Leadership teams journey
We help leadership teams to embark on a journey with a well-defined starting point and a destination. Our ultimate goal is to enable them to become a “high-value creating team” that can work towards its own purpose and contribute to its ecosystem’s purpose as well.
The overall objective of a 6–12 month intervention is usually to unlock a team’s potential to deliver greater results so that team members would develop a sense of loyalty and mutual accountability towards one another.
Our team leadership programmes aim to be practical: we are focused on obtaining results, rather than the theory supporting each programme component. To achieve this aim, we carefully prepare each component sequence and send preparatory work, readings, surveys, and points for reflection to the participants in advance. Therefore, when the programme starts, the group members would only need to summarise their understanding and we could address their concerns or queries before leading them in an efficient fashion towards the application of these principles. The application involves bringing real-life cases to the table and engaging in meaningful conversations to learn from those cases.
Our programmes include a selection of the approaches below:
Psychological safety
My experience of working with leaders and teams has reaffirmed the complexity and importance of psychological safety. Research shows that, without it, a team can never equip itself for the future storms that it may encounter and achieve exceptional performance.
Feedback approach
Feedback has its challenges, whether on the giving or the receiving end. It requires a combination of various principles and practices. However, once psychological safety is in place, feedback usually comes naturally.
Peer-to-peer coaching
Peer-to-peer coaching is an essential feature in our programmes, as it can develop stronger trust and collaboration between team members involved.
Stakeholder-centred coaching approach developed by Marshall Goldsmith
This approach constitutes the backbone of our 6–12 month programme. Its effectiveness has been proven by:
- Ten years of research in neuroscience; and
- Impacts on not only the leader him/herself, but also the stakeholders around him/her, and eventually, the managers reporting to the stakeholders.
Approach from The Five Dysfunctions of a Team developed by Patrick Lencioni of the Table Group
This approach is widely used by top MNCs and business schools. It is an effective approach for achieving team effectiveness.
High-value creating teams concept of David Clutterbuck and Peter Hawkins
This approach thrusts the concept of teamwork to a new level that exceeds high performance. It reconciles the concepts of meaning and purpose holistically. In my opinion, this is one of the most radical and forward-looking approaches for a team today.
Mindfulness principles
Developed over the last 5–10 years for corporate usage and benefit, these mindfulness principles constitute the foundation for creating change and raising the awareness of individuals and teams regarding their ways of functioning. They can be used for peer-to-peer coaching in particular and will eventually impact the whole group.
Principles of the intervention
Change and progress can only happen when we agree on the following:
A safe and well-intentioned environment needs to be developed and sustained.
The focus of coaching is not on knowledge transfer, training, teaching, consulting or advisory from the coach; Instead, the coach / facilitator is there enable team members to express their thoughts and feelings, whilst offering of course some lenses, framework and hypothesis.
Participants are committed to practicing their learning over a significant period of time, exhibiting qualities of courage, humility, and discipline in the process.
Participants are open about their own performance and development as well as the perceptions of others about themselves.
Participants are willing to change and challenge themselves about their own leadership styles.
Participants commit to contributing to the development of others, providing and receiving candid feedback.
Regular follow-up is a critical component of leadership effectiveness and development.
Structure and content of the intervention
The intervention is made up of three main components:
Facilitated peer-coaching:
We usually conduct a brief 360 degree assessment at the start and end of the process.
Each team member has his/her own 2–3 key objectives for the year based on his/her leadership development and what matters most for the team’s success.
Through the peer-coaching group of three or four members, the intention is to provide some time (30–45 min) for each member during the session to be the coachee, while the other three team members and the facilitator/coach play the role of the coach.
For this process to function effectively, a sufficient amount of trust has to be established from the start among the four team members.
One-to-one coaching sessions
In addition to peer coaching, some individual coaching sessions can be planned, one right after the 360 degree exercise and 2–3 in between the team sessions.
Follow-ups through one-on-one conversations can make a difference and provide a platform for a more in-depth understanding about the individual and his/her challenges. This enables each member to receive personalised attention through the programme.
Team intervention
In most cases, 3–4 team interventions are conducted throughout the year. Each intervention takes place over two days, requiring approximately 3–4 days of preparation and follow-ups from the coach/facilitator.
Each team intervention is centred around 2–3 main themes and reflects a progression from establishing psychological safety and trust all the way to implementing the high-value creating teams concept.
What a few clients said about their experience
Christophe’s capacity to explore our thoughts and beliefs helped us develop an open mind and broader ways of thinking. Thanks to his carefully chosen words, his listening and his commitment to support us, we found ways to express within the group some of our strong emotions.
Christophe coached a group of three colleagues which I was part of, for several months. He wasn’t used to coach in French language which added a layer of complexity for him. Through his quality of listening and care for us, Christophe succeeded in stimulating the conversations in the middle of an emotionally loaded restructuring context in our organization. Thanks to his carefully chosen words, his listening and his commitment to support us, we found ways to express within the group some of our strong emotions; this allowed us to explore how to effectively deal with those. I like Christophe’s tactful approach, his capacity to explore our thoughts and beliefs help us develop an open mind and broader ways of thinking.
Christophe has been a solid and reliable partner to our R&D team for almost 2 years. His hyper vigilance, attention to detail, care and utmost professionalism earned him the trust from this very passionate and highly demanding team.
Christophe has been a solid and reliable partner to our R&D team for almost 2 years.
R&D is critical to our business. The leadership team started this journey on a sceptic and doubtful note, yet ended it in a very different space, co-created together: more cohesive and focused.
Christophe’s hyper vigilance, attention to detail, care and utmost professionalism earned him the trust from this very passionate and highly demanding team.
Christophe was clear on what we could achieve and this allowed me to focus on the process and not second guess the plan… I developed a healthy regard for Christophe’s innate ability to empathize and also show his own vulnerability.
My journey with Christophe has been one of self-discovery and has taken a year. Not just any year but 2020-21 when the world reinvented itself and Christophe helped me do the same! From the outset, he was clear on what we could achieve and this allowed me to focus on the process and not second guess the plan. What was also great was that this was done in an way that allowed for self-expression and pushback which gave me confidence and a sense of equal partnership in our relationship. Even in the constraints of a this being a professional relationship, I developed a healthy regard for Christophe’s innate ability to empathize and also show his own vulnerability. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors even as I now engage with him on leadership development programs for my team…
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Singapore office:
Three Coleman Street, Unit 03-24, Singapore 179804
Vietnam office:
The Hive, 94 Xuan Thuy, Thao Dien Ward, D2, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
