Kathy (age 41)

Case study no. 4: Kathy (age 41) Financial Director in a company employing about 100 people

I was already totally exhausted; I was sleeping the whole weekends and started to be ill. After one month’s absence I was in a good shape but within four days at work everything returned…

SYMPTOMS:

  • working overtime
  • lack of free time, untidiness in the house
  • no vacation
  • no sense of self-worth, efficacy
  • reluctance towards management
  • need to convince others about her skills
  • taking on new tasks and activities without seeing the need to hire additional employees
  • failure to meet personal commitments
  • problems with sleeping
  • heath problems: total helplessness, lack of energy and motivation to act, inability to think clearly.

CONDITIONS AT WORK:

  • conducting periodic evaluation using unknown criteria
  • not taking into consideration the need to hire additional employees
  • requires working overtime ( parent company in the USA active during Polish evening hours)
  • call regarding business at any time of the day or week
  • time pressure – requiring immediate action without taking into consideration employees free time or needs
  • an employee forced the management to show the evaluation criteria and discovered that she met all of them and even exceeded in some, yet received a mediocre score. (Hence the decrease in self-worth and in the ability to evaluate own achievements)

APPROACH TOWARDS EMPLOYEES:

  • need to prove oneself and gain acceptance from others
  • taking on tasks at the expense of her own free time
  • protecting employees – taking on more responsibilities
  • believing that only hard work can give her success
  • cancelling private meetings when the company gave additional tasks
  • stopped taking care of herself yet cared strongly about company business

RESCUE MECHANISMS:

  • taking up sports
  • sleeping the whole weekend
  • taking up a hobby
  • having good family relationships

COACHING PROCEDURES:

  • assessing the degree of occupational burnout
  • examining the energy gain/loss when dealing with different people from professional and private life
  • examining key destabilizing factors
  • considering the pros and cons of staying in this work situation (deepening of burnout, depression, health problems, the inability to build lasting relationships/starting a family, loneliness, loss of meaning in life)
  • examining the extent to which necessary changes can be made ( minimal)
  • making a decision about job change
  • working on developing assertiveness, reducing the number of people/events that decrease well-being
  • lowering self-expectations from 300% to 80 %
  • changing beliefs concerning inequality between men and women
  • finding a new job ( without the “American” style of worker exploitation)
  • fulfilling the inner need to please others by changing it into the pursuit of creating good working standards
  • creating a balance between the needs of taking care of others and own well-being
  • fulfilling the dream of changing her job profile
  • creating a vision of a smooth transfer from a committed financial director into a coach/lecturer.
  • creating rules allowing balance between work and private life

KEY ACTIONS:

  • the person looked for help in order not to be forced to resign, paid in advanced for a full coaching cycle.
  • looked at her situation and discovered that she was playing the role of a victim and that she expected change to come from her employees.
  • took responsibility for her well-being
  • discovered that she was trying to give more than it is realistically possible and good for her well being
  • started to believe that she can work in a company with rules which are close to her idea of good organization