A little over 3 years from the time we started working together my client achieved the unattainable!!
Much to her surprise as she didn’t have this goal in mind when we initially met, in fact she dismissed it when it first arose.
Her initial goal had actually been clarity and courage in her career. A great place to start when pursuing a fulfilling life!
She started the process as a senior manager, put herself forward many times to be head and failed, continued to develop ideas and drive results in her narrower area of focus, took a risk to create an opportunity until eventually she was tapped on the shoulder to apply for the head position. And got it!
We worked on her values, vision, identifying strengths and gaps, how to think on her feet especially in an interview process, what she needed to have and show to get the MD job, how to do it in her style and the resilience to keep going.
Her learnings through this journey:
-
Things start inside not outside – She recognized she needed to believe in herself before she could convince others to believe in her. She worked to recognize her strengths, develop her opportunities, build her confidence and then understand what she wanted for herself in her career.
-
Perseverance pays off – she had sworn off applying for the MD position as she had been unsuccessful so many times before, it had always been a gruelling process and each time it shook her confidence.
-
Sometimes is not a straight line – she took a sideways move into another location that required a turnaround. She became deputy to the head who had an interim 2 year contract to turn it around or close it.
-
It’s about the difference she can make – the people have been given a second chance! It’s been a tough 18 months and they’ve passed the first hurdle; the company supports the continued building of the business!
-
Sometimes you just need to jump in – she didn’t know what was needed for the turnaround, she went in knowing her strengths and open to learning from the interim head and now she’s got ideas and motivation to drive things forward. Same with jumping in again to apply for the MD position – the whole process was as gruelling as she expected, the appointment panel tough and she was offered the job!
Her words to me: “I wanted to say 'Thank you' for helping me on this road. You helped me have more confidence in myself, believe that I am good at what I do, and that I can make a difference. More importantly you helped me realise that I can be a good MD.”
Her people and the organization are lucky; she’s smart, willing to roll up her sleeves, delivers results and cares about people. Her mission is serving others and making a difference. And she does.
What would you do or be if you had more courage and confidence?
