by Helen Burton
A year down the track…
Arnold's death put The Edge in the media spotlight for a short period, and as sometimes happens, occupancy increased. Lou had a long and difficult search to recruit an operations manager. It took her six months to find the "right person" and an additional three months to train her. As a result, Lou wasn't able to execute her plan to pull back from some of the "hands-on" tasks as soon as she would have hoped.
Lou and Paul married. With her new manager now taking over more of the operations, she is starting to think seriously about having children in the near future.
Ed Senior
Career review
Ed joined the army straight out of school, following in the footsteps of his brother and uncle, who were also in the defence forces. Ed enjoyed eight years with the Australian army serving overseas, where he trained as a medic and saw active service.
On returning to Australia, and with a young wife and daughter, he decided to pursue a civilian career.
With no clear idea what he wanted to do, Ed applied for a variety of different roles until strong communication skills and a background in first aid enabled him to develop a successful career in pharmaceutical sales with a multinational company. He enjoyed a steady promotional path, culminating in being appointed to the role of sales and marketing director. Five years ago, the company was acquired by another US-based multinational, and his role was made redundant. He immediately joined Medivalue Incorporated to assist Arnold Strong, who he knew in his previous role, to market and sell the new technology.
Ed had personal assistants to handle the administrative requirements of his job throughout his civilian career. He worked long hours assisting his new boss to develop Medivalue and he travelled extensively. His wife's cancer came as a shock and she died less than four months from the initial diagnosis. Ed continued to focus on his work as a way of dealing with his loss, and as a result, his relationship with his children disintegrated.
With Arnold Strong's death, Ed may have been able to remain with Medivalue, at least in the short-term. However, the experience at The Edge, and reflecting on the SEEFAR results, assisted his decision making about his future life and career.
Career options
1. Sales and marketing manager (Medivalue or other)
2. General manager (or other senior role) — not-for-profit
3. Writer
4. Consultant (sales and marketing)
Ed acknowledged his career to date, and his self-understanding and identity results reflect strong people management skills, with an ability to build relationships and communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing. His values suggest a renewed interest in helping people and finding moral fulfilment. Leadership remains important to him.
The External image feedback surprised Ed, in that his colleagues perceived his communication skills positively. He was feeling so disconnected from them that he was afraid they wouldn't have anything nice to say. He was interested to learn that his failure to embrace technology contributed to perceptions that he was not as effective in his sales and marketing role. In reviewing his performance feedback, he admitted that his results had been slipping.
Reflecting on his life and career, Ed decided that it was time to leave Medivalue, because his values and priorities were different at this point in his life.
Ed recognised that he was not ready to retire. He spent some time thinking about his skills set, talking to friends and colleagues and analysing the marketplace, specifically employment opportunities in Hobart, where his daughter and grandchildren lived.
Although Ed wasn't rich, he had enough money to maintain an acceptable lifestyle, so he decided to pursue a portfolio career — a combination of part-time employment, charity work and leisure activities.
Ed was interested in sales and marketing and other leadership positions. His assessment of the marketplace in Hobart was that few opportunities existed in his current industry — pharmaceuticals. Tourism, government and health offered better opportunities.
Ed identified four short-term goals:
1. Investigate volunteering opportunities, with a focus on working in a leadership or sponsorship/donations gathering capacity.
2. Undertake a "relaxed" job search through advertised positions and networking, with the goal of sourcing a part-time role.
3. Embrace technology and attend an internet course offered at the local library
4. Reignite writing skills by joining a writers association; begin writing short stories and enter literary competitions.
A year down the track ...
After talking to his daughter and re-establishing their relationship, Ed moved to Hobart. He researched several charities, volunteering in various capacities, before deciding to support the local hospital foundation. He appreciated that they made use of his people and sales skills, which allowed him to help organise several charitable events. This included seeking sponsorship from local businesses.
Ed's job search was relaxed and he struggled to find many part-time roles of interest.
He fulfilled his goal of improving his technology skills and enjoyed working on his first historical novel using his new laptop one day a week.
Through his work and success with the hospital foundation, Ed was offered and accepted a two-day-a-week paid role, leading the development and implementation of the hospital's fund-raising events. He leads a team of up to a hundred volunteers, raising money to help the hospital purchase much-needed healthcare machinery. He spends at least a half-day a week with his grandchildren.
Nathan Clearview
Career review
Nathan's father was a teacher and his mother stayed home to look after Nathan and his sister. Nathan did well at school. His father, disenchanted with teaching and wanting more for his son, encouraged him to go to university and enter the business world. Nathan studied accountancy, which he enjoyed — the detail and number work came easily to him.
After finishing university, Nathan joined a large accountancy firm to complete his professional qualifications. He transferred to the firm's London office, spending two years in the UK working and travelling. On his return to Australia, Nathan met his wife, and held two other senior finance roles, before taking the position as Chief Financial Officer at Medivalue.
