Handling a promotion

My client was referred to me via their company as they were being considered for promotion from a lead specialist role to a more general management role and wanted help with navigating this transition. We started with a deep dive into this person’s career and achievements. On the face of it, this was a simple issue – a highly successful person being recognised as such and being invited to broaden their influence in the business.

As we got to know each other, what began to emerge in the second session was a previously unexplored level of insecurity. Whilst this person was extremely confident in their specialist area, they were anxious at the prospect for the first time in their career of managing and leading teams where they were not a subject-matter expert. Almost a case of pre-imposter syndrome.

One of the main benefits of coaching is to empower people to understand the benefits of self-analysis. The benefit of coaching for this specific client was the ability to take the time to achieve a level of self-awareness that they simply did not have time to address in their busy day-to-day life.

Over the course of the five sessions, we explored a variety of areas including examples of where the client had themselves reported into a non-specialist and the pros and cons of this. Over time they developed an appreciation that they were truly evolving from a manager – guiding people precisely in a role, - to a leader, using their experience and knowledge to bring the best out of senior talent and their teams.

Client feedback: “The sessions have made a difference and given me clarity around my role and priorities. I have come away with clear actions and started to implement a number of them.”

If you are at a key point in your career and need help navigating to the right direction, please get in contact for a free introductory chat.