to me to feel I’d done everything I could to enable Kim to regain her footing with this new cohort. The coaching framework seemed to grow her in stature within the first few weeks. Communication, presence and leadership all improved, and so did results. CFO training and development is well worth the investment; the cost of losing the institutional knowledge and momentum would have been high.” – Sponsor / CFO (*) Names changed to maintain Client and Sponsor confidentiality. Tailored solutions and services for CFOs, Executives and VPs. See what others say.
