Case Studies

“Kate was able to get to the heart of the different challenges the team was facing very quickly, while at the same time, gaining the trust and confidence of them all. I have noticed significant changes in the way they are all working and the team unanimously agreed on how beneficial this process has been for them. I would not hesitate to recommend Kate and the service she offers”

Peter Horton
Divisional Director, Investec Wealth & Investement

The Challenge

To work with a team of four Investment Managers, to help them to become more aware of their strengths and weaknesses within their roles, and to use the coaching process to address these. The company’s ultimate aim was to drive business development, increase productivity and enhance the client’s experience . In the past, traditional training has been used to try to deal with issues such as poor time management and organisational skills, gaps in knowledge and soft skills such as building rapport with clients, but this had not made any real and lasting impact on the team’s behaviour or attitude.

The Process

I worked with each Investment Manager for two hours a month for a three month period- supporting them with areas of their job that they found challenging, such as time management, organisation and social skills.
I taught skills where appropriate such as organisation or conversation techniques; I was also a sounding board that they could use when they wanted to discuss an in-house problems. By being a third party, I could help them to see challenges in a different way and support them in finding a solution.
Alongside helping the team to reach in-house targets, we also worked on improving confidence, addressing skills-gaps and their ability to take the lead and show initiative.

The Result

After just three months of coaching, all four of the Investment Managers reported that they had noticed a real change in how they were working, how they felt about their jobs and wanted to continue the coaching process indefinitely as they saw such a value in my role.

Two Investment Managers reported winning new business as a direct result of the coaching process and their improved skills and organisation.

“This process has been “life-changing”. I cannot believe I can now confidently talk to people I don’t know and go to networking events without feeling sick with nerves. Thank you so much.”

The Challenge

An individual who lacked social confidence in meetings and his nerves would mean he would go into too much detail which would ostracize the client and “switch them off”.

The Process

Through in-depth questioning, we discovered what exactly the individual did not like about social situations.
Each session we worked on new strategies and skills to enable him to deal with the different scenarios he has to face in his working life, such as how to start a conversation with someone you don’t know, how to join in on a conversation, how to build rapport with a client, how to handle a group of people and meetings with clients so that it is engaging, not boring.

The Result

After six sessions the individual has experienced a huge increase in his confidence and now feels he can handle networking events as well as new client meetings with much greater clarity and self-assurance.

This has led to more referrals and securing new business.

“Thank you SO much for helping me get myself back on the straight and narrow again. You have taught me so many skills – how to manage myself, my time, my team and my job so much more effectively. I now feel more confident and happier as I have a clear plan and know what I am doing. You are one clever lady – you listened to me, you challenged me, you guided me, you questioned me and you held me to account- all the while being kind, professional and a total support. Thank you sincerely”

The Challenge

Poor time management meant the individual was getting a reputation with colleagues and clients for being disorganised and she was losing business as a result. She was experiencing panic attacks from the constant stress of juggling all her responsibilities.

The Process

We worked together to find out what the reoccurring themes were that meant she was always late or forgetting items she needed.
We devised strategies on how she could plan her time more effectively- such as mapping out her week, not taking on too many tasks, managing other peoples’ expectations of what she could achieve in certain time frames and learn to say no to other peoples’ requests.
We also devised a regular “feedback” process from colleagues, friends and family so that my client was kept in check and bad habits were prevented from re-forming.

The Result

After four sessions of coaching, the individual reported that she had been early to every appointment for the following two month’s review period. Her panic attacks had been reduced from 4 a week to none.

Due to a clearer, more logical weekly plan- she was able to add-in an extra new business meeting a week and this resulted in direct business growth.