The Client
Who: Experienced Senior Manager in mid-career transition
Type of coaching: One-to-one career coaching
Length of programme: Six career coaching sessions across six months
The Challenge
This client had been in a stable senior role for several years and was feeling lost as to what her next career move should (or could!) be. She had been applying for new roles but wasn’t having any success with her applications which impacted her confidence and left her feeling low.
During an initial chemistry call with Denise, she expressed concerns about being seen as a “generalist” rather than having a specific valuable skill set. This led to a number of self limiting beliefs!
Denise’s understanding and empathic approach, together with her wealth of experience and varied career background, resonated with the client, leading to the start of a successful coaching engagement.
The Coaching
The starting point was to support the client to set some specific goals. What did she want to be different as a result of the coaching? What would success look like? A reflection on her career to date started to reveal what a more fulfilling role could look like.
Denise helped the client get underneath the “generalist” label she had adopted and helped her think through how she could reframe her skills and strengths so she could confidently present her transferable skills in a way that felt authentic and true.
Her job search then became about looking for roles that suited her skill set and values and a shift away from job titles.
During the coaching sessions, Denise used some specific coaching tools and techniques that clients find particularly useful when exploring a career transition. One of these included Strengths Profile which is designed to help people get a better understanding of their strengths.
A Strengths Profile highlights a person’s strengths and areas of potential i.e. strengths they are not fully utilising. The client found this tool particularly helpful in identifying what fulfils her, what drains her, and what she wants to do more of in her career.
Engaging with her existing network and networking for new contacts was another area explored during the coaching sessions. Group networking events filled the client with dread. She found them both burdensome and disingenuous. Denise helped her to reframe her approach, finding a way instead to have 1-2-1 genuine and authentic connections (to align with the client’s personal values).
The Outcome
- This client stopped limiting herself to job titles and is now seeking roles based on skills and values, leading to increased confidence and a new sense of direction.
- She is looking for the right next step but doesn’t feel stuck anymore because her goal changed from finding a new role to discovering a deeper sense of purpose.
- She is more confident in herself, understands what motivates her better and now values the skills that she can contribute.
- A shift in mindset empowered her to approach networking in a way that’s authentic to her. She has started reaching out to connections at interesting companies and having genuine conversations
The Feedback
“Coaching with Denise has changed my perspective on how to manage a career transition. When I started I had very boxed-in thinking and was very confused as to what to do next. The experience was enriching, confidence-building and gave me a sense of direction.”
