Success Stories

Case No. 1

Presenting Issue:

Laurie has been a program manager in a social service agency for the past 5 years. Her job responsibilities included supervising a staff of 6, providing individual and family counseling, and program development. About six months ago she was promoted to an associate director position in which she was responsible for 12 programs, 36 staff, and the direct supervision of 9 program managers.

Laurie was having some difficulty in the transition from manager to leader. Although she had the ability, she felt tentative about fully embracing what it meant to be a leader. She came to coaching because she wanted to become more comfortable in a leadership position. She felt that the skills that had helped her be successful as a program manager were not adequate for this new position, and she wanted some help and direction in enhancing her leadership qualities.

Coaching:

Our first conversations focused on different leadership styles. Her predecessor had a very different style and was extremely successful in the position. That worried Laurie. Laurie knew she couldn't copy her predecessor, but she questioned whether or not she could be successful without employing a similar style. I asked her to read Leading from the Heart and Women and the Leadership Q to help her understand that there are many different roads to becoming a good leader. The key was to develop her own style and find her own voice. I challenged her to step fully into her new role and to trust that she had the right stuff, assuring her that I was there to support her if she were to hit any obstacles.

I also gave her some self-observation exercises. I asked her to notice times at work that she felt powerful. What was the situation? What was her response? What was the response of the other people involved? Then I asked her to do the same thing in situations when she felt powerless, or ineffective, in her role as a leader. As we discussed what she had observed, it became clear to her that what caused her feelings of powerlessness was not being true to her own style — of trying to react the way she thought "a leader" should respond, instead of doing what made sense to her.

Once she was feeling a little more solid in her new position, we added flexibility into the leadership equation. Different situations may call for slightly different approaches, and an effective leader needs to be able to easily read the situation and make the appropriate adjustments. We used Ken Blanchard's Situational Leadership paradigm as a model and Laurie quickly became adept at recognizing and using his different leadership styles with the people she supervised.

We would use some of our coaching calls to brainstorm and role play the most effective ways for her to handle some of the trickier situations that arose in her work. She would then be able to go into the meetings with an arsenal of ideas and actions to utilize if needed. This helped alleviate some of the worry and helped her gain the confidence she needed as she began to trust her own voice. Before long Laurie was able to create her own arsenal of ideas and felt very confident about when and where to employ the appropriate action.

Outcomes:

Laurie is thoroughly enjoying her new position and feels very comfortable being seen as a leader. She has more self-confidence and feels more competent in all situations. She is clear about what being a leader means to her and she has become a wonderful model for other staff members. Her positive energy and commitment to being an authentic leader has helped to raise the overall staff morale in her organization.

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Case #2

Presenting Issue:

Jamie is a 55 year-old single mother who had been a successful real estate agent for many years. Jamie came to coaching because she wanted to phase out of real estate and begin to simplify her life. She wanted to travel, do more volunteer work and pursue her interest in writing. She felt that it was the perfect time to make this change, as her last child was finishing college and she felt that she was burning out in her job. What she wanted from me was some help in creating a viable transition plan.

Coaching:

As we discussed Jamie's idea in the intake session, it became clear that this she had put a great deal of thought into this idea and it was something that she really wanted to do. But we both also recognized that there were several issues that needed to be addressed to ensure a smooth transition to retirement.

1. Financial:
   Although Jamie had made money and had done a good job with saving and investing, she hadn't done any kind of financial planning and wasn't positive that she had enough money to retire.

2. Image:
   Jamie's identity had been tied to being a real estate agent. What was she going to have to let go of when she left her job?

3. Transition:
   This was going to be a big change in Jamie's way of being. There would be a lot of uncertainty and times where this decision would not seem like a good idea. How has Jamie handled transitions in the past, and where could she draw her support from this time?

The first homework I gave Jamie was to talk to a financial planner and make sure that she had the means to retire. Jamie worked with a financial planner, not only determine whether she could retire, but also to create a long-range comprehensive retirement plan.

The second issue we talked about focused on what it would really mean for her to leave her job and be retired. As we discussed this, Jamie began to realize just how closely her identity was tied to her job. What would it be like for her not to have that? I asked Jamie to observe for one week how many times she, or others, used the term real estate agent to describe her. It was an eye-opening exercise. I then asked Jamie to make a list of her other identities. She came up a with a list that included: mother, sister, friend, neighbor, friend, volunteer, and retiree. She began to see that although our professional identity is often the loudest, it is certainly not the most important. Realizing that there were so many other roles in her life made it easier for Jamie to begin to let go of her role as an real estate agent.

