Celebrating Sue: Senior Manager Investment Management Sector

“I was coming out of an operational role and in to a strategic leadership role. I had a very busy calendar and workload. You helped me get my mind right. Start to think about myself as a leader… as others see me! Making space for more strategic thought.

Sue

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

Welcome, it’s Gitanjali from High Definition You and this week, I am thrilled to introduce you to Sue and to find out a little bit more about her success. Over the last four months, we’ve been working together, one to one on your executive coaching has gone quickly. Sue, welcome. Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do in the world.

Sue

Thanks, Gita. Yes, I’ve worked in corporate real estate, all of my careers, and I’m responsible for all things real estate and workplace services for 15 locations across the globe. And I’ve just transitioned into a more senior leadership role. When I first started, there were 50 people in London, and now we’re topping 700.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

All of them sitting within your Group as Head of International Facilities. Yeah, so tell me a little bit. So, tell me a little bit. Let’s go back in our time machine, Sue to, when we first started, tell me a little bit about what you were struggling with in terms of your leadership and you know, life in general, what were the struggles that you were experiencing?

Sue

Oh, we started to work together, just on the cusp of COVID. I was struggling anyway, from a very busy calendar, workload, taking on more responsibilities, perhaps coming out of my comfort zone, as I’ve moved from a more operational role to more strategic, and then obviously COVID struck as well, which had another impact on my workload, as I’m sure it has for many people.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

Yeah, you’re really transitioning into that role. And we were looking at how you could move after, as he said, that very operational role into much more of a strategic leadership role, if you will, and looking at your productivity as part of that. And presentation skills. So, when we were talking, obviously, “T RO”, were funding it. But from your perspective, was there anything that held you back from the sort of any resistance that showed up that stopped it from being straight? Yes, when we spoke about coaching.

Sue

For me, personally, it was a no-brainer, I accepted straight away, I didn’t take it as a negative and that I was offered to coach to our prices, a great company, they always invest in all their staff at various levels. So to move into a more senior role, and to be offered this coaching to me was, you know, really positive, and taken in the way it was offered.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

And time has flown over the last four months, and a lot has changed. Tell us a little bit about what has changed for you in terms of your leadership, your life, you know, what are some of the significant results that you’ve seen?

Sue

Okay, so I think straightaway, you helped me, get my mind, right, get myself in the right place, start to think about myself as a leader, as other people see me. So it was a transition in my brain, I think was the first milestone, and, and just really simple things.

Ideas that I’ve put that I’ve taken up, clearing my calendar, and making space for more strategic thought and planning has been a real, a bonus. And I’ve shared it with my peers as well who have taken a similar approach.

So, we thank you as a group as well. And then good advice around presenting myself as a leader, but also how to think about looking forward versus trying to solve problems today, starting to think about how I can solve problems for tomorrow. And that more sort of a sat nav version of myself.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

See yourself as a DPS. Exactly. And we had a good conversation with your boss who’s in the US. And that’s always part of these coaching journeys. When I’m working with corporates, and when we spoke, there were some really tangible results that had just happened. You want to share what a couple of those were as a result of our working together?

Sue

Yes. Obviously, the changes that I feel I’m making are visible and really important to my boss, and so some of the winds were around some meetings that he attends. He feels comfortable now handing the reins to me and they include presenting to the board to meet stakeholders, so he feels comfortable taking a step back. So, it’s a benefit for me, but a benefit for him as well, because it frees up a lot of his time.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

And he’s definitely shared. That thinking didn’t hear about your ability now to really manage some of those more complex conversations and complex individuals, shall we say that you come across in any corporation, but your ability to really take control and be less passive in your role now and how he’s noticed those results.

When you think that now around, you know, where we were at the beginning for yourself what you know, I call myself a Possiblist what is possible now, what seems easy now that seemed hard then or was once impossible when we first started.

Sue

I think when we first started, I had a tendency to overthink things, to try and pre-empt things and think things through a lot more. And so now I just feel more confident and am able to speak up. A good example is, that we had a very senior zoom call. And a lot of people don’t put their camera on, and I used to not put my camera on.

And now I do. And what I find is that after I put my camera on, other people start to put their camera on as well. So, I almost feel as though I’m giving other very senior leaders, the sort of a pointer to, you know, be seen and be heard, it’s really important.

And that’s the confidence that your coaching has given me, I don’t have to be in the background, I’ve got a lot to add to the conversation, which others, others already recognised, I just didn’t have that confidence in myself.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

Love that. So not only making the changes but for yourself. But you’re also inspiring people around you to change the way that you’re behaving. And I’ve seen that definitely through our journey together, you know, some of the productivity elements that you’ve put in place, and sharing that with the team, as you say, so they’ve all benefited actually, which is wonderful.

It can sometimes be a bit of an opaque process, this coaching business, can you take me to the moment to where you really felt or could see that the coaching was working?

Sue

For Me, when we started, I felt quite overwhelmed. So I think that is just that initial sort of changing mindset. And I gave myself permission to change. So I think that was the key point where I actually felt this is what I’ve been waiting for, in a way and permission to, to be able to change that comes from me versus somebody else.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

And I’ve seen you setting boundaries along the way and saying no. Was there a moment where you thought oh, yes, I’ve This is the coaching happening here?

Sue

Yeah, that’s, that’s correct. Normally, especially in a service-type role in facilities and workplace services, you are so used to supporting and providing services to the business to your peers to associates generally, that it is that mindset that you’re in.

