BAT Modern Oral formed a brand new global team to deliver a high priority category under significant commercial pressure.
Inner Leader partnered with BAT to support the team to build trust, clarity and psychological safety as the foundations for strong performance.
Company Name
British American Tobacco (BAT) Modern Oral
Industry
Global FMCG
Services
One-to-One Coaching
The Challenge
When the Modern Oral team first came together in Southampton, the group included a wide mix of personalities, experience levels and cultural backgrounds. Among them was Andinet, a highly skilled technical specialist whose expertise in stability work was unquestioned. His data was strong, his analysis reliable and his contribution essential to the team’s success.
Yet something was holding him back.
Although his knowledge was exceptional, his quiet, hesitant communication style meant others often misinterpreted his confidence. In meetings he spoke softly, and in emails he sometimes struggled to express his thoughts with the clarity he intended. Colleagues would frequently ask his manager, Chris Keller, to confirm what he had already explained.
“It wasn’t a capability issue,” Chris says. “It was how he presented himself. People didn’t realise how strong he was because he wasn’t speaking with the certainty he deserved.”
How One-to-One Coaching Helped
Inner Leader worked directly with Andinet through a series of personal coaching sessions designed to strengthen confidence, clarity and presence. The process was thoughtful and individual. Rather than changing who he was, the coaching helped him recognise the value of his own voice and express it in a way that others could fully appreciate.
Together they worked on how he spoke in meetings, how he structured his messages and how he could hold himself with more confidence in conversations that moved quickly. The aim was not to make him louder, but to help him be heard.
Gradually, a shift took place.
He began speaking up sooner and with more assurance. His emails became clearer and more direct. People stopped going to Chris for confirmation because they no longer felt the need to double check. They trusted what they heard the first time.
Impact at a Glance
The Impact on the Team
As his confidence grew, something unexpected happened. He began mentoring others.
Colleagues who were newer to the business or earlier in their careers found themselves turning to him for guidance, and he had the belief in himself to support them.
“For me, that was one of the most powerful outcomes,” Chris explains. “He didn’t just improve how he communicated. He stepped into a different version of himself. People now seek him out because they trust him, and that has lifted the whole team.”
The shift also freed up significant leadership time.
Before coaching, Chris often had to join stability calls simply because the team wanted reassurance. After the coaching, those requests disappeared. Meetings ran smoothly without him. Decisions progressed faster. The team became more autonomous.
A Small Change with a Big Ripple Effect
This single coaching relationship illustrates the heart of Inner Leader’s work. When one person grows, the ripple is felt across an entire team. Confidence becomes contagious. Trust strengthens. Communication becomes clearer. Productivity increases.
For Modern Oral, this mattered greatly.
Individual growth fed directly into the team’s ability to take ownership, run meetings independently and deliver an ever-increasing volume of projects without adding headcount.
The story is not just about one person gaining confidence. It is about how the right coaching can unlock capability that already exists and reshape the way a whole team functions.
Part of a Bigger Picture
This one to one coaching formed just one strand of a broader programme within Modern Oral. Leadership development and full team workshops also took place, each contributing to the remarkable culture shift that helped the team deliver more than two hundred and fifty percent growth in project capacity.
You can explore the other parts of the story here:
Leadership Development at BAT Modern Oral
Team Development at BAT Modern Oral
Full Case Study: How BAT Modern Oral Built a High Performing Team That Runs Itself
