Academic Medicine and Healthcare
Executive and Leadership Coaching
Situation: Improving leadership effectiveness and faculty engagement
Actions: Leveraging 360 interviews and an assessment, we coached a division chief to improve his self-awareness, demonstrate greater listening and empathy, and foster collaboration among faculty members. Coaching sessions plus in-between support provided real-time opportunities for the leader to learn and address more complex situations, including learning to discern others’ needs and respond in ways that promoted dialogue and support even amidst disagreement.
Result: The division chief noted improved effectiveness and received positive feedback from key faculty members as well as the department chair. Based on initial success, the leader continued with additional coaching and contracted for follow-up support for a staff member.
Executive and Leadership Coaching
Situation: New leadership of a challenging department
Actions: We coached a leader as she took on the leadership of a challenging department, including identifying immediate priorities, building key relationships and addressing challenging individuals within and external to the department. With support, she also improved her ability to set and maintain clear boundaries as well as make difficult decisions amidst complexity and incomplete information.
Result: The new chief successfully navigated her first six months in her new role, highlighting greater overall ease, strengthened relationship and ability to handle challenging situations as notable results. In addition, she received positive feedback and highlighted progress in key department areas.
Executive and Leadership Coaching
Situation: Clarifying impact and succeeding in a new role
Actions: The Carabiner Group supported a senior faculty member to clarify new ways to have impact and then succeed in a new role requiring extensive cross-institution engagement, stakeholder management and influence. Coaching supported the leader’s internal shift in expectations and behaviors related to meeting the programmatic needs of a diverse audience and the challenges of executing for a large group.
Result: The senior faculty member successfully transitioned into her new role, receiving positive feedback from her chair and key faculty and noting her own shift in critical behaviors, measures of success and degree of impact.
Team and Group Coaching and Facilitation
Situation: A healthcare VP wanted to improve division performance and improve collaboration
Actions: We co-designed and facilitated 4 multiple day off-sites focused on building collaboration, teamwork, and overall performance. We facilitated teams through a series of work and team member development activities, including unit mission, strategic imperatives, and work alignment. Also, we provided coaching and support to VP and team members.
Result: Successful delivery resulted in high team member satisfaction scores and executive report of increased productivity and cross-team work effectiveness 6 months later.
Team and Group Coaching and Facilitation
Situation: A leading medical school sought to improve peer support between experienced and newer residents
Actions: We designed and delivered a series of workshops for 4th and 5th year medical residents around coaching and listening skills, including developing tools and materials that residents could use in their interactions with others. In addition, we provided follow-up support to individuals and the faculty sponsor.
Result: Faculty and residents provided highly-favorable feedback on the delivery and usefulness of the sessions and materials. Based on program delivery, we were invited to provide coaching and organizational support to other leaders within the institution.
Organization Effectiveness
Situation: A sudden wave of junior faculty departures raised concerns about division leadership and culture
Actions: The Carabiner Group developed a multi-round assessment strategy, designed interview questions, and conducted in-depth interviews first with former faculty members and then current division faculty across all senior levels. We presented initial findings to the division’s leadership council, including key themes and opportunities, then developed a second summary and analysis, including recommendations around improving division culture. In addition, we coached the leader around key behaviors and through action planning.
Result: The findings received strong, positive feedback and as a result, the division chief and leadership council took a number of additional actions, including reach-outs to several former faculty, noticing higher division morale and improved culture. The division chief also identified greater personal effectiveness.
Organization Effectiveness
Situation: A medical division’s research center needed to modernize its focus and determine future direction
Actions: The Carabiner Group supported the evolution of a long-standing research center, including helping clarify its vision, purpose and strategic. Leveraging stakeholder interviews, we developed and shared a set of findings, developed materials and facilitated a series of leadership meetings, and partnered with and provided consulting support to the project leader and her director.
Result: The sessions and key outputs created alignment between the director, the executive committee, and key staff members. Goal clarity and greater definition of scope enabled priority setting and ultimately a path forward, including key planning milestones. Highlights from the discussions, including the vision and purpose were also used to communicate to key stakeholders and faculty.
