Case Studies

The challenge was not competence. The board already knew him as the person who ran the company. His task was harder: to get them to see him as the person who could lead it into its next phase of growth.

In his first presentation to the board, Anett had him do something he had never done in that room: tell a story. With the company projecting tremendous growth, he spoke about his love of complexity, the kind he finds at the piano playing Bach inventions, where independent melodies weave into a single intricate pattern.

That story carried him to the next round. He was now the only internal candidate left, up against one external candidate. The coaching turned visionary: where he believed the company could grow, and how he would drive that growth himself.

The final step was dinner with the board members. There, he told more stories, each one positioning him as an inspirational leader and a driver of change and acceleration. He got the job. He had presented not just what he could do today, but his full potential for what he could do for the company going forward.

She volunteered for every extra assignment and executed brilliantly. But she was not getting the promotion.

Anett worked with her on communicating the strategic vision she had, the vision that went beyond completion of the project. She also worked with her on speaking up in every meeting where other vice presidents and senior executives were present. The focus, every time, was establishing a broad strategic perspective in every comment she made.

In just a few months, she built the peripheral support she needed, beyond the boss who had always recommended her. She was named a vice president.

She had to be taken off the stage. She had many theories about why it happened, but fundamentally, she did not know. What she knew was this: her next presentation had to demonstrate, to the same audience, that she was recovered and in control.

The approach was empathetic but focused forward. She learned to control every dimension of her speaking: her breathing, her body language, and above all, how to trust the Core Satellite System to keep her in command of her content.

Six months later, she stood in front of the same 300 leaders and spoke with control and confidence. Solid on her feet, solid in her delivery, solid in her message. What a relief.

His CEO had gone to bat for him. Now he had to demonstrate, in front of a split room, that he was ready, and more able to do the job than any outside candidate.

Anett coached him to use the Core Satellite System not just as a framework for developing his story, but as a framework that would allow him to speak authentically, with power and precision.

He hit a home run. Great feedback from every board member, and great praise from the CEO who had staked his own credibility on the recommendation.

Demands from corporate kept changing. Anett spent two days with him focusing and refocusing his message, and in particular, highlighting that message with compelling stories.

Then he went to corporate for rehearsals, and they edited his message twenty-four times. When he told her, she went straight to the Investor Day video to see what had survived the process.

They had kept every compelling story. Twenty-four rounds of edits, and every story made the final cut. When he told those stories, he communicated the power of his leadership.