Leadership Skills for Professionals

Client Requirements

A successful senior medical academic had been approached about applying for a Professorial appointment at a leading academic institution in his field. His supervisor told him that he needed to develop his interpersonal skills and his personal network to be successful in his application.

This is a common scenario – senior academics, partners in law firms and medical consultants will have high IQs but will also need to develop emotional intelligence when moving in to leadership roles.

Coaching Solution

We agreed a programme of three coaching sessions. At the first session it became clear that the client was very committed to taking his career forward but was unsure of his suitability for the new post and reluctant to take on the networking required to apply successfully. In discussion it became apparent that his beliefs, stemming perhaps from his family background, relating to the relative importance of academic ability and the
academic hierarchy were undermining his confidence – even though he clearly had well-developed leadership, influencing and administrative skills.

We worked with the client to identify those old beliefs and bring into consciousness the contrary evidence and this produced profound change in his outlook. In further sessions he worked on developing his influencing skills and preparing for the interview. He was successful in his professional application.