1-1 Coaching Case Study - The Director…
The Situation
The title was there: Director. But the leadership presence wasn’t fully landing.
Externally, this leader was well-regarded and known for delivering results. Internally, something wasn’t working. Direct reports waited for guidance. Decisions stalled. Ownership was patchy. Too much responsibility remained concentrated at the top, rather than being stewarded across the team.
Tensions with a senior colleague added to the challenge. While this leader brought clarity and ambition, their counterpart lacked self-esteem, creating misalignment and clashes. Stakeholder relationships outside the organisation were strong, but inside, influence wasn’t yet being used to shape culture or steward delivery through others.
The Turning Point
The coaching began with an honest reflection:
You’ve got the badge. But are you truly directing or just carrying?
The first coaching programme focused on identity and presence - enabling the leader to believe in themselves and step into the role with intention and clarity. The second went deeper, surfacing value misalignments and challenging behaviours that kept the team dependent. This layered approach created not just short-term performance improvements, but a re-alignment of leadership from the inside out.
The work centred on:
Clarifying the role the system needed in order to succeed.
Understanding what was keeping the team dependent.
Rebalancing the dynamics with key stakeholders.
Using a more coaching-led style to steward responsibility, unlock ownership, and grow confidence in others.
The Shift
My 1-1 coaching typically runs across 10–12 sessions, forming the foundation of a wider leadership arc. Alongside my practice as an executive coach, I also serve as CEO of Be the Waves - a movement dedicated to helping good people lead great things through stewardship and systemic leadership.”
In this programme, the leader was bright, purposeful, and empathic, with a strong delivery background. Their greater opportunity lay not in doing more, but in stewarding more - shifting from being the one who delivered value to being the one who enabled value.
Together we focused on three key shifts:
Redefining Leadership as Stewardship
Leadership stopped being about fixing and started being about growing capacity in others. The leader adopted a coaching-based approach, asking better questions, holding expectations clearly, and creating space for stretch.Clarity and Cadence
A new rhythm was introduced - one that supported accountability without micro-management. Delegation frameworks, a lived team charter, and regular strategy sessions created structure without stifling autonomy. Stewardship replaced surveillance.Owning the Platform
The leader began to use their internal voice more intentionally. No longer operating only on delivery, they stepped into stewarding the wider narrative - reconnecting cross-functional teams, influencing internal culture, and shaping strategy from purpose.
What Changed
The coaching created space for lasting change:
A More Empowered Team
Responsibility was stewarded across the group. Team members stepped forward, took ownership, and initiated improvements. One leader within the team grew into space the Director had previously occupied - freeing them to truly Direct.Strategic Presence
The leader stopped defaulting to detail and began steering from vision and values. Their confidence grew in meetings, decisions, and culture-shaping moments - leading to braver action.Stronger Stakeholder Alignment
Dynamics at the top shifted from reactive to aligned. Shared goals took precedence over power dynamics, creating a forum for negotiation and collective stewardship.Team Culture: Then and Now
Early on, the team were capable but hesitant - looking upward for direction. Months into the coaching, the leader reflected: “They are doing more on their own. I have greater confidence in letting them take the lead and I’ve been really impressed by their ideas and approach.” Accountability was now shared, not hoarded.Tangible Shifts
Reliance on the Director reduced significantly. Leaders began shaping strategy and driving initiatives independently. Supported by a coaching-informed, stewardship-based style, the team delivered ahead of schedule, exceeding timelines once thought fixed.Wider Influence
This internal transformation signalled something broader. Other departments noticed the difference, and cross-functional collaboration increased. The ripple effects of stewardship reached beyond the team, lifting collective expectations across the organisation.
Sustaining the Shift
Stewardship is about tending for the long run. And that’s what happened here.
In the months following the coaching programme, the team continued to operate with confidence and cohesion - maintaining pace without constant oversight. The leader remained in a strategic role, resisting the pull back into delivery. Ownership stayed distributed, conversations became more candid, and accountability was held across the system.
The organisation recognised this evolution - not only in results, but in the way responsibility was stewarded. The leader subsequently delivered a significant transformation programme to wide recognition across the organisation, and has now stepped into an even larger transformation opportunity at organisation-wide level.
Final Word
This wasn’t just a leadership pivot. It was stewardship in action: less about control, more about care; less about doing, more about enabling. By stewarding responsibility differently, this leader unlocked not only their own presence and impact, but also the potential of their team.
What began as a personal coaching journey became a catalyst for cultural renewal and systemic transformation - one that continues to grow in scope and influence.
Let’s Talk
If this case study resonated with you and you’re thinking that you might be ready to take stock, get clear, or explore your next leadership step - I’d love to hear from you.
We can begin with:
A free inquisitive session
A tailored coaching proposal
Or simply a conversation to see what’s needed now
Because your next chapter deserves space, support, and clarity.
And every great leader deserves a moment to realign—before leading forward.
Helping good people lead great things
If this resonated with you…
If this message resonates with you, and you’re one of the good people leading great things, let’s talk.
Get in touch and Book an inquisitive call here.- If any of this topic resonated with you and you have something you’d like to share with me or if you’d like to discuss working with me on this topic - stefan@stefanpowell.co.uk works really well for me.
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I am…
An executive coach who specialises in helping good people lead great things.
Good people care about others, our planet and beauty. Great things are changes for the betterment of society and all that lives within an around it.
It sounds big and fun - it is.
I'm also an endurance racing cyclist and a go getter.
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