To keep up with Flatiron Health’s rapid pace of change, Kate Estep, VP of Product Management uses Mento Coaching to drive the performance of her team and empower her leaders to navigate uncertainty.

In Kate Estep’s Product Management Organization at Flatiron Health, product directors have a lot on their plates. As in most modern organizations, managers’ roles are often a blend of individual contributor - and leadership roles. They are the single source of coaching and development for their teams, responsible for driving individual and team performance, but that’s not all. They also have their own responsibilities setting strategy, collaborating with cross-functional teams, making key decisions, and managing their own projects.

With an increase in healthcare regulatory requirements, new business priorities, and the increasing pace of change across the business, Kate turned to Mento to provide coaching and mentoring support for her product management team. For Product Managers, this created access to coaching and mentorship from seasoned product experts outside Flatiron, augmenting perspective and support. For Product Directors, this not only augmented their work coaching and developing their teams, but also provided a space to develop and hone their own product leadership skills.

Over the past two years Mento has provided coaching and mentorship to Flatiron Health’s Product Management Organization and their employees are reporting improved work performance, confidence and clarity.

Empowering product managers with 1:1 coaching and mentorship

Unlike other coaching providers, Mento Coaches have experience in product management and healthcare, enabling them to offer relevant insights and guidance to Flatiron's product managers. Flatiron team members are able to get real-time support solving challenges and taking on the opportunities they faced because their coaches understand their context first-hand.

This targeted approach helped Flatiron's product managers refine their skills more quickly, and lead to successful outcomes faster.

“There's just something about talking to a coach who gets it. Who knows the problems, the ins and outs and the context. I can get through the context in a coaching conversation quickly versus needing to explain a lot before we can get to the core issue. So the barrier to successful coaching is a lot faster to overcome. That to me is differential to other coaching providers. Mento brings context with their coaching and mentorship. I think it’s really powerful and unique.”
- Kate Estep, VP of Product Management at Flatiron Health

Navigating uncertainty with support from seasoned leaders

To address the ambiguity and pace of change that her leadership team was facing, Kate also partnered with Mento to connect her product directors with a seasoned coach who has been in a product leadership role before.

Mento provided coaches with leadership experience in the product management field, offering a dedicated space for Flatiron's leaders to explore options, build confidence, and develop strategies to lead their teams through uncertainty and change effectively.

“Having the space with a coach who understands the role of a product leader in navigating organizational complexity, leading teams and all that comes with it is invaluable. It builds confidence in my leaders that they can do the hard things."
- Kate Estep, VP of Product Management at Flatiron Health

Kate went on to share that Mento Coaches become a reinforcing space that builds confidence, giving her team a space to workshop strategies for their most difficult problems.

“[My coach] helped me to build my confidence in my ability to perform, lead and step into a new role as a people manager.
- Product Director at Flatiron Health

The Benefits of coaching with Mento

To ensure Flatiron Health’s success with Mento coaching, we send regular pulse check surveys to check in with Kate’s team about their experience with their Mento Coach.

Here’s what we found:

Flatiron Health’s Product Management Organization employees who received Mento Coaching Strongly Agree with the following statements:

• My coach helps me expand my perspectives on situations.
• My coach helps me take action toward my goals.
• My coach keeps me accountable for my long-term growth.
• I can see my coach's impact on my performance at work.
• My coach helps me to be a better leader at work.
• My sense of well-being has improved since I started working with my coach.
• I value the time I spend with my coach.
• Compared to other (non-healthcare) benefits I receive at FlatIron, I get the most value out of using Mento.

“[My coach] has been extremely helpful and supportive. They have helped me to bring perspective and clarity to my work and holds me accountable for the things I say I want to do. I have really enjoyed working with [them]!”
- Product Manager at Flatiron Health

At Mento, it’s our coaches that customers like Flatiron Health love. They rate our coaches 5/5.