Context

When he called me, he said: I saw your post. Exactly what I need. I’m struggling. I don’t have enough time with my family. I’m exhausted. I cancelled vacations. I want to work on that.

His entry point was personal: achieving a better work-life balance. As I often see, it is the inner struggle that prompts leaders to seek support. But once we began exploring, the connection to his leadership role and the business challenges became immediately apparent.

This CEO had moved from operations and process management into the top role, yet he was still operating as an exceptional performer rather than as a strategic leader. He could grasp the big picture quickly and translate it into tasks, but then relied on his managers to micro-manage execution. Detail-oriented, perfectionist, still anchored in operations — that was where we began our work: shifting him towards a truly strategic stance.

Problem identified

The picture became clearer once we included the team’s voice. As we were setting the coaching goals, he asked: Would you please talk to my team as well, so I can develop in the right way? Speaking to direct reports to understand what they need from their leader is something I often do, and, in his case, it was particularly revealing.

The feedback showed several layers of difficulty:

• There was a significant work-life balance challenge within the team itself.
• They were caught up in details, trying to control every process, rather than holding the big picture.
• The CEO himself was a big-picture person, but very pushy: quick, rational, analytical. His attitude was I can do it quickly, so you can too — but the team couldn’t keep up.
• The managers were junior and highly operational. Strategic thinking was missing, which only added to the stress and confusion.

The one-to-one interviews also uncovered personal realities: one team member was close to burnout; another, a perfectionist managing 18 people, was still doing too much herself; and one colleague, very similar to the CEO in style, admitted: Sometimes he’s so focused on details we don’t understand the big picture.

The business context

They had a lot of internal and external stakeholders, with reporting and planning requirements from headquarters and the constant demands of external distributors. The industry was fast-moving, with daily changes beyond their control. That dynamic made the pressure on both the CEO and his team even more intense.

Coaching goals

Together, we framed three levels of goals:

1. Personal. The higher goal was to enjoy the present and be focused on the future with more lightness, establishing a personal work-life balance formula.
2. Business. To understand the dynamics of new opportunities, to prioritise, to stay focused on the present rather than only on the future, and to leverage short-term opportunities.
3. Leadership/people. To listen to others, to use feedback, to praise and acknowledge achievements, and to build relationships with the team, not only with management above him.

Coaching process

Profiling (we used Hogan and Saville) showed he was strong at managing relationships upwards with senior management, but paid little attention to relationships downwards with his own team. That imbalance shaped much of our work together.

It was essential to draw a clear line between two types of meetings: one-to-ones and team meetings. The one-to-ones were not about business issues but about personal development and building relationships downwards. Team meetings, on the other hand, were the place to tackle business challenges, approached in a more structured way.

1. One-to-ones. He returned to holding one-to-ones, which he had stopped doing. This time, the focus was different: not I expect you to deliver, but I want to understand you, how you see the situation, what you need. My guidance was clear — don’t copy business topics into these conversations. Use them to see the individual as a person.
2. Team meetings. With the team, we first asked: What would a better result look like? More structure, fewer operational details, clearer reports. From there, we redesigned the meetings. He began with the top-down picture: these are the targets, these are the priorities, this is what marketing should cover, this is what sales should cover. Only then did he go into the departments.

He was learning through every attempt. As his team was developing, he was developing himself.

Change observed

The transformation was both rapid and tangible. He learned not just to adapt himself to a fast-changing market, but to create the conditions for his team to adapt as well. He applied changes immediately, refined them through practice, and grew in step with his team. That shift made the change sustainable.

The impact was visible across all dimensions of his role: personal balance, leadership style, and business outcomes.

• Leadership evolution. From a delivery-at-all-costs approach to a structured, people-focused way of leading. He shifted attention from his own pace and expectations to what others needed.
• Team dynamics. Last-minute pressure gave way to clarity and recognition. Strategic thinking began to take root, reducing stress and confusion among managers.
• Business impact. Meetings became more focused, reports more precise, and relationships with key external partners more effectively managed.
• Personal balance. Creating space for presence and lightness in his role opened the way to the work-life balance he had been seeking from the start.

Together, these changes reinforced one another: as the team grew in capability, he grew in leadership. And in that shift, he regained both performance and perspective.

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Real change happens when personal struggles are addressed in a way that strengthens leadership and delivers business results. If you recognise parts of this story — the pressure, the imbalance, the constant push for delivery — it may be time to take a closer look at your own system.

A consultation call is the simplest next step. It gives you the space to reflect, test perspectives, and explore what change could look like in your own context.

To your success,
Simona

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I'm the founder of BOC Institute, one of the renowned consulting agencies for international companies operating in Slovenia and South-East Europe.

I coach CEOs and top managers 1:1 worldwide. I'm here to save you time, energy, and money through your objectives, decision-making, and leadership development. I understand we can change the world one coaching session at a time!

Do you feel like having a call? You can reach out here and let me guide you from there.

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Simona Špilak www.simonaspilak.com