069. Navigating Organizational Politics: A Team Coach’s Guide - with Alexander Caillet @ Corentus

Summary

What should I imagine, practically, when a team coach starts to support my team?

What does a well-known team coach find the most rewarding about working with nonprofit teams?

Can a team coach detect any differences in team behaviors or tendencies between their for-profit and nonprofit clients? 

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Alexander Caillet, CEO and co-founder of Corentus, Inc., on all of the above questions,  including how to navigate team behaviors when it comes to organizational politics as well as decision-making. 

His answers may surprise you!

Alexander’s Bio:

·       CEO and co-founder of Corentus, Inc.

·       Adjunct professor at Georgetown University,  in its Leadership Coaching Certificate Program

·       Alexander also worked at other coaching and consulting companies

·       His education is in Organizational Psychology

We discuss: 

• Corentus’ vision: thriving, high-performing teams that result in a sustainable and harmonious future
• What differentiates Corentus’ approach to team coaching from other approaches is its blending of team coaching with team facilitation, training, and consulting 
• Alexander is one of the pioneers in the relatively new field of team coaching
• The various stages of a team coaching engagement
• Corentus has worked with a range of nonprofits: Save the Children, Oxfam, Technoserve, Syngenta Foundation, AIPP, and others.
• Alexander observes interesting differences in what pre-occupies teams in the for-profit and nonprofit space, respectively. They relate to themes such as productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness of processes, as well as decisiveness
• He also observes differences in terms of a greater focus on achieving consensus or even unanimity in the nonprofit sphere, rather than using decision-making methods such as voting, delegation, and authority with consultation.

Quotes:

“I was surprised to encounter issues of hierarchy, power, DEI, and dysfunction in the nonprofit sector, I had not expected these as much in this sector”

Resources:

Alexander’s LinkedIn Profile

Corentus Website

Corentus Email

Info on Corentus' offer on Low bono / Pro bono team coaching opportunity

YouTube video of this podcast

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