Challenge and Response: Rescue from Pitfall– A Case Study Coaching a Leader Through a Corporation Crisis

L Carrel International Journal of Coaching in Organizations 2008

This article uses a case study concerning the director of communications of a large, services corporation in crisis to illustrate a coaching approach that focuses on overcoming the pitfalls commonly experienced by leaders in crisis. Two pitfalls, the inability to answer the question “What is at stake?” and the “Ego Trap”, are addressed in the case study. Laurent Carrel offers a four step process to prepare the client for the coaching intervention, as well as a useful tool of evaluation called the “Sextant of Crisis Navigation.” He also identifies ways in which to work with the concept of separate realities.