Jim just took a big financial hit. He could take it no longer. Being powerless was more than he could bear.
Jim’s story is not unique. Many people I talk to are suffering as Jim did, though many don’t make a commitment to action.
At 47, he feels he is running out of time. An engineer by trade, he has always taken great pride in his technical skills. Innovative, intelligent, and hard-working. He also has a good heart and wants to do his very best for his employer.
A couple of years back he left his job because of a significant disagreement with a co-worker. This colleague was a game player, through and through. Taking advantage of Jim and manipulating him into a position where he fell from grace. Jim’s exit was inevitable.
The next job took some finding but eventually the perfect opportunity arose. A small company desperate for his specialist knowledge. Delighted with the opportunity, Jim rolled up his sleeves and got to work.
Analysing problems, developing solutions, his ideas were spot on. However, while the owner was delighted, his colleagues were cool and dismissive. Although admitting the ideas had some merit, they put plenty of obstacles in his way. In fact, some of the ideas were implemented as their ideas, his name was left out completely.
Unfortunately, emotions got the better of Jim at times, and he began to get a reputation as a bit of a troublemaker, maverick and not a team player. What made this worse is that it was a very polite workplace, so he stuck out like a sore thumb. The stress brought on by this started to affect his health, and his wife’s health too.
He was powerless to do anything. He’d been frozen out and was unable to influence anything. Oddly, they still wanted him, they even gave him a raise to keep him motivated. But, they were totally unwilling to allow him to have any influence.
When we started talking in August, he’d just landed a new job and was about to resign. The die was cast, but he was determined not to end up in the same place again with his new job.
During our first discussion, it became clear to me that there were several contributing factors at play:
- Jim’s extreme reliance on his technical skills to create career success.
- A high determination to apply these skills for the good of the organisation.
- Failure to build strong relationships – strategically.
- Lack of recognition of how power was working around his role.
- A blind spot around how embarrassing his ideas were to the powerful people.
Uncomfortable though it was, Jim respected my candour and decided to ask me to help him to ensure he got off to a good start in his new job. He explained that lack of influence was costing him too much.
Changing jobs is always a stressful experience, but what I was not prepared for was that Jim’s new job involved a major pay cut too – $18,000! He said he cannot afford for this situation to happen again.
Remember, much of this is about learning how the decisions get made, especially the informal ones.
Next, make clear personal choices about what impression he wants to create with his new colleagues. This needs to be more than technically competent. It’s in the relationships that many things have gone wrong for Jim in the past, so winning them over, getting them to like him, respect him, must be top priority in the first few weeks.
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Jim took September off for family reasons, and has able to invest some time studying Building a Powerful Reputation. This was good preparation to get off to a flying start in October.
Last week Jim emailed me with a concern. Generally he has started well, but during a team meeting, his new boss tore into a colleague, almost ripping him limb from limb. This shocked Jim “oh no, here we go again.” I advised him to stay calm, observe, and learn more about what had happened and why. Investigate deeply with an open mind.
Today we had of first full coaching call. Just two weeks in and Jim has already made a good start. He has gained the friendship of two key team members. They like him and are offering him help and guidance. They have helped him to learn what happened to the unfortunately colleague, and this enabled Jim to jump into the firing line and have the boss delighted with what he did. Not only was the boss impressed with what he did, and the way he did it, he also held up his work as a “fine example of the way we should be doing things round here!”
As I explained to Jim, he needs to be careful about making a wrong move. Right now, he is feeling good, pleased with what he has done, and the start that he has made. And rightly so, well done Jim!
But two weeks is not enough time to be sure about the moves he needs to make to build on these early successes. He is still shooting in the dark when it comes to the agendas of the powerful. Perhaps he just got lucky this time, took a risk and it came good. He needs to rapidly reduce the risks so he can build a solid track-record and gain the respect and trust of the most powerful people around him.
So, my suggestions for his next set of priorities:
- Deepen the quality of his relationship with the two team members who like him. There is much to be gained directly, and indirectly – so making sure these are mutually beneficial is a smart way forward.
- Delve deeper into the personal/political agenda of his boss (I’ve sent him to complete the exercises in Win Over Your Boss which is excellent at ensuring you have the right relationship with the right people).
- Explore the wider political dynamics around the team. It appears his boss is the political defender, rarely seen by the team, keeping the politics at bay. If Jim is to partner with him, he needs to become his political confidant.
- Hold back a little on the reputation building. Too much too soon, before you know what will work, is ill-advised. He needs to make sure that the reputation he wants to build will be wanted/valued and sensitive to the politics of the organisation.
- “Steady as she goes Jim.” Resisting the temptation to move too fast is vital. Progress has a pace of its own and sometimes it cannot be rushed!
Really looking forward to our next call, to see how Jim has got on with his political intelligence gathering. Totally confident that Jim is going to achieve his goals, and I am also sure he will quickly start to recover financially too. At the very least, he is already feeling so much better about everything.
Case Study Disclaimer
The purpose of this case study is to provide relevant inspiration to those in similar positions. Although this article is based on a real client, they have been completely disguised, and information has been changed to protect their anonymity. This has been done with the explicit approval of the individual concerned.
Colin Gautrey
Provocative Coach/Mentor | Specialism: Impact and Influence
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