Leadership Coaching Through Organizational Change
Client Story
A technology company faced a defining moment when its long-tenured Founder/CEO agreed to step down. An interim leader was appointed to keep the company afloat under considerable duress while the board searched for a successor.
Even for those who supported the change, this was a traumatizing turn of events for the employees. Years of centralized decision-making left the leadership team out of practice making clear choices and collaborating effectively with their peers. An organization already in turmoil from weak forecasting and unfavorable conditions was now teetering on collapse.
The Challenge
The organization had a history of investing in leadership development through coaching and individual assessments. Leaders understood their strengths, weaknesses, and behaviors, but that self-awareness wasn’t translating into effective teamwork.
Under the threat of collapse, the leadership team needed to collaborate across silos, make difficult decisions under pressure, and prepare for a new CEO whose priorities were still unknown.
The question was: How do you build a more collaborative, adaptable organization knowing the vision will change again under a new CEO?
The team needed more than another assessment or standalone workshop. It needed practical ways to strengthen relationships, communicate effectively, and make decisions together.
Our Approach
Connection Lab partnered with the interim CEO and their leadership team through a three-month engagement, shaped by discovery conversations and a subsequent summary delivered to leadership.
The leadership coaching program combined:
Online executive workshops: Practical sessions explored how stress was affecting communication, efficiency, and collaboration - and ways to change their stress responses. They were able to focus on what they wanted to get better at individually, then collectively.
One-on-one executive coaching: Individual support helped leaders understand their responses to stress, strengthen their leadership practices, and better support their own teams.
Leadership team coaching: Connection Lab joined their biweekly management meetings to support the new communication practices.
Everyday check-ins: Lab Pass — Check-In made reflection and communication part of the team’s daily routine. Using the app supported accountability and collaboration.
Rather than focusing solely on individual development, Connection Lab helped leaders build a shared language for feedback, navigate difficult conversations, and put collaborative leadership into practice.
Results
Change management. The organization emerged from the transition much better prepared for succession, with a stronger foundation for collaboration and cultural change.
A shared language. Leaders developed a shared framework to discuss vision, stress, and the evolving value of the business.
Stronger collaboration. Function leaders began using the new language to increase efficiency, and feedback became a much more powerful tool for problem-solving. They were modeling effective communication much better for each other and their reports.
Better business outcomes. The organization did more than survive the transition between CEOS - it actually crept into profitability. Leaders made better, faster decisions together, helping the business navigate a challenging period.
Greater leadership resilience. The interim leader gained a deeper understanding of their capacity to lead through significant organizational change and now has an appetite for more responsibility.
After the successor arrived, the board informed the interim leader that they had exceeded expectations and were in fact pivotal in attracting an experienced CEO eager to lead the organization into its next iteration.
The experience demonstrated a central principle of Connection Lab’s leadership coaching programs: individual self-awareness matters, but lasting change happens when leaders learn to work together. The team navigated the transition not simply by understanding themselves better, but by finding a way to connect and collaborate with each other.
