His company had initially done well, but with the recession, a new business plan was needed, and he and his partners had to make some long-term decisions. There were communication issues between the four, however, and Oliver knew the survival of the company depended on finding solutions.
Action plan: I worked with Oliver on building his time management skills, focusing on prioritization and delegation. We went through his vast to-do list, and separated the items into “must-do” and “should-do”. On the “must-do” list it was clear there was much he could delegate. It didn’t take long for Oliver to realize which projects could be explained to an assistant, who could maintain and keep things current while he periodically reviewed it. We also reviewed his client accounts and determined which ones could be transferred to a senior associate.
In terms of communicating better with his partners – I asked Oliver to take a range of Behavior Assessment Tools. These explored things like motivation – what were his values? – behavioral style – was he decisive or cautious? – and how he made decisions – did he see the whole picture, or think through everything? I also suggested he ask his partners take the same assessment tools.
What emerged was a picture of how the four partners could complement each other – and where there were gaps which needed to be filled. Oliver also learned how to communicate more effectively with his partners. I pointed out that for him; it was “his way or no way”, which was not a helpful position. He realized he needed to phrase things differently in meetings, perhaps seeking out his partners’ opinions, rather than dictating an agenda.
Result: The time management coaching made a big difference. Up till then, Oliver had been notoriously late for meetings, and had been at least habitually 12-15 minutes late for our appointments. After my input, he was turning up only minutes late. Oliver also put his new communication style into practice during an important business dinner with his partners – and admitted that it was probably the most productive meeting they’d ever had. They’re now working much better as a team. Oliver is still benefiting from the coaching process, and is now working to sharpen his company’s business strategy.
]]>But he soon realized he was boxed in. His boss traveled overseas much of the time and Brian ended up doing much of his leg work – but without the VP title (he was an associate). He was passed over for promotion twice, but when he was finally promoted, he found his responsibilities didn’t change as his boss was reluctant to give up the favorite parts of his job (traveling and meeting clients). He saw no upward path, and spent much of his time complaining to colleagues about management’s lack of commitment to employees’ careers – but doing little about it.
Action plan: After hearing his story repeated many times, I finally asked: “How long are you going to sit here and talk about the same thing? Why are you still working there?” He made excuses, he prevaricated – he didn’t know. Slowly, he began to realize that he was never going to get anywhere at the company. If he stayed there he’d probably be miserable, doing the same job and feeling under-utilized in five years time.
So I asked him some hard questions, and over the next few weeks we worked on the answers. Where did he want to be in 5 – 10 years time? What were his accomplishments? What was he proud of? He and his wife had just had their first child. How could he create work/life balance?
I realized that Brian’s underlying problem was fear. He was simply afraid to even look outside for a new job. Its common – for many people, fear of the unknown is often worse than fear of the known. So I worked with him to help him identify what he had to offer employers. And encouraged him to reach out to his network, and start talking to people. The worst that could happen, I told him, is that he’d look and there’d be nothing out there. But he’d still have his job!
Result: Brian took the plunge. The next month, he told me he had an offer from another company, which he’d accepted. He relocated to the Carolinas, where he has a nice house, a better salary, and runs a department for a company he respects. He and his growing family have a much better quality of life. And all it took was overcoming the fear. Brian is still benefiting from the coaching process, and is now working to enhance his leadership skills.
]]>It took its toll. Kathleen found herself up at 3am, eating cookies and milk, or worse, answering work emails. She put on weight, felt sluggish, and agonized for months over what to do, resenting the emotional manipulation of her team but having little idea how to stop it.
Action plan: We crafted a detailed action plan for Kathleen. First area of focus was for her to create a new reporting structure for her team, and lay it out on paper as an organizational chart, with detailed criteria for promotion. Each employee should know their new responsibilities and management skills should be developed for new managers.
Secondly, she should meet one on one with everyone, and then convene a group meeting to explain her new role and the difference between managing and leading. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about her team anymore – she just had to widen her focus as she helped build the organization’s global HR strategy.
Thirdly, in terms of inter-personal relationships, she continued to socialize after work with her team, but limit the number of events. She discussed this with her team and they instituted a quarterly night-out for the entire group, and agreed that team members would attend at least two per year. She also had to take better care of herself, which meant getting more sleep, and setting better boundaries so she could spend more time with her two young children.
Result: It was a challenge for Kathleen to take the time and commitment to do this, but it eventually worked. As things became more transparent, and her team knew what was expected of them, they stopped complaining. They also began to understand how her role had fundamentally changed. There was less whining, and less dropping into her office. Kathleen was also able to step back and understand that there was only so much she could do for her team; her priority in the end was to get a better balance in her life.
]]>Penelope wanted to do the job she’d been hired to do, and make changes to improve the department’s performance. But these were met with resistance in team meetings, often by Sandy, who used connections with influential people in the company to leak Penelope’s ideas and sabotage them before they could be implemented.
In our first session. Penelope confessed she had no clear vision of how to resolve this messy situation and felt isolated, unsupported by both senior management and her team. I immediately saw it breaking down into three specific issues, each with its own action plan:
Day to day: A one-on-one meeting with Sandy was needed. Penelope should show empathy for Sandy (which was real, since Penelope had only been informed of the situation a few days before joining) but make clear she was running the department now. “You can leave if you’d like, but I’d like to work with you. It’s your choice.” If Sandy agreed to stay, Penelope should lay out expectations – and tie them to the next performance review. One should be that content of team meetings stayed solely within the team. That way, any sabotage of Penelope’s ideas could be stopped in its tracks.
For her colleagues, we agreed upon a “kill them with kindness” approach. She should say good morning to everyone, regardless of the response, and show interest in their lives. Negative perceptions of her would eventually change.
Medium-term: To get her ideas through, Penelope adopted a “consultative” mind set, and meet with key decision makers in the company. She would find out what was keeping them up at night, and match her ideas with their interests. If they saw potential benefits, they’d quickly become her supporters. By helping to solve their problems, they would help solve hers.
Long-term: By getting buy in for her ideas, and implementing the changes, the resulting improvements would immeasurably add to her position in the company.
Result: Penelope met with Sandy, who decided to stay on. The situation became less tense, and her ideas were no longer leaked. (After a year, however, Sandy left the company). Penelope took care to be friendly with everyone in her department, and after a while, the Sandy/Penelope issue stopped being the main topic of conversation. And after a while, Penelope was able to successfully implement her changes, which gave her new respect among senior managers.
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