Our experience

The work that shaped ETC

ETC is new. The experience behind it is not. For years we have coached senior leaders through their first months in a new C-suite or executive leadership role. These five examples come from that work.

Five transitions

The challenge, what we did and the outcome

Each example links to the part of our approach it draws on most: one of the three shifts, or one of the areas a C-suite hire can fail on.

Premium automotive

Chief Information Officer

The challenge: Landing in a new role at a business under heavy pressure on cost.
What we did: Support from the month before the start date through the first 100 days in post: stakeholder mapping, a listening tour and detailed coaching on cutting costs.
The outcome: A smooth handover with no disruption to operations. The board agreed the cost plan in month 2.

Focus: Role Mandate

FMCG

Chief Information Officer

The challenge: Joining to lead global IT operations while moving work offshore and reducing headcount.
What we did: Coaching through the first six months on aligning stakeholders, leading through change and keeping a sharp focus on delivery.
The outcome: A steady core team throughout. The move offshore finished on time and key people stayed. The leader gained gravitas under sustained pressure.

Shift: Executor to Orchestrator

Global engineering consulting

Chief Data Engineer

The challenge: Joining a new business in an economic downturn, with the task of deciding which business outcomes came first.
What we did: We first helped the hiring organisation define the role mandate. We then coached the new executive on the shift in mindset, what to stop doing and managing stakeholders.
The outcome: The executive leadership team quickly agreed a focused plan for delivering business outcomes. By month 3 it had led to material changes that drove profit.

Shift: Problem Solver to Future Architect

International charity

Global Director of Fundraising

The challenge: Landing in a role where scrutiny of how funds were spent had risen sharply.
What we did: Coaching the executive to define their role mandate and executive profile, then a vision of the value they would create and a plan for change, with work to bring stakeholders on board.
The outcome: By month 3, new fundraising targets and a team working closely with Finance. By month 6, greater lasting benefit from every dollar raised.

Focus: Role Mandate and Proven Value

Automotive

European Data Science Lead

The challenge: Joining to reshape the data science team behind the delivery of electric vehicles.
What we did: Coaching the new executive through stakeholder mapping, a listening tour, re-energising the team and agreeing performance targets that moved the team from measuring effort to delivering outcomes.
The outcome: A value plan in place by the end of month 1. By month 3, a team united by a clear purpose and delivering value no one else in the business could.

Shift: Functional Expert to Enterprise Leader

Reading these examples

What these examples are, and what they are not

What they are

Assignments we led before ETC existed, each supporting a leader through a move into a new senior role. They taught us where transitions go wrong and what helps. Together with our review of the research, they shaped the ETC programme.

What they are not

They are not results from the four-phase ETC programme, which is new. Each one was tailored to a single leader and did not include every part of the programme. We have removed names and any detail that could identify the people or organisations involved.

Next step

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