So all of a sudden to be able to sort of say no, and feel competent around that has been a real eye-opener to have an assistant that’s a good gatekeeper, but also to say no, in a really constructive way as well. So there’s a reason behind it. It’s, it’s done in a very polite way. And it actually opens up opportunities for others, as well as say, to say no, I’ve always, the team saying has always been said, knowing they can do way.

Which is you know, sometimes we have to say no. I think for me, it’s just not that can do it’s actually well, do you need to do it? Or is there a better solution?

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

And what is it then about the way that I work sue that has enabled you to get these results?

Sue

I think the way that you understand the way the brain works, the way the mind works the way everyone is different. I think that gives a lot of insight and helps me understand. You know, you’re very friendly, easy to talk to it easy to work with. I feel very confident in the conversations that we have and the confidentiality of that as well.

So I’m very, you know, happy to have great conversations with you, and you hold me accountable as well. think that’s really important. But I think again, yeah, understanding the way the mind works, has really helped. Versus just, you know, this is good coaching advice. Lots of good analogies, because I’m an analogy type person. I like to visualise things. And that’s been really useful as well.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

Thank you for that. And when you think about it, because we’ve had some fun along the way, what might have surprised or delighted you about the coaching journey together?

Sue

Yeah, I think we’ve, we’ve laughed haven’t we, it has been fun. So perhaps as I say, I was open to, to coaching right from the start, I just didn’t realise that. It would be necessarily fun.

And I’ve been able to laugh at myself as well. And, you know, little things about rabbits in our brains. And, and, you know, deciding that I am Queen Sue! has helped me, it’s helped my mindset. And not, you know, I only share that with, your very select potential clients.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

A great takeaway for anyone watching this to say, actually, there was that sense of you realising and feeling really empowered, was the word that you used with me to sort of say, yeah, actually, you know, 17 years of experience and what you were bringing in terms of the strategic element of your role, right?

Sue

Yes. And I think it’s probably one of the things about working for the same firm for a long time. So if you are long-tenured, I think it is harder to change than if you’re new to a company, because I have got more senior positions as a non-exec director on a couple of boards. And I feel quite empowered. And I feel very comfortable in that role.

Yeah, it was more of a transition in a company where I’ve worked for 17 years, just because you’ve got all that sort of pass in history, which for me, is actually in my mindset, it was holding me back. But actually, that’s just all the credits and all the things that I’ve built up over the years have risen, helped me rise to, where I am today and build up all that kudos and trust with Associates.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

Yeah, one of the things that I noticed partway through our journey around that was the realisation came through in a really live example for me, you were recruiting at the time, do you want to tell us a little bit about actually, you changed the direction of that role? And the level, didn’t you?

Sue

Yes, that’s, that’s correct. So I had a quite critical role. The person retired, and just before COVID, I was recruiting. And as we started our coaching, she put that on hold, and started to think about, is this right, you know, what level of person do I need? What is this role going forward?

And for me, it was the change of mindset around I am a leader that should be guiding and directing, versus having a team under me, that needs a lot of management. So, I changed that particular role to a more senior role to is to have somebody in a position that’s empowered and has the experience and the decision-making powers to be able to, you know, manage, the role and all the duties that actually takes that from me.

So, I can be thinking about the more strategic view and making sure that the objectives and goals are given to that person. I was just, it was a real mind shift, which helped me make that decision, which I may not have made if I wasn’t in that right place at the time.

Because it was in the middle of COVID as well. So, the easy solution would have just been to hire somebody straight in at that existing role first, versus, you know, taking a bit of the strain in the short term, the pain for the long term game.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

Yeah, I was thrilled when we worked through that it’s going to be a great result when she starts as well. As I mentioned, we met more than once with your stakeholder and as part of that conversation, I asked him to describe where you were when we fit started, I’m going to ask you to say and he said that you were sort of nervous and unsteady in that new role, you truly transitioned into ahead of role, it was a big new role, and that you moved from that to be confident in terms of your broader leadership and much more comfortable.

And then I asked him, well, where would you like to see her now? And the term energetic leader with that level of exuberance came up? We go back in the time machine, what adjectives would you use to describe where you were when we started and where we are now?

Sue

Yeah, I think the B, word for me is overwhelmed. There was just too much happening, I didn’t feel necessarily fully in control, which I think when you’re comfortable with a role, you feel more in control, and then all of a sudden, your world changes.

And, and you can feel overwhelmed. And so now, as we move forward, I feel more confident, is a great word. But in a, in a positive way confident. And I can see the road forward, I think that’s what’s bringing me the confidence. So, I can see a clearer path than perhaps I could four months ago.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

Amazing. And I wonder if someone’s being inspired by your story right now, what you would say and what your advice would be to them, Sue.

Sue

My advice would be to jump at the chance. Just take the opportunity, you’ve got more to learn, we’re all a work in progress, no matter where we are in our careers. And the important thing is to have somebody independent, you know, whether it’s, you know, somebody at work, or your boss or your friends, they all know you so well, and they may actually not tell you what you perhaps need to hear good things.

And but and, you know, sort of constructive criticism was I think, having the opportunity of a coach that has all that experience but doesn’t know you that well at the start. You just build up that relationship and they get to know you through asking the right questions. So I would say definitely take up the opportunity because if you don’t, it would be an opportunity lost.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

Amazing. Well, it has been my privilege to get to know you better over the last few months and I’m looking forward to continuing our journey together. So thank you so much for your time today.

Sue

Thanks, Gita. I Appreciate you