Step Your Game Up With a Career Coach

After serving nearly eight years with Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, in 2008, Michelle Greene, director of business infrastructure, was beginning to feel that her journey with the company had run its course. Upon returning to the U.S. after a four-year assignment in Sweden, Greene found herself in the middle of company layoffs of which she became responsible for administering. “It was a very emotional and draining experience,” she recalls. “With all the changes, I was getting to where I was not as happy in my role as I had been in the past.”

To help her get though the company’s restructuring, Greene decided it was time to seek a career coach. Though not essential for career success, working with someone who can provide specific strategic suggestions for managing career blocks and challenges can be a beneficial investment for your professional development. According to Sherpa Executive Coaching, a firm that provides research on executive coaching and is based in Cincinnati, OH, executive coaching should not be confused with a mentor, consultant, trainer or life coach. Their job is to assist companies or individuals in leadership development, or a specific career challenge, such as honing in on a skill or going through a transition.

After interviewing two prospective coaches, Greene selected executive coach Alan Shatteen, principal of Shatteen and Associates, a private practice coaching firm based in Cleveland, Ohio, with six years of coaching experience. His fee would be $100 per session. Their partnership began in September 2008 with a weekly one-hour phone session.

With Shatteen, Greene had to learn to control her emotions so they would not be a distraction. “Michelle was overwhelmed by her emotion,” says Shatteen, whose clientele, are by referral and consists of corporate individuals, former and current athletes and entrepreneurs, a majority of which are women ages 32-50. “So our

strategy was to create an awareness in Michelle that reinforced the notion that she could become an even more successful person than she already was.” Shatteen’s techniques with Greene included creating a surrogate voice, or a voice of positives, and posing questions to promote forward thinking, such as where would Greene like to be within the next 2 years and how to put her work efforts in alignment with her goals.

As Greene became more focused, she realized that her chances of moving up at Sony Ericsson were minimal. She left the company in April 2009 and in an environment of extremely high unemployment landed a position in May as IT director in the Building Efficiency division of Johnson Controls, Inc. “Coach puts you in a position that makes you think and stretches you,” explains Greene. “I’ve learned how to turn my attention to where I want to go as opposed to where I have been.”

According to Sherpa’s 2009 survey, out of 1,500 participants consisting of human resource professionals and coaching clients, 87 percent consider the value of executive coaching to be ‘somewhat high’ or ‘very high.’ If you are interested in seeking out your own career coach, first determine the area in which you need assistance, such as restructuring your résumé, reaching a specific goal, or honing a specific skill like interviewing? Consult your network for referrals and check organizations like the Career Coach Institute and the International Coaching Federation. Sessions through the latter average $161 per hour. Before selecting a coach, you should interview several individuals to determine the right fit.

In the meantime, Shateen offers these tips for those who are feeling professionally stuck:

Set Goals: According to Shatteen, we often set goals that are beyond our ability to achieve, so start small. “If you learn how to be successful in achieving your small goals, you can transfer that confidence, set progressively larger goals and get back on track with moving your life forward on what you’re focused on at the moment.”

Know Your Style: An aspect of being successful means having internal awareness. For instance, do you know your learning style? “There are nine different types of intelligence,” explains Shatteen. “You can be smart about music, with numbers, reading, words, or have interpersonal intelligence. Once you’re clear on that, you’re positioning yourself to take in information in a way that is going to be most useful.” To find out your learning style, check out people.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/learning-style.

Go outside: If you are not getting leadership opportunities within your company, choose an outside organization, like a non-profit, where you might be able to sit on their board or run a division outfit. You will have broaden your experience and raise your profile.