Career Coaching
Case Studies
Ensuring Career Development through a well-adjusted style
After three years as head of investor relations at a large German company, thirty-nine year old Mr. C felt under-challenged. This feeling ultimately led to a lack of motivation and even affected his well being, as he would become quickly agitated while working with other colleagues. He also feared his reputation in the company was suffering because of this.
Although he had a good job, which normally would have been a stepping-stone to other higher-level positions within the same company, there was nothing opening up in the foreseeable future that would have challenged him to the degree that he wished. He decided against a career move to another company due to personal reasons.
After a few sessions of career coaching at KONITZER & TAFEL , we decided that Mr. C needed to find something outside of work that could challenge him in other areas in an attempt to even out his work/life situation and thereby lessen his frustration. After some time, he became active in one of his children’s sports programs, which gave him other avenues to challenge himself. This changed him, and took his focus off of his career dissatisfaction that helped him to become noticeably calmer and independent at work. A year later, he was successfully able to take over a position as head of financial controlling in a subsidiary of the same company.
Career transition after working abroad--what next?
Dr. G., 41, was employed in the R&D department of a European subsidiary of an American chemistry company in Germany. Due to his excellent work results and management skills Dr. G. was sent to work at the US Headquarters, a position he readily accepted as a logical career step. After 3 years, he returned to Germany and became dissatisfied soon thereafter. The new position was not quite that which was promised to him. The transition back was also difficult, as the German subsidiary of the company had changed considerably during his time abroad. Indeed, it seemed that he was coming back to a whole new company altogether, which was unsettling to him. The only positive aspect of his move back from the US was that his family felt well, which stabilized his private situation.
In different discussions we succeeded in accustoming Dr. G. again to the German work environment. He recognized the advantages of the return to Germany for himself and particularly for his family. The time abroad gained new importance, when he began to not only regard this time from the perspective of his career. On this basis we analyzed the new structure and developed new goals together, which corresponded to the changed situation. For the success of our consultation, it was important that Dr. G. came to e valuate his situation and to view it from another point of view.
Having clarified and accepted this, he basically defined on his own his new goals. Dr. G. was then able to change his job from head of Project Management to another position, which led Customer Relations Management R&D across Europe. After eight sessions with KONITZER & TAFEL Management in six months, we successfully wrapped-up Dr. G’s career coaching with successful job placement.
Fast-track career path to Partner of a renowned law firm - then personal conflict endangers success
Mrs. Y., 38, was a Partner in a well-known Management Consultancy, where she excelled. She was extremely goal-oriented, and highly motivated. These were positive attributes in college and very helpful in achieving her first career milestones. As a partner, however, these qualities proved more problematic and she became increasingly intolerant of the office culture and the general working style of some of her colleagues. Mrs. Y., therefore, did not engage herself in the firm network nor did she develop mentors for herself. Her career success, and her career development, seemed to be endangered.
We worked with Mrs. Y. comprehensively on office diplomacy and her general “company attitude,” specifically coaching her on the positive rolls of tolerance and patience. As a second step we helped Mrs. Y. to build a network in her firm. As she was often away on business trips, we continued the coaching sessions by telephone after two meetings in person. Through concrete examples we developed alternative courses of action for Mrs. Y.’s typically spontaneous, rather thoughtless way of reacting to specific situations in the office environment.
What helped her especially over the course of working with her was the understanding that she obtained regarding different personality types and sensitivity in dealing with her colleagues. She came to understand that other people’s ways of reacting should not be understood as personal attacks against her, but rather as the natural expression of another personality structure.
After 9 months of collaboration, we were able to successfully coach Mrs. Y on the workings of Partnerships, and succeeded in making her feel much more secure in her role as a Partner at the firm. The time she spent resolving largely avoidable conflicts, decreased significantly