After three months, Peter had signed an employment contract which completely fulfilled his present needs, and was absolutely in line with his professional plans. He was able to draw upon the period of vocational adjustment as a source of strength, clearly improving the medium-term possibilities for his career.
The situation:
Peter W was the CEO for a wholly-owned subsidiary of an international telcommunications company. A decision had been taken to close the subsidiary: for him, professional re-orientation was a requirement. At the start of the consulation, Peter already had a new offer in front of him. Other companies had their eye on him, as well. However, taking everything into consideration regarding his professional career to date plus the balance he wished to achieve with his private plans, he wasn't at all sure that these offers were really what he was looking for.
The setting of goals:
In a consultation process that was set at six months, the following goals were pursued:
• A complete and thorough analysis of his present situation and a clear definition of his professional ambition
• Support in his search for the job offers he really wanted
• Coaching with regard to improving his leadership qualities
Our plan of action:
A complete psychological and present-situation analysis was achieved for Peter, with one of our consultants. Together, they conducted:
• In-depth interviews
• Self-analysis and self-portrait
• The gathering of testimony from his professional and personal lives
• Psychological tests
• A comprehensive survey of both his successes and his failures
At the same time, potential areas for personal development were identified. Using the information gained, a professional achievement objective was determined: to reach it, a strategy of targeted applications was necessary. This demanded a clear positioning of the target: it required specific talks with personal contacts, together with the services of a "Direct Search" consultant.
Preparation and evaluation of interview technique was practised regularly during this careful campaign: accordingly, the success rate during actual interviews was very high. After a short while, Peter had a choice of much more attractive offers.
Related to his professional re-orientation and the search for a new position that would really challenge him in the future, Peter wanted to eliminate the weak points of his leadership ability. These had become entrenched over the previous years, but were clearly identified during the Analysis of Potential exercises. Additionally, the following points were identified as areas for development. They were addressed under the following themes:
• Improvement of ability to handle situations of conflict and decision-enforcement
• Optimising the use of time
• Upgrade the whole process and attitude towards general communication - with particular focus on leading discussions with employees
The second step consisted of analysing all the facts and information received, and building this into the third step: some concrete measures aimed at achieving a real behavioural change. This did not come about through short bursts of training activity - rather, through a painstaking analysis of the available facts, which in turn led up to the beginning of a change in attitude and approach. The remaining time was employed in reflection and examination of his experiences (a process that Peter wished to include when setting out his initial requirements for the consultancy) and in reviewing the critical aspects of the whole situation.
After three months, Peter had signed an employment contract which completely fulfilled his present needs, and was absolutely in line with his professional plans. He was able to draw upon the period of vocational adjustment as a source of strength, clearly improving the medium-term possibilities for his career.
