Challenges and Opportunities at work
Life at work can potentially provide financial rewards, career advancement, the experience of achievement and satisfaction, rich relationships with others, and opportunities for self-expression, and personal growth. In the course of a career, we may experience periods when we’re not getting what we want out of our work life, and we’re not sure how to move forward.
Specific challenges at work might include:
Feeling stuck in a difficult situation, and not being sure how to go forward,
Feeling dissatisfied at work while not being sure what to do about that,
Realizing that your life at work may be out of alignment with your personal values and sense of who you are and where you want to go,
Difficulties in changing patterns of your own behavior that you want to change,
Dealing with particularly difficult individuals who seem especially challenging,
Dealing with significant impactful change,
Challenges related to interpersonal processes like leadership, teamwork, and communication,
Any other concern or challenge that comes up in the work environment and seems to have a particularly personal component.
Modern work environments are complex and challenging. No matter how good you are at finding your way and problem solving, it’s likely that you will encounter situations that seem resistant to your tried and true problem solving approaches.
It can be helpful to have a secure and confidential place to go to reflect on the key events at work, how you’re reacting to these events, and how you might react in a way more consistent with your goals and desires.
Engaging in this reflection with a therapist opens up the possibility of examining your internal processes and the ways in which they influence your behaviors in your work life.
As a therapist, I am comfortable addressing, as appropriate, more personal issues related to work life than might be addressed in typical executive coaching. The benefit here can be twofold: improved effectiveness and satisfaction at work, and improved self knowledge and clarity that can positively affect other aspects of life.
In our sessions, we’ll always be focused on what’s actually happening at work, and working toward improvement. We’ll typically follow a “Process Consulting” model. Process Consulting has been defined by Edgar Schein as working with the client to help them “perceive, understand, and act upon the process events that occur in the client’s environment in order to improve the situation as defined by the client.”
Working with a therapist to address workplace concerns opens up the possibility of a deeper exploration of the roots of your behaviors than is typically possible in management training or executive coaching. Frequently, behaviors at work have a basis in personal experiences, beliefs, and assumptions. Significant benefit can come from better understanding the underlying factors that influence your behaviors. Of course, the decision as to how deep to go is always yours.
It can be expensive to work with an executive coach or therapist who is experienced in addressing workplace issues, but the return on investment can be quite high. This type of professional development can result in improved performance, satisfaction, and ultimately success at work. At the same time, our work together is likely to lead to increased personal awareness, growth, and your ability to engage in relationships with a variety of people in a variety of situations.
The duration and frequency of our work together is always up to you. After a single or several sessions, you might decide it’s not for you. If it seems to have value for you, we can meet as often as you like for as long as you continue to see the value of our work together.