Coaching Gives You Confidence
June came to me convinced she was in the wrong job and needed help finding a new one. She told me she’d been at her position about 6 months and had been hired for her knowledge of the industry and her previous successes. Unfortunately, her very first project for the new organization was not the success she had envisioned (She called it a failure) and she began to doubt her own ability.
Transitions to new positions can be difficult. You come from a place of being the expert and being acknowledged for what you do. You also know the people in your workplace and how to work with them to get the job done. You know your client or customer base and what works for them and what doesn’t.
Now everything and everyone is new. You are feeling more vulnerable and to have a project disappoint can be devastating. You aren’t feeling happy at work.
Recently someone else told me that she had just started a new job and although she was sure it was the perfect job for her, she felt a bit inadequate when her boss said to her that she was so glad to have her and her expertise on board. She was sure they were now going to do well and on a firm path to success.
It was a compliment, but the woman who spoke to me felt pressured. She told me she needed a coach to help her navigate her new responsibilities and come up with a strategy to interact with her boss and get the wins her boss expected.
Another client was having difficulty managing people who had different behavioral styles from hers and that included her boss. A few of her direct reports seemed uncommunicative. Were they plotting against her she wondered? It was almost as though they didn’t trust her.
Her boss was very supportive but seemed somewhat hands off so she couldn’t ask her for any help. When dealing with people who are uncommunicative or hands off, my client believed they didn’t like her and were out to get her. This was her first managing position and she wasn’t sure what to do.
My coaching focus is to help people who are unhappy at work. Usually that means people are in a job they don’t like, and I coach them to find ways to fix the work environment or to find a new job or career. Frequently people come to me when they are looking for work and want to more clearly define what they are looking for.
Lately though I have been seeing clients who are starting a new job and whose confidence becomes a bit rattled because their own expectations and that of their new managers are very high and now, they must perform and meet those expectations.
Has this ever happened to you? Once you change job you don’t want to disappoint those that hired you or yourself. What do you do to move forward?
One client told me she felt she couldn’t talk to her boss because her boss might think she wasn’t up to the job. Even her colleagues couldn’t help because they just didn’t understand the situation.
Her thought was that a coach would be outside her work environment and would be totally on her side. No one would even know she had a coach.
When the subject of payment came up, I suggested that rather than asking the business to pay for the coaching, she pay for the coaching herself. When a company pays the company usually wants feedback to know how the company is benefitting from the coaching.
It is hard to do confidential coaching with a company looking over your shoulder. Sometimes the outcome of the coaching is good for the client but may not be good for the company. I have had times when the client decides to leave the company because the job is not a good fit for them.
So, whether you are in a new job that makes you feel anxious, in your current job that makes you feel bored or between jobs that makes you feel frightened, a coach can be your life line to a successful transition so that you will be happy at work.
If you are considering hiring a coach, I would love to talk to you. Call me at 781-598-0388 or email me at asparker@asparker.com.
