professionals in transition: personal consulting

New Roles: Evolving and Redefining

We live in a fast-changing world which mandates flexibility, quick learning and rapid adaptation and adjustment. We are continually redefining ourselves and evolving. In the realm of business we are subject to frequent reorganizations, shifts in management, structural changes, new responsibilities, upward and forward movement.  We must step up and take on that new role.  We must, often on our own, develop the skills and talents the new role requires and manage the pressures these situations present.  And somehow we must do this with smoothness and assuredness.

Over the years, clients have come to me for help in assuming their new positions and roles and managing the isolation that is sometimes inherent in the situation. Some need guidance in developing into leadership roles or creating better relationships with colleagues; or learning the skill of being part of a team or developing a certain ‘presence’ they know is needed.  The external pressure of evolving and redefining oneself professionally is one side of the drama; the other side of the drama often emanates from internal pressure that one’s own personality brings to the situation, increasing the intensity of the experience.

Overall, clients seek me out as a neutral party, someone who is outside their field of business, who can collaborate with them to provide a different viewpoint and new perspective.

• learning how your personality works with or against your goals
• deciding what kind of leader or manager you want to be
• developing a style of self-presentation and delivery
•  identifying stressors and managing them differently

seeking mastery

Taking on new roles and responsibility is only one paradigm for professionals in transition. Another component is one’s own personal motivation to be successful and power forward, not necessarily due to external pressures or demands placed upon them by new roles but rather an inner need to be their best.  Some want to experience a certain flexibility and self-confidence in their current role. Others might want greater ease in interacting with colleagues, managing themselves differently when unexpected situations occur, or striving for a sense of overall competence.   Some are living with the frustrating knowledge that they could be more successful – aware that something is holding them back, yet unable to access that ‘certain something’ .

These are the clients I think of as seeking mastery.

• strengthening leadership skills
• creating a cohesive team
• taking charge
• dealing more effectively with others’ personality styles
• finding your strengths

collaborating with you

If I were to capture the nature of the Personal Consulting I offer, it would sound something like this, ‘Lead with your Strengths and Stay out of Your Own Way.’  I do not define my services as ‘coaching’, but rather an approach that integrates Your Personality with the existing external situation.  It is a collaboration between us, with me summoning my experience as a clinical psychologist having years of involvement with clients in business and an understanding of what is needed to grow and develop these new dimensions of yourself.  There is often more within you than you realize.

I work with you as you are.  Together we set expectations of what you want to achieve in your work with me. This we do in my private, confidential office setting. where I am a neutral contributor, not in your own field of business, able to see things from a different point of view, provide other perspectives, and help you to see yourself as you are, and learn how others might perceive you, finding your own inner strengths and resources.  In my role with you, i do not teach you skills but collaborate with you in developing your own personal style that is the key to taking you where you want to go.  This is what I find works.

I have watched clients attempt to emulate others as a way to develop themselves but have often seen that this is not sustaining in the longer-term and sometimes leads to the belief that they are ‘faking it’. Although there is much to be learned from others who provide modeling,knowledge and  experience, the key is to use your own personality and make it work for you.  In my experience, clients tend to be decidedly more aware of their perceived deficits and considerably less aware of their inner resources.  Adapting to new roles and doing so quickly and smoothly, is not easy.  Neither is developing new skills in a new role.  It requires self-reliance and a belief in yourself.

These days we are keenly aware of what we refer to as ‘presence.’ but we often think that it requires becoming something other than who we are.  But growth derives from learning more about your strengths and working with your limitations, not against them.  The more you focus on  what you have to offer, the better the outcome. With the Personal Consulting model, clients have found it beneficial in enhancing their role, satisfying to learn more about themselves, and have enjoyed the collaborative process of getting there.

chicago career coach

I am Dr. Suraleah Michaels, a licensed clinical psychologist, located in Chicago. I provide adult individual psychotherapy as well as couples, relationship and marital counseling. My specialties include coaching and consulting for entrepreneurs; coaching and consulting to professionals in transition; and a focus on the New Generation of Women 55-Plus.

Chicago Career Coach, Executive Consultant .