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Coaching Across Power: Supporting a CEO Through a Board Crisis at Alderton Media
A founder-CEO is losing his board. He's hired you as a coach. The line between coaching and consulting is blurring, and the stakes keep rising.
Duration
85 min
Difficulty
Advanced
Stakeholders
3
Company Size
Medium (100-500)
Organizational Background
Alderton Media Group is a digital media company founded by CEO Jonathan Alderton. The company grew rapidly, then lost significant market share to streaming competitors. Three board members - two of whom represent institutional investors - have initiated a formal 'strategic review' that most insiders understand to be a performance evaluation of Jonathan. He founded the company 11 years ago and has never faced serious board pressure before. He is oscillating between outrage, fear, and strategic clarity - sometimes within the same conversation. His coach has been working with him for eight months and has deep rapport. Jonathan is now asking the coach for strategic advice, crisis communications guidance, and board relations coaching simultaneously. The coach must navigate these competing demands without losing the coaching stance.
Key Stakeholders
Learning Objectives
- Maintain a coaching stance when a client is under acute organizational and personal crisis
- Navigate the role boundary between executive coach, consultant, and advisor
- Apply deep listening and powerful questioning when a client is emotionally dysregulated
- Help a client distinguish between reactive decision-making and grounded strategic choice
- Understand the coach's ethical obligations when confidential information has organizational implications
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