Feeling overwhelmed at work? Is this a crossroads in your career?
My next case study is based on a recent client. Their testimonial really brought to life the value of coaching for people feeling overwhelmed and at a crossroads in their career. With their permission, I will share some of their insights.
My client had been living in England for a number of years and came to me at a time when their situation at work was toxic and overwhelming and was affecting not only their relationships at work, but also their everyday life:
"I was getting extremely overwhelmed and frustrated with every situation at work and it was affecting my daily life, but I lost the peripheric view to understand the bigger picture. I also lost confidence in my abilities and my worth, always waiting to get fed externally or allowing others' views of me, to take priority."
We spent six sessions over a period of 3 months together. At the end of the coaching programme, I asked her where she was now, what was different and what had made a difference:
"I have regained confidence and I have been able to align my values to a new job opportunity. I have remembered that I have what it takes but I needed the help to find it inside of me again. I have been able to detach and not take criticism as my total truth. I have been able to set important boundaries with the people I work with and I will continue to take this learning with me to my new job opportunity."
So what was it about the coaching that was helpful?
During our coaching sessions, we explored and got to the root cause of the issues the client brought into the room. We partnered to understand what those barriers and obstacles were for them, in all their uniqueness, and found ways to harness their qualities and strengths to help them overcome these. I also acted as bias detector, challenging and supporting my client to reframe and look at things from a new perspective.
"I really liked your personal approach, diving more into the real cause of the problem, looking at what is actually driving my thoughts and feelings, beyond what is happening externally. I really liked to be challenged, even when I find it extremely hard because I know I am getting out of my comfort zone and actually making conscious changes."
In this case, the overwhelm was coming from a place of self-doubt and a lack of self-worth, rather than from the workload (although this didn't help). It came from a lack of recognition and respect both from others, and importantly, from themselves. By raising this to the surface, and clarifying what this meant for them, getting back in touch with their values and their strengths, they were able to put action in place based on these learnings. They were able to better manage their responses to others, put boundaries in place, and to move their career forward. Once the decision was made to change environment, coaching was also useful for preparing for interviews by clarifying together what the interviewer would be looking for:
"Your approach to my interview process truly help me rethink how I answer tough questions by focusing on skills rather than specific experience, and this ultimately made a huge difference in how I was perceived by the interviewers."
When I asked them what they would say to others who were considering coaching sessions with me they answered:
"I have already sent your contact around, because I know that with the help of coaching sessions they can, like me, find that internal strength and be able to take the next step in their careers. Once again, thank you so much for all your support during this time because at the end of this I got the outcome I wanted and that is beyond rewarding."
If you're feeling overwhelmed at work and it's impacting your life at home, maybe it's time to get some support. An executive coach can help you get to the root cause of those feelings, help you to reframe, help you to put action plans in place and move on from that place of overwhelm. Whether that's getting better at managing difficult people, managing your time, managing your boundaries, or deciding what it is you want to do next, coaching can help.
If you or your team member would benefit from some coaching, please do get in touch!
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