John: turning organizational change into a great career opportunity

“John,” an accomplished non-profit CFO, reached out for help navigating the roller coaster of personal and organizational changes resulting from a new executive leadership team. John and I initially worked through the psychology of personal change and coping strategies to take back his personal power, which had been substantially diminished over a period of a year. During times of upheaval, it always starts with: “where am I in this change process?” and “how am I feeling?” The next questions are “What am I going to do about it?” and “What actions can I take to move forward from an ending to a new beginning?”

Those next action steps included brainstorming, exploration and evaluation of both internal and external networks and opportunities. We determined that it was best to manage and negotiate a successful exit strategy (executive staff and board communications, separation package/agreement, etc.), while simultaneously executing an aggressive, high level, external career and job search campaign. Together, John and I refined his personal marketing pitch and story, networking/interview and communications strategies.

In less than three months, John successfully negotiated a win-win exit, executed an effective search campaign, and negotiated and then won an exciting local CEO-level opportunity prior to his exit date from his previous company.