Quiet Leadership Case Study

This was a school assignment for my Leadership Coaching and Counseling class at Dallas Baptist University:

Elaine was appointed as Development Director of a manufacturing company. She was hired to settle recurrent failings in delivery of a injection molding project. Elaine’s drive and energy rubbed the finance director and some engineering leaders reporting to her the wrong way. They regarded her as a bully and resisted any support for her efforts to raise the level of performance of the business. Frustrated with their apparent “resistance,” she acted in ways that reinforced the negative cycle.

As a coach how would you transform the performance of the team? Specifically how would you coach Elaine, the Finance Director and Engineering Leaders to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization?

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Elaine is a driven and energetic director, but her current approach has not been working. She needs to adopt the methods of quiet leadership, and she can start with using the six steps towards transformation.

Step one of six is focused on remapping the brain- to think about thinking. It is very common for strong personalities to come in and start giving orders, but most people do not respond well to this approach. Elaine needs to take a step back and think about her own thinking, and see where she has opportunities to ask thinking questions instead of telling people what needs to get done. This will help her identify how she has contributed to the resistance that she has noticed.

Step two is about listening for potential in other people’s thoughts. Instead of taking on the burdens of the entire electronics company, Elaine needs to keep some distance from the problems and look for the employees’ possible solutions without her own filters or personal agendas in the way.

Step three is all about elevating the quality of Elaine’s language. When she is able to speak with intent and provide positive feedback, she will be seen as a leader and a catalyst towards performance improvement. This may take some forethought on her part, as it is much easier to speak extemporaneously and dilute the power of our language.

Step four is called the “Dance Toward Insight,” and it is a metaphor about the movements that help to keep the leader in a focused conversation. Teams are rarely made up of completely like-minded individuals, so using the elements of permission, placement, questioning, and clarifying will help her to keep meetings on track.

Step five used the CREATE model to inspire new thinking; she needs to determine the current reality of the device exports, listen to her team as they explore alternatives, and tap their energy when they have found ideas that will work. This new thinking will be the foundation for new processes, as the employees will realize that they need to make changes and adjust their behavior to sustain the improvements in the company.

The final step is step six: Elaine needs to follow up to ensure her team’s new thinking becomes reality. The gap between a new idea and an old habit is very real, and it takes intentionality and accountability for even the most well-meaning people to overcome old ways of operating. The FEELING model used in this stage will equip Elaine with steps as she processes the changes with her team: Facts, Emotions, Encouragement, Learning, Implications, and New Goal. Her leadership will be evident in these difficult conversations, and as she listens and supports the ideas of others, she will gain their trust and ultimately see an improvement of performance in her company.

All coaching models can be found in this book: Quiet Leadership