Building leadership confidence
A case study:
Client:
Mary (fictitious) was a successful middle management executive who was suddenly thrust into a senior management role when her manager became seriously ill and forced to leave work.
The senior position was logically offered to her and she was afraid of failure and lacked confidence in her ability to perform in the role.
Career practitioner:
The role of the career practitioner was to assist the client to acknowledge her skills and strengths, which in turn would empower her to view herself as eminently capable of succeeding in her promotion.
Strategies utilised:
- The career practitioner quickly identified that the client’s excellent problem solving, and advanced technical skills were the core reasons why she had received consistent promotions over the years. Actual examples of her work were examined and critically evaluated to arrive at these conclusions. After a close examination of her academic results, the client could also see a pattern of high achievement that had translated into her current success in the workforce.
- The career practitioner forensically examined her daily activities which showed that a lack of delegation skills was the reason she was unsure of letting go and taking on more complex management responsibilities.
- Further testing showed that the client’s tendency to get tied down in detail and ignore the big picture was a major reason that her confidence in her management skills was lacking.
Action implemented
- The client was encouraged to complete basic team management and time management courses.
- The career practitioner performed intensive Positive Psychology training with the client.
- The client was encouraged to accept the lifelong nature of careers and to appreciate the current stage and natural progression of her career timeline.
Results:
The client was a natural leader who finally came to appreciate her “value to the market” (and to her current employer in particular).
Methodical career coaching assisted her to realise (and celebrate) her skills, strengths and natural attributes. This in turn gave her the confidence to accept the promotion, which she initially viewed as a risk, whereas after counselling she came to see it as the natural progression of her career and now definitely as a “great opportunity”.
Note: A Career Development Association of Australia research paper found that when professional career guidance occurred that the participant was 2.67 times more likely to secure a job.
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