Case Studies

Career enhancement; becoming more “user friendly.”

The general counsel of an aviation company requested a coach for one of her junior lawyers. As she described him, he was very bright and a good lawyer, but he was not very “user friendly.” He had alienated a number of people in his department and among his customers. She said that he either had to “shape up or ship out.” Although George entered the coaching process with a great deal of reluctance, he recognized that his success was critical to his prospects at his company.

George’s coach started the coaching process by interviewing some of the people with whom George worked and by administering a 360°feedback instrument. This information affirmed what George thought — that everyone appreciated the quality and level of his contribution. But it also provided George with some hard feedback – that others did not perceive him the way he viewed himself. When he thought he was delivering funny and clever remarks, others often found him to be patronizing and condescending.

George’s coach also administered a number of skill and personality assessments. The information generated from these supported his general counsel’s assessment — that George was good at the detail work that he did and it felt natural to him; that he had strong opinions about everything and felt free to express them; and that his introverted personality could be viewed by others as detached and uninterested.

George concluded, based on this information, that it was necessary for him to make adjustments in the way he interacted with his colleagues and customers in order to be more effective at work. He also came to appreciate the differences in others’ skills and abilities, and that he could not project his own understanding of the world onto everyone else. By analyzing some of his more difficult interactions with his coach, he was able to appreciate these differences, understand his own motivations (generally driven by fear of inadequacy), and open himself to other ways of behaving.

At the same time, the coach was able to provide feedback to his general counsel (the feedback was limited due to the confidential nature of the coaching relationship and was thoroughly reviewed by George before being released). What his general counsel and colleagues needed to appreciate were George’s differences. He simply was not the type of employee who enjoyed socializing with his colleagues in the hallway or after work. He did, however, have a very valuable contribution to make to the company.

Five months after entering into the coaching arrangement, George received a very favorable performance review, a promotion and a raise.