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2. Assess goals, values, and motivators
3. Discuss advantages and disadvantages of staying vs. leaving
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Jump to section
2. Assess goals, values, and motivators
3. Discuss advantages and disadvantages of staying vs. leaving
In this series, we present BetterUp coaches with realistic scenarios that we commonly encounter (and struggle with) in the workplace. They walk us through how they’d coach a client through the challenge and identify possible solutions. Got an issue you’d like one of our coaches to tackle in a Coaching Insider feature? Email blog@betterup.co
Scenario: David has been with his company for about two years. During this time, he has received a promotion and is on track for another one. He likes his manager and his team, and feels his company gives him the flexibility he needs. But recently, he’s been feeling disengaged. While his workload hasn’t changed, he’s less excited about tackling his projects, and finds he can’t focus the same way he did when he first started with the company. He’s starting to wonder if it isn’t time to polish up his resume and start looking for a more exciting role in a new company. |
David’s situation is not uncommon.Feeling disengaged and struggling to focus can be quite stressful, and pushing through or ignoring these feelings is unlikely to work for most people.Here’s how I would approach getting to the root of the problem, and finding a solution that should help David identify what he should do next.
The first step in addressing David’s lack of motivation is to acknowledge and understand it. This will help David get on the right track. Let’s dig deeper to understand the underlying causes of his lack of engagement.
Develop a clear picture of what drives excitement, engagement, and focus.
I’d start working with David to generate an inventory of his key motivators by reviewing his long-term career goals, and build a clear understanding of his ideal career path, and the roles he’d like to attain. In these discussions, we’d consider David’s professional interests, financial goals, and valued lifestyle factors.
Examples of how different values and goals could impact current decisions, include:
Decisions about career choices become much more clear when these goals, values, and motivators are explored at the outset.
With his goals in mind, I’d elicit David’s perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of staying with his current organization versus immediately seeking employment elsewhere. At this point, the focus would be on his company, not his specific role.
Examples might include:
Stay at current company | Seek employment with other organizations | |
Advantages |
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Disadvantages |
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It’s very likely that over the course of our discussion, David will begin to see that he might have alternative solutions, beyond the simple “stay or go” paradigm. I’d urge David to generate most of these options, as only he can decide which ones are most relevant and enticing, but to help him brainstorm, I might suggest a few ideas, too. Alternative options could include:
Once we’ve explored these options, we’d compare David’s list of the benefits, drawbacks, and alternative solutions with his goals, values, and motivators. Rather than assuming that he’ll be able to make a “perfect” decision (although if one emerges, that’s wonderful!), the focus of our conversation would be on generating two key outcomes:
Based on the areas that need to be explored further, we’d develop a course of action. Next steps should always be actionable, and ideally use the SMART framework (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound).
Examples of next steps might include:
Always create accountability for follow-up
Now that David has some clear action steps, he’ll need to ensure he has an accountability system in place to accomplish these goals. An accountability system could be working with a coach or trusted peer, or simply creating a calendar reminder. If some action items are potential tasks for a later date, or incremental tasks as part of a longer-term project, I suggest developing a specific accountability plan there as well.
The value of reflection
I always recommend taking some time to consider whether this process was helpful or not. I find it’s important to approach this type of situation from many perspectives, including short and long-term, as well as from professional and personal viewpoints. If going through this exercise doesn’t present viable options, it’s possible that there is room for additional expansion and creative thinking on different paths.
Original art by Vaclav Bicha.
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