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The Trusted Advisor

Stoke Consulting - Executive Coaching | Leadership Development

We were engaged by an Australian manufacturer of industrial products used in the transport industries, but also in commercial and household drainage materials. The initial brief was to manage a business improvement project supported by the Australian Government’s Entrepreneurs Program. This project was successfully delivered on time and on budget.

From there, the brief morphed into becoming a “Trusted Advisor” for the company’s Managing Director with the implementation of Executive Coaching.

Problems

The business was directed by a sole Managing Director. He did not have a typical Board of Directors to support him. As a typical SMB there was just himself and a GM largely running the company.

Therefore, the MD had to spread himself across a range of duties from making critical business decisions to managing relatively simple lower-level tasks.

The business also operated across two sites, located in two capital cities. The MD therefore did not have presence at one site, in Sydney.

 

Solution

Developed a sense of trust between the MD and our Consultant so that key business decisions could be reviewed, discussed and approved, with our Consultant acting as a sounding board for the MD.Delegated the management of some key pieces of work to our Consultant, to free the MD up from dealing with all the detailed tasks about that piece of work. An example was dealing with a major financial related service provider with a long term, but difficult relationship, centred around settlement of a disagreement between the two parties. Our Consultant was able to manage all the stakeholders, correspondence and most meetings between those parties. Regular updates were given to the MD, until such time as the matter was successfully resolved.Delegated to our Consultant the day to day visiting of the Sydney site, as was required to attend to various matters, freeing up the MD from making such visits or attending to day-to-day matters.

Outcomes

The MD benefited from a having  a second voice in the company who he could share decision making with. Beyond this, he had a ‘fellow traveller’ who he could discuss any matter with as it arose. A dramatic lowering of stress levels for the MD resulted.

The other main benefit was, and continues to be, that the MD has freed up his time to concentrate on managing the business and broader matters such as strategic and business planning.

Stoke Consulting will help your business in this way, supporting the Managing Director and sharing some of the responsibilities of managing a successful business.