Case Study: Coaching for Texas A&M University’s Marketing & Communications Team
Lauren Cook, Founder
Project Goal
On the surface, we were brought in to support the Texas A&M MarComm Visual Media Team during their director’s maternity leave. The goal was to keep the work moving and help create compelling stories for the newly-created stories site.
What transpired was a creative partnership, where we provided coaching and mentoring as the team developed creative ideas and strategic storytelling to elevate the deep humanity of higher education.
Our Approach
While the temptation was to “hit the ground running” and try to churn out as much content as quickly as possible, we took a different approach.
As we describe all over our organizational materials, we believe listening is the first step in any project or initiative. So instead of diving in with tasks and directives, we listened. We gathered (in person) and provided the space for everyone to share who we are as individuals and creatives. We invited the young and diverse team to show us a piece of content that represented their style and motivations. They beamed as they shared video clips and photos from the stories they most connected with as creators. They laughed and nodded as they told us about on-site filming experiences, memorable subjects, and the “Aggie way” of doing storytelling.
We later facilitated a formal listening session to provide a safe and nurturing space for the team to articulate a shared vision for good storytelling, while at the same time discussing road blocks to productivity or collaboration.
Our coaching support continued after the director’s return from maternity leave, including targeted virtual and in-person sessions to:
Develop story ideas
Draft creative briefs
Practice pitching a story idea
Draft/edit video scripts
Review video story drafts
In creative work sessions, we would often ask, “Where is the humanity here?” or “What is the most human-centered story we can tell?” We would also push the team to highlight the unique spirit of their institution. We would say, “That’s a great story idea; what makes it a uniquely Aggie story?” Or, “Where is the Aggie spirit shining through this story?”
As we have said with many clients, it’s common for organizations to show what they do. But we believe the best of communications and storytelling will show who an organization is. How does your work uniquely address the world’s needs? How are your organization’s particular gifts, perspectives, and passions on display?
The Results
While our goals are always to help clients produce stronger stories, connect with audiences, increase engagement, and expand creativity, with a coaching client, we are most proud of the individual outcomes that shape who we are as creatives. In this case, we observed the following among the team members we coached:
Increased confidence
Reaffirmed creative capacity
Willingness to try new approaches
Acquisition of new skills
Our Insights
Coaching is such a two-way gift. During this client work, one of our favorite moments came at the end of a 30-minute coaching session with a team member. She took a deep breath, her shoulders shrugging high. Then, with an audible sigh, her shoulders relaxed. "Wow," she said. "I feel so much better than I did 30 minutes ago."
Deep listening is valuable in any environment, but in the context of creativity and storytelling, it can be the difference between a good story and a transformative experience, both for the creator and the audience.
