Case Study

When results-driven Stephanie joined her new firm as a Managing Director, she inherited a team that was underperforming relative to peers. She was given a clear mandate: Lift results quickly and raise the performance bar across senior and junior talent alike. By most traditional measures, Stephanie succeeded. Financial outcomes improved and client standards were uncompromising. However, the human cost was mounting.

Stephanie’s exacting approach, while effective for her personally, proved unsustainable for the broader team. Junior bankers worked extreme hours yet felt their efforts were never sufficient.

Mid-level leaders felt sidelined rather than developed. Feedback was delivered bluntly, concerns were dismissed, and turnover rose steadily. Despite strong revenue generation, engagement, morale, and retention were deteriorating—creating material talent risk for the firm.

Recognizing the long-term implications, the CEO recommended executive coaching. Stephanie committed fully to the process, engaging openly in a 360-degree feedback assessment and inviting candid input from colleagues at all levels, including those who had felt burned out or disengaged.

What’s more, Stephanie decided to acknowledge that she had room for improvement. “I was honest with my team members that I was doing this leadership training and that I am trying to get better at being a collaborative leader. I spoke about the specific items I was trying to work on with trusted members of my team.”

The team sensing that help was on the way bought Stephanie time to refine her leadership practice and implement changes.

While Stephanie had understood herself and her strengths pretty well, she realized there was more to it than that: “I thought I was an excellent communicator; what I did not understand is that people take in information differently and also prefer a more personalized touch.”

“I was trying to motivate my team via the things that primarily motivated me as I was growing up in my career (largely fear driven) and that does not work for others. If I wanted to get more buy-in, I would need to pay attention to how others prefer to be motivated.”

After going through the coaching program, the shift was evident.

Follow-up feedback from HR revealed a marked transformation in Stephanie’s leadership effectiveness. Team members described a “180-degree change” in her approach. They highlighted increased empathy, approachability, and investment in others’ development.

Stephanie began holding regular one-on-one meetings with Directors and MDs, delivering tough feedback with balance, and actively collaborating with junior bankers to improve workload sustainability.

The results were not just cultural; they were strategic. Stephanie retained her high-performance standards while building trust, reducing attrition risk, and strengthening the leadership pipeline.

The firm gained a leader capable of delivering results and developing talent, proving that executive coaching can convert individual excellence into enterprise value.

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