Coaching Case Study: Building Company Culture

Coaching Case Study By Lori Peterson
(Business Coach, UNITED STATES)

There are 7 billion people in the world. Imagine if 7 billion received coaching to maximize their potential this week. It would change how humans develop. Even being coached just once per year to develop strengths can dramatically change one’s life journey and improve the odds of an extraordinary life. –Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO Gallup

Overview:

Media Production company Tryon Media is a media-tech company specializing in fashion entertainment. The owners of the company, Lara Signorelli and Markus Mueller, were the clients for this case study.

The Challenges:

Tryon Media reached out to the owner and coach, Lori from Codavision, to coach this small company during a transition time. Around the corner was a huge growth opportunity for this team, and the owners desired to build a strong foundation of communication, community, and productivity. Frustrated and ill-equipped to take their team to the next level, the owners at Tryon Media had been struggling. Conversations were stilted, energy during the workday lagging, and relationships extremely tenuous due to growing pains at an ambitious startup. The owner and employee morale were shrinking. The entire team was hog-tied to solve the communication issues because they lacked a common language and needed a coach to guide them toward trust, increased energy and improved productivity. One to one meetings failed, group meetings lacked clear solutions, and the owners were exhausted.

Solution:

After meeting with the owners, Lori recommended a combination of 1:1 coaching and CliftonStrengths assessments for the entire organization. CliftonStrengths helps people understand their most natural way of thinking, feeling and behaving by focusing on what people do well, as opposed to fixing or focusing on weaknesses. Lori believed this solution would open up doors of communication and tear down the walls of mistrust or misunderstanding.

Process in Detail:

1. Lori held two 3.5 hour workshops with Tryon Media’s entire team. She helped to create awareness and insight around individual and team strengths. She encouraged and shared how to use CliftonStrengths as a tool to improve collaboration, communication, and trust.
2. Lori held a 1:1 coaching session with each team member, focused on how the individual could get more traction in their strengths at work. Lori helped each client create an action list for how to use their strengths on a daily basis, and how to appreciate the strengths of others in a tangible way.
3. Lori held multiple coaching sessions with the owners, allowing space for learning and awareness in working with their team. The owners are now growing in coaching style management, as well as deploying CliftonStrengths in their daily conversations. A final wrap-up session included plans for the future…using CliftonStrengths as a framework for workplace culture, collaboration and future growth.

Results of the Process:

This coaching process was very successful! Direct from the owner when asked if he would recommend Lori and StrengthsFinder to other business owners, Mueller said, “Absolutely yes. I wish I had known about Strengths five years ago. We will continue to hire Lori as we grow into the future.”

Tryon Media now has a framework and language to support employee engagement, creative collaboration, and productivity. Teammates understand more now “why” someone works the way they do. Uniqueness and diversity are honored and celebrated. Additionally, owners have insight into their own individual strengths, which allows them to function at an increasingly higher level. This frees leaders up to do what they do best at work every day. The owners also have a clear understanding of what each employee brings and needs to their organization. Lastly, this small but powerful company has created a coaching and CliftonStrengths-based culture which will have a huge ROI as they move into the future innovating with its best asset-people.

Next Time-Learning By Doing:

My proposal next time would include a 90-day Workshop to inspect how the team was using CliftonStrengths in the longer game. I would also include even more time 1:1 coaching the owners throughout the process.

Coach Learning:

I learned great things during this process. First, I gained confidence in helping teams and owners communicate and work together better. This is not new to me, I have over 20 years in helping teams thrive. However, going out on my own and selling myself and my abilities is a new endeavor. This experience solidified that what I offer is absolutely transformative.

Additionally, I re-learned that owners blossom when they have knowledge of, and permission to run in their Strengths. Through coaching, both owners realized that they are doing many things right as it pertains to their team, and gained insight that when they can operate from their Strengths, they can perform at a much higher level. These owners are now operating in their “zone of genius” more often than before our coaching.

Lastly, I learned that I can combine my coaching skills learned from ICA with a powerful tool like CliftonStrengths and provide immense value to an organization. The sky is truly the limit.