Case Studies: Our Success Stories

Case Study - John

Imagine you’re VP of Sales and you have to inform John that team members felt he wasn’t carrying his weight and that they couldn’t count on him. You know he’s in the middle of a messy divorce, having challenges with his teenagers. You count on him to travel frequently on business. Now the team mates he trusted to share his worries and concerns feel he can’t be trusted. Won’t he be hurt? Won’t he wonder if he should just throw in the towel and move on? That is just what John was feeling.

Kevin, the VP, felt strongly that John was very talented, and many clients loved him. But John was in a serious no-win situation.

Kevin knew three things:

• John was in peril of losing his position with the company.
• It would be very expensive to replace John, both in hard dollars and in months ramp up time.
• He didn’t know how to remedy the situation

Kevin turned to us to see if there was any hope that those bridges could be rebuilt in both directions and save a valuable resource for the company.

We helped John realize that he was over-sharing. That most people who asked how he was doing didn’t really want to hear all the bloody details of his personal life. That he was giving off signals like an injured swimmer in shark infested waters. We helped him bring onboard the communication skills necessary to address the culture challenges and activate a strategy that began to repair the way team members perceived him. We also urged John to step up the professional support he was getting to help with his family situations.

John also began to build a more extensive community outside of work, an environment in which it was safe to share his inner thoughts and challenges, and in which he was respected and supported. In a matter of weeks, he was back in the fold, trusted and valued, with other team members asking to work with him. He is now part of a special high-visibility vertical market team at the request of the team co-leads.

Note: Because of the sensitive nature of our case studies, some names and company identifying information have been changed at client request. Originals are on file for all client success stories, or that client is available for reference.

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