CASE STUDIES

ORIENTING NEED QUESTION – How can I stress less, sleep more and create a more balanced life?

Jay is the Vice-President of Sales for a new media and advertising company.  Much to the credit of Jay the company has doubled in size in each of the last five years.  At the Christmas party Jay’s boss, Rob, noticed that Jay was drinking quite a bit and acting aggressively with some of the staff.  When Rob looked more closely at Jay’s recent work behaviour and performance he noticed that Jay had been coming into work late and missing some key meetings.  When Rob talked with Jay about his concerns Jay confessed that he felt a lot of pressure to meet his sales goals this year, he wasn’t sleeping well and he felt worried that he was going to lose it because of stress.  For Jay, work had always been his number one priority in life, but with a new baby at home and his wife, Marnie, taking a leave from work, he wasn’t sure he could continue to be all things for all people, all the time.

AREA OF RELEVANT EXPERTISE ACCESSED (ASSESSMENT & COACHING)

Rob had hired AboutBeingConnected™ in the past for a team-building program and so he called upon Dan once again to see if they could help get Jay de-stressed, refocused and back on track.  He knew that Dan had been high performing sales people in the past and that they were also advocates of using something called, Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR), to help clients achieve a sense of calm and centeredness during stressful situations as well as to create a healthier work/life balance.

ACTION PLAN/REMEDY IMPLEMENTED

Jay participated in three assessment interviews with Dan.  He completed the Current Felt Stress Inventory, TAP Inventory (Type A Personality) and the Maslach Inventory (Burnout).  The findings from these inventories revealed that he was not Type A, but he was certainly highly stressed and was nearing burnout.  They also had Jay complete a full physiological diagnostic at the Canadian Sleep Centre.  These findings suggested that due to his heavy drinking he was waking up two or three times a night and wasn’t getting enough deep, restorative sleep.  With this much strong evidence it didn’t take long to convince Jay that he had to make some serious life changes.  With the help and encouragement of Rob and Marnie he stopped taking sales prospects and clients for “drinking lunches” and he limited his alcohol intake to two drinks per evening on workdays.  To get his anxiety, stress and burnout under control,  Dan created a resistance-training exercise program for him as well as played squash with him on a weekly basis.

REALIZED BUSINESS BENEFITS FOR OUR CLIENT

Within six months Jay was sleeping better and coming into work on time.  He scored much lower on the TAP and Maslach Inventories, thus, confirming his stress levels were manageable once again.  His sales numbers were on the rise, making Rob happy. He found a renewed interest in spending time with the baby, making Marnie happy.  Most importantly, Jay reported that he felt more balanced and calm and in control of his life and because of his new level of aerobic fitness and strength he felt 10 years younger.

Jim is the 44 year old founder and CEO of an international digital media packaging company

ORIENTING NEED QUESTION – How does a sense of meaning and purpose help me become more than my work?

During the past twenty years he has grown the company to $25 million in annual sales with a staff of thirty dedicated employees. He has spent the last five years training Alana, the president of the company, to be his successor.  Essentially he has worked himself out of a job at the company and is wondering what he will do next in life.  Although he certainly has the means to, he feels too young to just stop working and traditionally retire.  For most of his life, work has been his sole source of meaning and purpose.  Jim’s challenge was to now figure out how he could become more than just his work.

AREA OF RELEVANT EXPERTISE ACCESSED (COACHING)

Jim asked the members of his Master Mind Group (MMG) if they could recommend a business/life coach to help him figure out what to do next in his life.  He did some research on Dan at ™ and based on the MMG referral, Dan’s internet profiles as well as three of his videos: Evolving Entrepreneurial Existence, Helping Happiness Happen and Making a Meaningful and Meaning-filled Life, Jim began a ten session coaching/counselling process with Dan.

ACTION PLAN/REMEDY IMPLEMENTED

Prior to their first meeting Jim completed the VIA Signature Strengths Survey and the SQ-21 Spiritual Intelligence Survey.  The VIA revealed that Jim’s five signature strengths centered around: wisdom and insight, compassion for others, an appreciation of beauty, a sense of adventure and a deep desire to mentor others.  The SQ-21 identified the key skills he needed to develop in four domains:  knowing the self, knowing the world, self-mastery and social mastery.  During their ten coaching/counselling meetings Dan asked Jim many probing questions that helped him to clearly define his core values, his reasons for living, who he wanted to be in service to and what he aspired to be and become.  Essentially, this process helped Jim review, revise and rewrite his sense of self from being a successful entrepreneur to one of being a socially engaged, entrepreneurially-minded philanthropist.

REALIZED BUSINESS BENEFITS FOR OUR CLIENT

With his new sense of meaning and purpose Jim was able to let go of many of the management controls he had on the business and calmly let Alana run and grow the company in her own way.  For one day a week he went into the office and provided problem-solving coaching and mentoring sessions to his staff.  As he became more connected with charitable organizations and social venture partnerships he found that this new network of people who were making a difference in the world, also needed his business savvy and skills to make their organizations run more efficiently and effectively.  Some of these people even became customers of the company.  He had taken his work out into the world, and it worked.

Jake is the owner/manager of a residential trade contracting company

ORIENTING NEED QUESTION – How do I find someone safe to talk to?

Jake is the owner/manager of a residential trade contracting company that has twenty people working for it.  The company is well established with sales in the $2-3 million dollar range.  Recently one of his largest and oldest customers went through a management change which resulted in Jake’s company suddenly losing a substantial portion of their business.  Jake knew how to get the business back, but he needed someone who was arms-length and safe to talk to about the strategy and plan for doing so.  He couldn’t talk to his banker for fear of getting his line of credit cut; he couldn’t talk to his staff for fear that they would “jump ship” thinking their jobs were in jeopardy; and, he couldn’t talk to his spouse for fear that she would feel that the business was going down and the bills wouldn’t be paid.

AREA OF RELEVANT EXPERTISE ACCESSED (COACHING)

Jake needed an experienced expert/business coach who could ask him the right questions and provide him with practical guidance and advice.

ACTION PLAN/REMEDY IMPLEMENTED

Jake engaged with Dan at AboutBeingConnected™ for ten coaching sessions over three months as a means of creating and implementing an action plan to get the lost business back.  During those sessions they worked on: strategic planning, sales strategies, motivational plans to get the staff on board and a personal stress reduction program to keep Jake centered and calm during these transitions.

REALIZED BUSINESS BENEFITS FOR OUR CLIENT

Within 15 months from when Jake’s company initially lost the business with its key customer the team had reclaimed 70% of the lost sales and were on track for more growth in the next year.  He didn’t lose any staff members.  Jake began and maintains a mindfulness-based stress reduction practice that keeps him more centered, calm and clear during stressful situations.