Coaching case study

Why was coaching right for you at the time?

Before my coaching sessions with Leah, I was stuck and in a way that I couldn’t really understand. I was in transition, searching for a new role after two decades in leadership positions with a lot of responsibility for organizations that I loved. When I thought about what I wanted to do, all I could bring to focus was what I did not want to do. 

It's a bigger problem than it sounds; for instance, networking and searching for open positions require that you can articulate what you’re looking for. And like any important campaign, it’s critical in a job search to visualize what success looks like. But for me, it just wasn’t clear. Leah noticed this during a conversation over coffee and asked if I’d like to start a coaching engagement with her. 

What did you hope to gain? 

I had done executive coaching engagements twice before. These were tailored to me but were specific to a set of attributes the company identified as leadership traits. Those sessions were interesting, but they were less about being a great leader than having a “leadership presence.” I took from them what I could. 

The Aspen sessions were different from the very beginning – flexibly guided by Leah – and there was no doctrine that she needed to bestow. I didn’t really know what I needed, but I understood that there was a puzzle to solve. I trusted Leah. Her prompts, tasks and homework focused on values, the things I care about, and the shortcuts my head was taking that were keeping me from navigating to the places where my values and the things I cared about were best served. 

What were the results of the coaching process? 

In our second session, Leah got curious about my internal conversation. Where do these beliefs come from? Was this my experience or something someone else said?

I don’t recall the details, but the conversation had me noticing the narratives that were buzzing in the background. Especially the stuff that was part of someone else’s story, such as random advice, bits of statistics, or noise that served no helpful purpose. It kept me awake for a couple of hours that night, but in a way that was amazingly helpful. Once you learn to see unhelpful self-talk, it’s easier to disrupt it and begin to focus on the things that you can influence. 

I had three or four things I’d been trying to change in my life for a while – things unrelated to my job search – and I was able to turn those things around almost immediately. From there, Leah and I moved our focus to what I really want to do in my next role based on my values and what motivates me. 

Another big takeaway from my Aspen sessions was that I was looking at my work experience through the lens of my previous employer, rather than from the point of view of the organizations I was targeting. As a result of our coaching sessions, I was able to remove these barriers from my thinking. 

What qualities did Leah bring to coaching that helped me? 

Leah’s approach to coaching was to thoughtfully question and sometimes linger on a topic, so things could gradually be made clearer. She asked me to take things that are close to the core of who I am – my values, experiences, hard lessons, the things I most care about – and project those things forward into my task of finding my next role. 

The coaching experience requires the coached individual to trust the coach. These are real conversations. And Leah is 100% trustworthy. Easy to trust. 

The coaching session topics were largely directed by me. Leah would ask, “what are we going to talk about today?” and “what is important about this now?” It allowed the work to be immediately useful, but it also called upon her to be flexible and to experiment. She wasn’t walking me through a program. 

What do other leaders need to know about coaching and why it would be valuable?

My coaching sessions with Aspen were amazingly helpful for me. I wasn’t broken. I wasn’t having a bad time. Previously, I had always been purpose driven. In my new situation of looking for my next role, I just wasn’t. Now, I feel like I’m aligned again to my internal compass … authentic, deliberate, primed for making an impact. 

I would recommend this for anyone, but especially a leader who wants to discover or sharpen their personal sense of “true north.” If others are like me, and find themselves describing their work in tired language, it might be a sign that you’re giving voice to some unhelpful self-talk. Call Aspen and get it sorted.