Director Development - Resolving Career Decision Difficulties
Client Organisation
Large Accountancy Practice
Position
Consulting directly with a Senior Director
Context
The Director had been headhunted and invited to attend interview for a senior role with an investment bank. The pay increase was significant and, because of the increasing pressures of his current role, an interview with the possibility of a move to pastures new seemed well worth investigating.
The interview was a seven stage process and fairly comprehensive. As each stage of the process was completed and it became more apparent that an excellent offer would be made the Director found himself torn about how to make a decision which, on face value, seemed fairly simple.
Objectives
The Accountant simply wanted to make the right decision. Understanding that there was no way to predict the future and guarantee an outcome he just wanted to feel he'd given full consideration to his options and made an objective decision. What was most troubling and needed resolving was that on face value the offer, the full potential of which had already been discussed, was a perfect fit for his financial plans, but he was considering pulling out of the final stage of interview without really understanding why.
Format & Duration
A face to face profile, using the LAB Profile, was conducted but in a very relaxed conversational style. Numerous different specific contexts were profiled and the Accountants decision making strategy, in the more general context of career choices, was elicited. In addition the current situation at his present place of work was also assessed.
Outcomes
The problem was very simple, the Director had achieved tremendous success with a text book career path by focusing very clearly on what he wanted to achieve. Each step of his career was about moving closer to the end goal of financial reward and an early retirement.
On face value it seemed that the role with the investment bank was also a fit as it promised greater pay and rewards etc. and therefore the potential to retire even earlier. The issue was that his attention was not focused on the reward it was focused almost exclusively on moving away from problems in his current role. This subtle but profound shift in attention prevented him from operating his usual reliable decision making strategy and left him with uncertainty.
Upon investigating the nature of the problems he was facing at work it became apparent that there were solutions involving simple communication strategies. His personal judgement about these problems had been clouded by the pressure that had crept up on him, and not been dealt with, over a 9 to 12 month period. When the route to clearing the problems was clear it was also very clear to him that he was not interesting in moving jobs.
Comments
Motivation is more complex than most people realise, there's a delicate balance of underlying factors to align before a decision to take action can feel like the right one. In this case the factors this Director usually relies on were not aligned and he simply couldn't make a decision that felt right. Once the key factors were uncovered and brought into full conscious awareness the decision was simple.
It's also worth noting that the mental and physiological state he was in was not optimal. These unresourceful states can often creep in when small issues aren't dealt with, gradually as the issue grows over time so does the unresourceful state associated with them. Evidence and a sound frame of mind are two of the key ingredients of effective decision making.