
Dan Heiman:
Can you share a success story where your coaching made a significant impact on a company’s or client’s career or personal development?
Jeremy Foster:
One recent story illustrates the benefit many clients have received through coaching.
Over the past year and a half, I’ve had the incredible privilege of coaching a Chief Operating Officer at a company experiencing explosive growth. To provide some context, the company has grown more than 10x since the COO took on his role, which speaks to his drive and talent. However, when I first began working with him, I quickly realized that his own knowledge and talent had become one of the biggest roadblocks to the company’s continued success.
After talking with the CEO, it became clear that while the COO was undeniably skilled, his soft skills and tendency to micromanage were stalling the company’s ability to scale. He believed he had to do everything himself—and in the early days, he could. But as the company grew, this approach became unsustainable. The COO was under immense pressure and stretched too thin. As a result, stress rippled throughout the organization. Employees felt the weight of his intensity, and unfortunately, some even left the company.
In our work together, we identified three pivotal areas where the client had the potential to transform:
- Building and empowering the leadership team under him. He needed to step back and put in place a strong leadership layer to carry more of the load.
- Delegating. He began to trust his team to take the reins, moving out of the weeds and focusing on the bigger picture.
- Shifting his interpersonal approach. Rather than being reactive and task-driven, he learned to slow down, prioritize relationships, and invest in people.
The results have been profound. His 360-degree feedback has shown tremendous growth, not just in his leadership and personal satisfaction, but in the satisfaction of his team. Employees are telling me they can see the transformation. Retention on his new team has been perfect, the company’s executive team is more cohesive, and the company has grown by more than 50% since we started working together, without the internal friction that had been holding them back before.
By evolving his leadership style, this COO has not only positioned the company for continued growth, but also created a healthier, more sustainable workplace for everyone involved. The results have been incredibly rewarding to witness as a coach, but it has been even more valuable for the leader who put in the work to make it happen and now gets to live it out. This single example shows what is possible for a whole organization when a leader commits to a process of discovery and growth.