Have you ever been made redundant?

Or know anyone who was made redundant?

You may be surprised to hear that I consider myself fortunate that I was made redundant from my first proper job.

It was actually voluntary redundancy.  It was my choice to leave.  It was from an excellent company.  I worked for P&G at the time.  And, most importantly – because they are an excellent company – my redundancy package included outplacement support in the form of a coach.

Now bear in mind that I wasn’t the mature, measured individual you know today (joke!).  It was 20 years ago.  And at the age of 27 the kindest way to describe me was confident and self-assured.  The more accurate description was probably cocky and arrogant.

The economy was very different in the 1990s and I’d had it easy.  I’d got a good degree from University and I’d had my pick of graduate jobs with blue-chip companies when I accepted a job in product research for P&G.  So, a few years later, when I decided I was more interested in people than washing powders I fully expected to just be able to do what I wanted.

Thank goodness I had my coach to save me from my naivety.  He explained to me “You care about your career.  Organisations care about their businesses.  You’ve got to find the way to connect what you want to what the organisation wants”.

I’ll be honest.  I remember even now the sudden realisation that developing my career in the way I wanted wasn’t going to be as easy as maybe I’d thought.  I had to stop thinking just about me and what I wanted and start thinking commercially about what organisations need.

And that’s the support that your future leaders need.  They need support to think through what they want from their career.  But they also need help thinking through what the organisation needs for the future.  And as leaders they need to identify how they can help the organisation meet its goals while at the same time satisfying their own ambitions.

That’s what any Talent Coach needs to do.

My story had a happy ending.  4 months later I started my new job as a Training Manager and I’ve proactively managed my career ever since.  But it’s always saddened me that I only got that invaluable coaching support because I chose to leave the organisation rather than to help me stay in it.

And that’s why I’m so passionate about the role coaching can play in helping you develop your talent within your organisation.

Click here to find out more about Talent Coaching and how it can benefit your organisation >>