We spent several of our calls exploring transition periods — the time between letting go of the familiar and settling into the new. This is a period that can be disorienting, and scary, but also creative and exciting. We talked about the confusion, the fear and the impatience that are common when someone is going towards a new way of being, and the importance of creating a system of support to use if and when she began to feel off-balance.

We also looked at the positive outcomes of a transition period. I had Jamie make a list of all the possibilities that awaited her as a retired person. This was a wonderful opportunity for her to re-sculpt her life in a way that truly nourished her. What did she want to do with her time? What was important to her? What were her passions? She now had the luxury of spending time addressing these questions.

I asked Jamie to read The Way of Transition, by William Bridges to get a better sense of the power of transition period. I also asked her to journal about this experience. At the end each journal entry I asked her to address these two questions - What did I let go of today, and what am I grateful for today?

Outcomes:

When Jamie left coaching she had a solid transition plan in place. She had taken her original timeline and extended it slightly to allow her more time to phase out of her current job as she realized that was important to her. She knew some daily structure was important to her so she was beginning to research some volunteer opportunities and was looking for a writing class to take. She had begun to put a support system into place and had reconnected with a couple of friends who had also just recently retired. Although there were still times when she felt a little apprehensive, for the most part Jamie incredibly excited and energized about this new journey. She had put all the foundation pieces in place — financial, support and structure - so now it was just up to her to be as creative as she wanted to be in building and this next phase of her life.

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Case #3

Presenting Issue:

Sarah came to coaching because she was extremely frustrated in her job. She wanted to leave, but didn't know what she wanted to do next. Sarah was a volunteer coordinator with a small organization and did not feel that her talents were being fully utilized. She had taken this job because she loved working with people, loved the variety of activities associated with volunteers, and she was excited about the potential of expanding the opportunities available to volunteers. She had not been able to achieve many of her goals and she was getting tired of trying to make things happen in an environment that she saw as more reactive than proactive. She was asking me to help her come up with a viable plan of action that would help her to transition from this job to a new job that would be more nurturing and fulfilling.

Coaching:

Before we could take any kind of action it was necessary to clarify just exactly what Sarah wanted to do. At this point she just knew that she didn't like where she was, but we needed to look ahead and discover what she did want to do. What were her skills? What energized her? What was important to her? What did she see as her purpose in life? I gave her a series of homework assignments that asked her these types of questions. I asked her to interview 3 or 4 close friends and ask them what they saw as her strengths, skills, and her purpose in life. I also asked her to begin a sitting practice. I requested that she sit for 15 minutes a day. The intent of this practice was to slow Sarah down so that she could gain deeper insight as to what really she truly wanted to do with her life.

We spent several coaching sessions going over the information gathered from all these sources. It was not a quick process, but it proved to be an extremely useful process. Initially, Sarah felt that any job had to be better than the one she had, and was impatient to just make a decision and get on with it. But as she continued with the coaching she began to see that this was a wonderful opportunity for her to take the time necessary to figure out what she would really like to do and then look at the options available to her.

Sarah worked very hard in this process. She made lists of "pros" and "cons" of past jobs. She looked at what kinds of environments supported her and what kinds stifled her. She described what kinds of people she enjoyed working with and the many successes and accomplishments she had had in her life. She looked at the places in her life where she had stumbled and rooted out the causes. As we continued to talk and hone in on what was a good fit for her, ideas began to take on a more distinct form and Sarah became more articulate about what was important to her and what she wanted to do professionally.

Two career possibilities emerged as viable potentials: catering and event planning. Sarah and I developed an action plan outlining specific steps and a general timeline to use as a guide as she explored these new options. She conducted informational interviews with people in both areas and decided that event planning was what she wanted to pursue.

Outcomes:

At the end of our coaching Sarah had gained a great deal of clarity about what she wanted her future life to look like.

• She had decided to work for herself or for a small business.

• She decided to initially work part-time during the weekends for an event planner to learn the business and see if this was the right profession for her to pursue.

• She was planning to cut back her current job to 75 percent within three months so that she would still have some money coming in, but also would have more time to pursue event planning.

• She also realized that she wasn't in such a hurry to make a change. She knew that finding the right fit for her may take a little time, but that finding her true passion and purpose would be worth the wait.

• She had a workable action plan that would help her stay on course as she worked towards her goal.

• She felt more in control of her future and she appeared calmer and more fulfilled in her overall life.

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