Case study 2: Career decision
Case Study: A successful bank manager faces a complex decision about a career change and discovers what he really wants in life.
Beginning of the session – Finding
Sometimes the basis on which a decision must be made is complex. It seems like a dead end. None of the options are attractive enough. Ernest, a manager with an extremely impressive career in banking, sat across from me, talking for 30 minutes in great detail about the decision he had to make between two positions within the bank. He had four days to decide. The multinational bank he worked for was in the midst of a reorganization. At the time, it was between an old structure and a new one, and there were many unforeseen factors. I asked him, “How can I best help you in the 30 minutes we have left?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Anyway, I don’t have time to prepare for what I really want to do in the four days I have to make a decision. “You know, up until now, all my career moves have been driven by external circumstances. Basically, what I would really like is to start having time for myself, to decide what I want, to shape my life according to my own vision. But instead, I find myself stuck between only two choices.”
How can I help?
I asked him if we should look at this. He said yes, that shaping his own life was very important. I said, “Let’s look at this on a scale of 1 to 10. If 10 means you are shaping your life the way you want it, where are you on the scale now?” After thinking about it, he said he was at 2.5, and so we spent the next 20 minutes or so discussing the small differences between 2.5 and 1 on the scale. I asked him several times, “What else is already at 2.5?” We talked about small successes he had with his bank or his family, his systematic involvement in sports as a youth soccer coach, and some personal successes in his relationship with his wife. I asked him which of all of these he was most proud of. He replied, “The fact that I came to meet you today!” I moved heaven and earth to get to this appointment, I postponed two meetings, I drove from Zurich, and now I’m sitting here and I’m already starting to take time for myself, even though the cost will be working all weekend to catch up on the work that was left behind.” I wanted to know if, regarding his decision, he needed anything else from me before we ended the session. “No, forget the decision. ‘Anyway, there’s no decision whose consequences we can completely predict.
End of session – Decision
Whatever I decide in the end, the important thing for me is that I realize that I have started to do the things that are important to me.” Having said these words, he returned to Zurich with the confidence of a man who had taken time for himself. When there seems to be no solution to a dilemma, as coaches we can sometimes be helpful by offering another perspective and a third option. I learned from a mutual acquaintance that Ernest is doing well in shaping his life.
Peter Szabo/Daniel Meier
Coaching made clear & simple
Brief solution-focused coaching: Basic principles
Plthora Publications, November 2014