This executive wasn’t used to feeling out his depth…
Somewhat surprisingly, this very well qualified and very experienced executive was feeling out of his depth—because he’d moved into a totally different culture to what he was used to. His new peers, and others in his new organisation, were different to the rational, reasonable peers he was used to in his previous life. The new ones were a lot more ego-driven, and inconsiderate in comparison.
Because the executive experienced such a vast change in his environment, his internal world had shifted too. His normal high level of self-assurance and self-belief, was diminishing. He was rapidly becoming somewhat fearful. (I subsequently discovered that what his new peers saw was a person who had gradually retreated into the safety of his office, and a person whose contributions in team meetings had become infrequent.)
When the “out-of-his-depth” executive and I first met, he wasn’t clear on what had in fact happened after he’d joined his new organisation. Of course, he knew that he felt quite uncomfortable, and that the discomfort appeared to be getting worse. He’d almost forgotten the significant successes he’d had in his past—successes that were momentous enough for his now CEO to actively pursue him to join his current organisation.
Following the commencement of his coaching, we determined what his fears actually were. The process we worked through helped us see how unfounded most of them were—that many of them were a “creation” in his mind. This cleared the way for us to deal with the fears that seemed to be based in “reality”. Discussing possible resolutions with me was a lot more constructive for him than having them go round-and-round in his head. (I guess it was a little similar to confronting the monster under the bed.)
Once his focus had moved away from self-protection, and once he concentrated on how he could shape each of his peer relationships from being a derailer of productivity to being an asset to his company, his confidence returned. He then fearlessly found ways to make significant contributions to the future success of his organisation and became one of its most valued executives.
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