The Back Story
Becs was the COO of a very successful digital marketing agency. She worked very closely with her colleague the CEO and the pair supported each other throughout the growth and eventual sale of the business to a huge international conglomerate.
The pair encountered a lot of personal challenges during the ensuing 4-year earnout period and what became evident to Becs was that her future was not with the new acquiring company. Her conundrum then became What do I do next? and How do I manage my exit?
Becs needed some career coaching to help her work through these questions and arrive at an appropriate plan, so when she was offered the opportunity to be mentored by Pat Chapman-Pincher at Defy Expectations, she grabbed it with both hands.
The strategy
Pat’s strategy was to get to know and understand Becs the person, rather than just Becs the COO.
Over a series of conversations and exercises, Pat was able to get Becs thinking about her future from a different perspective and to help her visualise her ideal future and what success looked like.
Things such as:
- The Lifeline exercise to understand the highs and lows in Becs’ life that have led this particular point, in order to understand patterns and trends of when she was at her best versus worst. The purpose of this was to help inform her behaviour going forward to enable her to achieve her goals.
- Career Drivers, i.e. the things that create the inner drive Becs’ had for her work. The point of this exercise was to get Becs thinking about the things that she’s actually motivated by, as opposed to what others expect of her. Often people make decisions based on the influence and expectations of friends and family, when really they need to be making decisions based on what inherently gives them energy and satisfaction.
- The GC Index – this exercise helped to determine what kinds of things made Becs feel more engaged and energised when it comes to making an impact. The point of this was to help Becs identify her “proclivities” to enable her to pursue roles that were most likely to enable her to play to her strengths.
Results
To date, Becs has exited from her position as COO, has relocated to Australia and is now actively seeking her next role. She has figured out what her ACTUAL goals are and has a plan for looking for a role which will actually fulfil these.
Pat has also helped Becs’ refine her CV and LinkedIn profile, and also given her the confidence to go after opportunities she would never have dared consider in the past. By being an independent and experienced sounding board, Pat has given Becs invaluable advice on how to approach interviews, as well as feedback on written submissions and applications.
As a result, Becs is now well on her way to finding a role, in line with her career drivers, which ultimately will give her greater energy and job satisfaction.
