The Context
When Samira Ali was appointed CEO of a global, purpose-led organisation, she stepped into a role charged with legacy expectations, organisational flux, and a board looking for fresh direction. Promoted internally from a divisional CEO role, her appointment echoed a growing trend in the market seeing boards placing their confidence in first-time CEOs who have already demonstrated operational leadership. Recognising the complexity and scrutiny that comes with stepping into the top role, Samira partnered with an executive coach for a year-long CEO coaching programme to ensure she could lead with strategic clarity, grounded confidence, and systemic awareness.
The Challenge
Samira’s predecessor had been in post for over a decade and left behind a leadership vacuum filled with divergent views across the board, a fragmented senior team, and low organisational morale following a prolonged restructure. The board wanted rapid transformation, while employees yearned for stability and coherence. Samira faced the formidable task of asserting a new agenda, building trust in a fractured system, and managing complex relational dynamics, all without the buffer of time or anonymity.
Coaching Goals
We co-created a bespoke CEO coaching programme with Samira centred on the following outcomes:
- Establishing influence and credibility with a diverse and divided board
- Unifying and energising a senior leadership team in transition
- Building a confident, values-aligned CEO identity and leadership brand
- Navigating high-stakes decisions under scrutiny
- Strengthening resilience, clarity, and boundary-setting
The Opportunity
Samira’s background as a divisional CEO gave her strong operational roots, but the transition to enterprise-wide, externally visible leadership required a significant shift in mindset and presence. Drawing on the insight from the Spencer Stuart 2024 CEO Transitions report, highlighting that first-time CEOs are under greater pressure and boards are intervening earlier when performance slips, this coaching engagement focused on proactively equipping Samira to thrive, not just survive.
Our Approach
The coaching unfolded over twelve months and blended structured frameworks with adaptive support:
- Strategic Discovery: Early sessions explored Samira’s leadership backstory, organisational dynamics, and political fault lines. Stakeholder interviews revealed key perceptions and unspoken expectations.
- Identity & Influence: We used the Choice–Character–Connection (CCC) (L&M) diagnostic to help Samira define the type of CEO she wanted to be, and the leadership story she needed to tell, internally and externally.
- Board Dynamics: A major theme in coaching was navigating board complexity. Samira practised engagement strategies for building one-on-one trust with board members, enhancing her ability to influence key decisions while maintaining alignment.
- Decision Labs: We used live strategic decisions to rehearse approaches to timing, narrative, and accountability—balancing data with intuition.
- Presence & Visibility: With growing external expectations of CEOs, Samira focused on building her public voice. She began writing on LinkedIn, joined keynote panels, and cultivated a presence at industry events. These moves raised her credibility and visibility, not just personally but for the organisation she led.
- Resilience Practices: Micro-strategies for emotional regulation, energy management, and strategic detachment helped her maintain clarity even when stakes were high.
The Impact
By the end of the coaching engagement, the client emerged with a clear, anchored leadership identity that was not performative, but started to become deeply personal and professionally credible:
- Strengthened the board relationship to strategic partnership
- Built a more aligned and accountable executive team
- Sharpened her strategic voice and improved the cadence of decision-making
- Developed a confident leadership presence that inspired trust both internally and externally
- Strengthened her resilience and redefined success in line with her values and the organisation’s purpose
Why It Matters
Samira’s coaching journey reflects broader trends revealed in the 2024 CEO Transitions data (Source. Spencer Stuart): first-time CEOs face increasing visibility, compressed timelines for results, and complex relational expectations from boards. Coaching acted not as a safety net, but as a strategic accelerator. It allowed Samira to lead with greater composure, clarity and systemic awareness which differentiate high-impact leaders in today’s environment.
At Lazarus & Maverick, we see coaching as essential infrastructure for CEO transitions. Done well, it goes beyond onboarding a leader providing conditions for sustained, future-fit impact.
Considering support for a new or transitioning CEO?
We work with boards and executive teams to design bespoke coaching programmes that help new CEOs succeed in their most critical first year and beyond. To explore how we can support your leadership transition, please get in touch.
