Client Story

Leaders reach out to me because of their biggest problem at work that they want help solving.

• A team that is stuck

• A person they lead who they can’t seem to manage

• Feeling overwhelmed by the pressures of work

And, together, in coaching we start working on that big, painful issue.

For one leader I coach, our work started just like that.

She had been promoted and would be the leader of a midsize team.  She’d have to lead an assistant manager and coordinate with a team that ran parallel to hers.

She wanted help getting started on the right foot.

Quickly she realized that she needed help with a particular member of her team who was hard to wrangle.  

But in a recent session something new showed up.

A person on her team was:

• Showing up late on the regular

• Responding to feedback with sarcasm and disrespect

• Underperforming in ways that were impacting the bottom line

But the leader was very hesitant to take more action with this person - let’s call him Jake.

Why?

Jake had been at the company for a long time.  Jake was best friends with other members of the team and attended their kids’ birthday parties.  

My client said, “It’s like a family around here.  If I fire Jake, I’ll likely lose the trust and care of other people on the team.”

As her coach I asked her if this feeling reminded her of any other time in her life and encouraged her to find the earliest memory of when she tried to hold someone accountable and then trust and care were taken away.

What happened next was this:

She told me about being eight years old with a parent in addiction.  That little girl tried to keep her impaired parent from driving but was met with anger and chaos and withdrawn love.

Heartbreaking.

In the supportive and safe space of coaching we explored this memory, the lasting impact of it, what still needed to be healed all these years later.

She suddenly understood how she was leading with the belief that if she held people accountable, she’d be faced with the same consequences as she was when she was eight.

This insight was a game changer.

Because here’s the thing, once you see a long held belief as no longer TRUE, you are free.

My client is now leading with greater clarity and more ease when it comes to making decisions about direct feedback and even having to let a person go.

She’s also expanding the goodness of her WHOLE life, not just life at work.

So here’s the secret behind my passion for coaching leadership at work:

Work is just like any other area of our life - marriage, parenting, athletics, personal development, friendship - when we hit a snag at work, it acts as a gateway, not only to become more skilled in our role, but a gateway for deep and powerful breakthroughs about ourselves.

Maybe this week you give yourself permission to book a coaching session to get help with a difficult conversation and you stay with coaching because of the portal it opens in your soul.

Cheering you on in all areas of your life,

Maggie

PS- If you’re ready to try holistic leadership coaching, I’m ready to meet you.  Right now I’m offering a free 60 minute coaching session where you can experience coaching with me and get your questions answered at the end of the session about how we can work together.  I truly consider it an honor to do this work together.