16/11/2023
Today's discovery mission: guiding an ambitious automation consultant towards an even more fulfilling career stage.
🚧 Obstacles: low visibility in customer meetings; introverted communication style, yet desiring more spotlight and recognition
🔧 Tools: work with his drivers, motivators and de-motivators on both mindset and behavioural level; metaphors
🔎 Linguistic marker: 'Don't jobs always have less fun than hobbies? See, I am into history as a hobby and I just love exploring, discovering and creating something new.'
🎇 Through the metaphor of an archeologist, he has redefined his ideal position in his company, and identified the project phases he thrives in. It was a close call between being a 'Tomb Raider' who explores (customer) sites for the first times and the 'Master Restorer', who puts the scattered fragments (data) together in a breath-taking, value-adding masterpiece. He almost immediately excluded the very meticulous task of examining and cataloguing the fragments for later use (in-depth analysis of data). The 'Tomb Raider' lost to the 'Master Restorer' with only some points - his need for psychological safety tip made him tilt away from the Demons (challenging customer reps) towards making a mark in the third phase of projects: consolidating, integrating and implementing bespoke creations.
🍀 Chance: his employer, a fast-growing global provider of supply chain consulting, offers the flexibility of pinpointing the right spot to thrive. I started working with them when they had 160 employees - this summer, they hit the 1000th-employee mark!
😀 Do you know what introverted happiness looks like? I saw it on my coachee's face...
📖 Take-away: pick up metaphors in your team member's, coachee's, negotation partner's narrative. It is was they see, experience, believe in. It very often is a great hunch for a good trail to a truth and deep belief within the speaker.
