Written by: Angelika Nowak, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
‘Results-driven.’ ‘Hungry for successes. ‘A performer.’ All these expressions describe an ambitious person. When we look at business environments, and corporate organizations, being ambitious is often a very desirable characteristic. It means that an employee has the drive to work extra hard, bring results to the business, become a leader one day and possibly motivate others to deliver similarly great results. As an Executive and Career Coach, I have a great opportunity to work with many ambitious leaders, professionals, and business owners. Based on my experience and reflection, I would like to share a few stories of my clients to illustrate the challenges that they needed to work through.
Challenge 1: ‘What’s next?’
A talented IT security specialist, Mike, ¹ was well aware of his potential and expressed his ambition to move up the career ladder. Mike always engaged in additional projects, especially the ones that gave him a chance to present in front of the senior leadership and build his brand in the organization.
An HR business partner in an international food supplier organization, Katie, who had just come back to work after maternity leave and joined a new area of the business, started working with two plants (instead of one as before). She had to immediately introduce and execute a talent agenda for the business.
Mike and Katie had their eyes fixed on ‘what’s next?’, they knew that they could achieve something great, so they pushed for it. Let me share the challenges that they faced: Mike neglected his business-as-usual matters, and his team members were picking up mistakes and issues for him. He had a good feedback session with his line manager and admitted that he needed to focus more on his ‘usual’ responsibilities. Katie also needed to slow down in order to align the board team to the goal. She realized that she couldn’t accomplish this task just by pure determination and impatience with the board members. Coaching sessions helped them understand team dynamics and plan their actions to reach the goals in the context of their organizations.
If you find yourself constantly thinking about ‘what’s next?’ I would like to offer you a few questions to reflect on:
‘What are the opportunities that your current situation offers you?’
‘If you slowed down in your career journey, what could you gain?’
‘How can you celebrate your current success without rushing into the next opportunity?’
‘What can help you stay in the present?’
Challenge 2: Having it all
A business development specialist, Sandra, working in an IT global product organization, wanted to have it all. She was trying to: be the best possible mum for her 3-year-old twins, bring results to the business, work effectively with teams across the globe, plan her next step in her career, spend time with her husband, entertain guests in her house, lose some weight and maintain great relationships with her family and friends. (I must admit she was successful most of the time.)
Another HR Business Partner in an international food delivery company, Aga, recently got promoted to the role. She was very involved in supporting a local HR team operationally and aimed to build a business strategy for the country. She wanted to perform well or exceptionally well, as usual.
In both cases, my clients had the ambition to preserve old strategies and maintain the great results that they used to generate while embracing additional challenges that required extra time, effort, mental space, and frankly speaking, a new approach. They aspired to perform 2, 3, or maybe even four roles at the same time and accomplish satisfying results in them all. They both struggled with stress, time, and managing their emotions. Thanks to our coaching, they felt stronger and more confident as individuals, and they developed their strategies and tools to navigate the complexities of their roles.
If you find yourself wanting to ‘have it all,’ refer to the questions below:
‘Whose ambition are you following? Is it yours?’
‘What is the price that you are paying for your success? Are you happy to keep paying it?’
‘What are you losing in your aspiration to have it all?’
‘What would it look like to drop your standards by 5% or 10%? What could you gain from doing so?’
Challenge 3: Letting go
A business consultant, Rebecca, worked successfully with 2 management organizations as a contractor. However, she always dreamed about creating her online product (a self-paced training for female leaders). She wanted to build it to generate another income pipeline and potentially grow her direct services with private clients. This idea was with her for months. Nevertheless, she couldn’t accomplish it because of the time pressures and standards that she wanted to preserve.
A training specialist working for a government organization, Anne, throughout her career, was always promoted to the next role without the need to go through the official application routes. However, this time her contract-specific role was coming to an end, and because of someone else’s mistake, she was not selected for the next role that she wanted. She needed to follow the official way of getting recruited and faced an uncertain situation. At the same time, she was supporting other employees mentally as a part of her role, and she was a single mother.
Rebecca and Anne realised that they had a lot on their plates. In Rebecca’s case, it was she who put the extra pressure on herself, whereas in Anne’s situation, it was partially caused by others as well as her own need to ‘be always secure the next role early.’ Through coaching, both ladies realised that they need to let go of either the idea or the feeling.
If you find yourself ambitiously holding on to your idea or a strategy, try to reflect on the questions below.
‘If I let go of this idea, what could I gain instead?’
‘If I say ‘no’ to this opportunity, what can I say ‘yes’ to instead?’
‘What do I need to do/say or feel to let it go? When is the right time and space to let it go?’
If you can relate to the stories mentioned in the article and would like to explore an opportunity to have coaching with me, please contact me at angelika@visionandcourage.com or visit my website and book a free discovery session.
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Angelika Nowak, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Angelika is an Executive and Career Coach who supports ambitious and overwhelmed professionals, managers, and leaders working in corporate organisations. Her coaching is focused on career challenges like finding a new career, starting a new position, returning to work after leave, developing managerial and leadership skills, managing time and stress, resilience, navigating change and uncertainty, managing stakeholders, and work-life balance. Her ambition is always to create transformational and sustainable changes with clients, so they can manage their mindset, develop positive behaviours, make decisions, and take action. She is an ACC by the International Coaching Federation and an NLP Practitioner.
References:
All of the clients’ names have been changed. https://www.visionandcourage.com/services
