The CEO of a major financial institution leading global operations for a 17,500-member organization retained Tom Matteo to provide executive coaching for his potential successor. While highly regarded in his current role as the U.S. Head of Operations with an organization of 4,500, there was a desire to advance his leadership to be prepared for this next-level assignment with a significantly expanded scope of responsibility while gaining board-level endorsement.

Tom’s initial coaching sessions centered on the day-to-day operational management of the business and where and how the executive was focusing his time and efforts. It quickly became evident through their dialogue and insights gathered from colleagues that the executive needed to focus more energy on strategic business priorities, drive heightened levels of accountability among his direct report team, and develop his executive presence by improving decision-making processes. With a high level of emotional intelligence and drive to succeed, the executive responded well to Tom’s guidance and began to implement immediate changes.

Several months of leadership coaching with Tom produced notable results including a team reorganization and greater delegation of authority, allowing the executive to dedicate the necessary time to strategic initiatives. Making the tactical to strategic operating shift enabled the executive to spearhead a major functional realignment in the business with a projected three-year savings of $500M+. These and other key successes enabled him to win the support of board members as a viable CEO successor and instilled confidence in his manager to expand the scope of his current role to effectively position him for the future.

“During my coaching with Tom, it became clear that I needed to think about my role differently. I realized that more of my time needed to be devoted to strategic objectives and in order to find that time, it was necessary for me to reduce my number of direct reports. I also came to the conclusion that I needed to give members of my team more responsibility. This strategic-thinking shift benefited not only me, but my boss as well, since he now has more time to focus on bigger-picture initiatives. Tom’s coaching enabled me to have a positive impact on the entire organization.”

After being promoted to lead a business unit at a global financial institution with a four-fold increase in responsibilities, the new CIO was interested in receiving a candid assessment of his performance during the critical first year of his assignment. Believing his overall performance was viewed favorably, but concerned about any blind spots, he decided to retain Tom Matteo as a coach to ensure he was effectively set up for success.

Tom began the coaching process by working with the CIO to identify appropriate executives to interview to obtain feedback regarding the state of the organization, opportunities on which he could begin to capitalize and perceptions related to his overall leadership style. Within a few weeks, Tom began to present insights that allowed the executive to start working on areas that benefited from immediate focus, while Tom’s data collection process continued.

While some of the feedback was not surprising, Tom did uncover areas that needed to be addressed immediately. One of the most pressing issues that surfaced was his COO’s performance and narrow focus on the day-to-day business issues. The CIO quickly realized that his COO and entire executive team had been functioning at this tactical level and that a purposeful shift in thinking and operating needed to occur. Not only would this elevate the performance of his entire team, but would also free up his own time to focus on more strategic initiatives. Issues regarding the CIO’s interpersonal style witnessed in colleague interactions were also uncovered during the assessment process. Tom worked with the CIO to build the necessary leadership nuances to further his overall profile and engage constructively in debate when opposing views or opinions were presented by other top leaders.

“Initially a bit skeptical, I’m a true believer in coaching now. My work with Tom and the insight he gave me to become a more effective leader by identifying and focusing on new, strategic work streams has exceeded my expectations on every level. This was a mindset shift for me. Moving my teams’ focus to a more strategic perspective also has made all the difference. These strategic initiatives that we have now been able to work on will represent millions of dollars in savings for the company.”

Following the repositioning of a multinational bank’s America’s Treasurer, the #2 executive was appointed acting Treasurer. When the global treasurer agreed that he could get coaching, the acting Americas Treasurer chose Tom Matteo based on the work he had done with other senior leaders at the bank. He wanted a coach to help him succeed in this newly expanded role and to develop him in several key areas. These included his ability to communicate with greater impact and ability to influence others, especially when topics fell outside of his direct expertise.

After working with the executive for a brief time and collecting feedback from his colleagues, it became clear to Tom that the acting Treasurer was viewed as a subject matter expert. In order to realize success at this elevated level, he needed to demonstrate a stronger executive presence while becoming less of a ‘doer’ and more of a leader and strategist. He needed to relinquish control of the day-to-day tactical responsibilities, make strategic initiatives a priority and elevate his overall leadership profile.

While working with Tom, the acting Treasurer began delegating more responsibility to his team, enabling him to devote crucial time to strategizing and planning. He also showed marked improvement in his overall communication style – in both the content and delivery of his ideas and information. Implementing what he learned from Tom’s coaching, he was able to successfully influence the reversal of a credit-rating downgrade of the Bank and convince the board to shift the investment strategy regarding sources of liquidity, improving the risk-profile assessment with the federal regulators. Subsequent to these major wins, the executive was promoted to Treasurer and well positioned for further success in his new role.

“It was hard to let go of the ‘doer’ role. Tom kept me on track to make sure we achieved the improvements we were aiming for, which I needed to get to the next level. My work with Tom gave me the skills and confidence to present my case to the board, which was no minor feat. The fact that I could convince the board to invest in a new liquidity strategy is a testament to the coaching I received from Tom. I now had the confidence to speak about topics not directly in my area of expertise, and I could also make highly effective presentations to positively influence outcomes. When I refer others to Tom, I always tell them that coaching is like a mirror that provides an unfiltered view of yourself. It is not always pretty, but it allows you to see what needs to change to get to the next level.”