Becoming A Stronger Team Leader
Anne had put herself in a box without even realizing it. Limiting beliefs will stunt the growth of even the best of us and Anne had experienced exactly that.
Even though she had built a respectable career, she had these ideas about what her role was supposed to be—and what kind of person should be doing it.
At the time, Anne was well into her career. She had been working at the same company for more than 20 years leading a team of 250 people. They were going through some major shifts working to change company culture and better employee performance. As with any organization, the best strategies will go nowhere if people aren’t performing their best. In other words, Anne’s job was essential in executing company goals.
Anne works on the people side of things and there’s a reason for that. She connects with others. People open up to her. She had wildly underestimated and underused this strength though. There was another problem: Anne had a limited view of what her job could look like. She compared herself to those who had her title in the past. Instead of bringing her true self to the table, she often second-guessed herself. Though she aspired to influence other things within the company, she held herself back believing that wasn’t within her job description.
Though she aspired to influence other things within the company, she held herself back believing that wasn’t within her job description.
Right away, Jim saw that Anne wasn’t being seen. She had a lot to offer but her potential was being wasted. He helped her identify her strength for interpersonal connection. He asked her how many members of her team she had gotten to know better over dinner. That was a breakthrough moment. She had never thought to do that.
To help her re-define her position, Jim accompanied Anne on a trip to New York where she met with others who were approaching a similar role much differently. It opened her mind. She got a chance to see really different approaches to similar work. She returned with new ideas, a big-picture perspective and energized for new challenges.
Anne describes Jim as someone who was incredibly insightful. He helped her recognize and then leverage her strengths. In working with him, she became much more clear on her own career goals and was able to use that sense of personal purpose as motivation. Finally, she says he’s someone who is extremely candid and honest. From his observations, Anne got a better understanding of how others perceived her. He started their coaching by getting to know her and what inspires, motivates and interests her.
That’s an approach she decided to take with her team. Like Jim recommended, Anne went out for dinner with her associates. She got a better sense of who they were and in turn, figured out how to use their strengths to better the company. She returned from that trip to New York full of ideas and even moved forward one of those new strategies. Through this performance coaching, Anne made the changes necessary in order to be seen as a business person at the business table.
Over this period, Anne gained immense confidence. She approaches her job differently and sent the signal to her team members that she was extremely committed in driving company-wide changes. Today, she leads a team not of 250 people, but 600. That’s a team responsible for hiring 7,000 people a year and moving 8,000 across the company. Anne also recognizes that she’s the right person to be at the helm.
*All names have been changed to protect the privacy of clients.
Article by Sinead Mulhern
Jim Beqaj
I’m the founder of an international recruitment agency and I’ve worked on Toronto’s Bay Street for years, but most importantly, I’m a career performance coach. I make people better.
I’ve written a book called True Fit, and my podcast Be You, The World Will Adjust releases every Monday.