Title
Coaching in the Middle of an Environmental Conflict With the Community / Alejandra Pallamar, Rodrigo Torres, Esteban Valenzuela.
Summary
In 2010, Hornitos Minerals (HM), a large Chilean mining company, faced a major environmental crisis and social conflict with the community adjacent to its mine. In the midst of the struggle, HM approached José Mendez, an executive coach and mentor, to help improve the company's relationship with the local community. Unfortunately, such strife between mining companies and communities has been increasingly relevant in recent years in Chile and José had recent experience facilitating company-community relations that involved strong environmental tensions. Upon arriving at HM, José quickly found that the HM team was completely paralyzed by the current crisis and was in desperate need of formulating an action plan. Through his analysis of HM, José began questioning the managerial structure of the organization and ultimately decides to direct his coaching towards a single executive employee rather than an entire team.The case invites students to explore a systemic, multifaceted, and complex understanding of the coaching process and the interface between organizations and their social and political environment. Students will be asked to reflect on and assess the coach's interventions in this particular situation, the rationality of those interventions, and any other options he had.