Kay Maddox-Daines, RCDP, is an executive career coach and the CDI Greater London Regional Rep. kay@gippingtransitions.uk
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the coachees
Supporting mid-career decisions
My reflections of an executive and leadership career coach stem from a background in organisational and employee development across organisations such as British Aerospace (BAE), Pirelli Cables, Alstom Transport and within the further and higher educational context. Much of my work to date has involved the design and delivery of management and leadership courses, where coaching forms an integral part of interpreting and reflecting upon career choice, positioning and advancement (both horizontally and vertically). Arising from the immersion in the development process, coachees start to consider their options.
Working with clients
I work with organisations supporting leadership and management programmes for middle and senior leaders or as part of an outplacement service. I also work with individuals undertaking career transitions.
Case Studies
Armat* progressed rapidly through the ranks in his twenties but now feels he is stagnant in his current role. He feels he should be more ambitious but is hesitant to move on either internally or externally as he is appreciative of the work/life balance he has secured which enables him to manage a long commute into central London whilst balancing the needs of a young family.
Danielle* is considering her options after five good years with the organisation. Although she is proud of her achievements so far she is also concerned that she has compromised her promotion possibilities due to the high degree of technical specialism pursued in her current role.
Contracting stage
The initial meeting is largely focussed on contracting with the coachee. A contract may also have been agreed with the organisation sponsoring the process. The contracting stage is focused on encouraging coachees to consider:
· What do you want to achieve?
· How will you know when you have achieved that?
· What are you prepared to do to meet your goals?
· What are your expectations of me/others?
· What might get in the way?
· How will you reward yourself?
Following the first session I send a contract to each coachee to sign and this clarifies objectives agreed and the number of sessions discussed (with a review point to determine the continuation of sessions). I advise clients of the professional ethics and boundaries that I am bound by through my membership of the CDI and CIPD by attaching the CDI Code of Ethics and CIPD Code of Professional Conduct. Coaching takes place within the framework of OSCAR, a model developed by Andrew Gilbert and Karen Whittleworth (2002) which builds on the highly effectively GROW model (Whitmore, 2002).
Fig 1. OSCAR Coaching Model
Mid-career transitions
My clients are quite often undertaking a period of transition whereby they are experiencing a degree of inner upheaval and conflict. Some clients arrive with clear goals and request help with the implementation of their career plans. Examples include: identifying Unique Selling Points (USP), navigating promotion to a strategic role and job search and interviewing skills for mid-career changers.
Case study
David* came to me after becoming despondent that he was unable to convert an invitation to interview to an offer of a job. He had been seeking a promotion for several years and had tried repeatedly to secure a more senior internal role in the insurance sector. I asked David to find a role that he was interested in applying for and I suggested that he prep for an interview which I would conduct. I designed the interview aligned to a competency framework using generic themes such as team working, adaptability etc. Through this process we identified that David was relying heavily on cue cards to answer the questions so that it appeared as if David didn’t really know about his own experience. David was also very team minded and talked about what the team did rather than his own contribution within the team. I helped David to rewrite his CV, to target roles he was interested in and to develop his interviewing skills. Within a month he secured an interview, and a few days after that an offer of a job.
Quite often clients recognise the need for a change but are unable to articulate what this looks like. They may have experienced personal lives being subsumed by professional lives for some time or may have multiple roles impacting on their career. A common theme arising is a sense of loss of meaning in work and a desire to find an opportunity to be more of oneself, to be authentic and true to one’s own values. I refer to Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of needs’ (Maslow, 1943) to support conversations regarding meaning and aspirations. Maslow’s motivation theory is widely known for its focus on self-actualisation, being all that we can be in the realisation of our potential. Yet, much less widely known is the addition of self-transcendence, added in the 1960s (McLeod, 2018), which purports that at the highest level a person is motivated by values which transcend the personal self (Maslow, 1970). The focus is on others rather than oneself, putting our own needs aside to achieve a higher goal beyond ourselves.
Case Study
Geraldine* was Head of School for Health and Science in the university sector., She came to see me because she felt confused and unfulfilled. She had spent many years working hard, raising her children, balancing life and work, completing her PhD part time, researching and writing. For twenty years she hadn’t stopped. She ran a successful department and had achieved the professional goals that she had set herself. We worked through her career trajectory, her highs and lows and established that although she was able to identify her successes, she also recognised the sacrifices that she had made and the impact on others. Using Maslow’s Self-Transcendence model, we identified that the original goal now met did not bring sustainable self-actualisation. Geraldine recognised that her priorities had changed to reveal a shift in focus towards others (through coaching and mentoring), moving beyond what used to seem really important (vertical career progression) and giving herself permission to do different things. Some months later Geraldine moved from her substantive post to a portfolio career.
Fig 2. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs indicating Self-Transcendence at the peak (Geller, 2015)
References
Geller, E. S (2015) Seven Life Lessons From Humanistic Behaviorism: How to Bring the Best Out of Yourself and Others, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 35:1-2, 151-170.
Gilbert, A. and Whittleworth, K. (2002) The OSCAR Coaching Model: Simplifying Workplace Coaching. Monmouth, Monmouthshire: Worth Consulting Ltd.
Maslow, A. H. (1943) A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-96.
Maslow, A. H. (1970) Religions, values, and peak experiences. New York: Penguin.
McLeod, S. A. (2018, May 21). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html (Accessed 2 May, 2019).
Rogers, J. (2008) Coaching Skills, A Handbook. 2nd ed. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.
Whitmore, J. (2002) Coaching for Performance: Growing People, Performance and Purpose. London: Nicholas Brealey.
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