During the last eighteen months, Nathan has felt less and less satisfied with his job at Medivalue, rating his job satisfaction at level two. He puts this down to a number of factors, the first being his relationship with his boss Arnold Strong. Nathan values ethical behaviour in financial management and all areas of business. He found his principles constantly challenged and compromised as his boss's impatience to launch the new product resulted in cutting corners and dubious decision-making.
Additionally, Nathan and his wife tried for three years to have a child, suffering several miscarriages and undergoing expensive IVF treatments. They are now expecting their first child. His wife is also a professional, and although happy to take principal parenting responsibility, plans to return to her career as a solicitor on a part-time basis. She expects that Nathan will shoulder his share of the child rearing. He is working, on average, seventy hours a week and is being pushed by Strong to contribute to other areas of the business beyond financial management. Nathan has been feeling unhappy and stressed.
Career options
1. MD with Medivalue
2. CFO with Medivalue
3. CFO externally
Nathan has strengths in analysis and detail, and he is objective, logical and practical. Never a fan of personality profiles, nevertheless, with the assistance of his career coach, Nathan was able to understand that his low preference for big-picture thinking was linked to his current job dissatisfaction in being asked to become involved in marketing, sales and other areas outside his interest and comfort zone. Nathan's current role was not meeting his top values of technical expertise, lifestyle and precision work. Nathan was also disappointed to realise that his commitment to technical skill de
velopment — attending accounting conferences, focus groups, etc. — had been almost non-existent in the last year because of the demands of his role at work.
Nathan's External image feedback linked well to his personal assessment. He was perceived as intelligent, technically skilled and practically minded. He was surprised that his work colleagues sensed his unhappiness, describing him as overly stressed and irritable.
He recognised that he was being groomed for the CEO role at Medivalue. With the help of his career coach and talking things over with his wife, he was able to think through, over a couple of months, how he really wanted his career to progress. He made an initially difficult decision not to pursue a leadership role outside financial management, deciding not to apply for Strong's position, which he had filled on an interim basis. He recognised that he enjoyed the technical side of his job and did not want to commit to the demands and working hours required of a CEO. Nathan's father expressed disappointment at his son's perceived lack of ambition but accepted that Nathan needed to make his own decisions. While money would be tight with the baby coming, he agreed with his wife that he could make a good enough living as a CFO, supplemented by her working part-time, to maintain a good lifestyle.
Nathan identified four short-term goals:
1. Indicate to the Medivalue board that he wasn't interested in the CEO role.
2. Meet with the new Medivalue CEO to determine if he could remain in the CFO role with significantly reduced hours, focusing only on financial management to support business strategy.
3. Explore the marketplace by investigating advertised opportunities and meeting with specialised recruiters in terms of other CFO opportunities in case Medivalue did not accept his proposal.
4. Attend this year's chartered accounting conference.
A year down the track…
Nathan met with Tom Packer, Strong's replacement as CEO, to discuss his interest in remaining with Medivalue in a CFO role with significantly reduced hours, so he could spend more time with his wife and new daughter. Tom was initially relieved, believing that Nathan may have been resentful that he wasn't appointed to the CEO position. A very hard worker and used to putting in long hours, Tom was surprised at Nathan's desire to reduce the time he was spending at the office. Aware of the challenging times ahead in launching the technology internationally, Tom didn't commit to Nathan's request for greater work/life balance and admitted that there might be significant travel required to establish financial management strategies and systems in new geographic markets.
After due consideration, Nathan recognised that Medivalue could not offer him the work model he desired. He started to look for another job and found a CFO role in a well-established medium-sized company that better matched his values. Tom, although sad to lose Nathan, was keen to have some input into choosing his own CFO.
Yasmin Perfect
Career review
Yasmin's father was a property developer, and her mother a homemaker. Her father left home when she was very young, and because he provided no child support, Yasmin and her mother had to change their way of life to fit their strained circumstances.
Yasmin left school at the end of Grade 11 to undertake a secretarial course. She hated school and was motivated to earn money as soon as possible. She liked the idea of working in a flash office in the city, near all the fashion shops. After completing her course, she took a role as receptionist with a legal firm and was promoted to a secretarial position.
Three years later, Yasmin married her police officer boyfriend and they had a baby a year later. Yasmin took two years off and then returned to the law firm where she worked four days a week. After her husband was killed in a shooting incident, Yasmin had to find a full-time job. She worked on a temporary basis for a year, before joining Medivalue as Arnold Strong's PA.
Yasmin enjoys secretarial work, but she has struggled with the demands of full-time hours and single motherhood, often feeling overwhelmed, sad and guilty about spending time away from her son, who is now eight years old. Her mother has been very supportive and looks after Tom before and after school.
Career options
1. PA for new Medivalue MD
2. Events management
3. Retail
4. Public sector administration role
5. Social work
Arnold Strong's death was a moment of truth for Yasmin, causing her to think carefully about her life in general and her career path. While not dissatisfied with her work, she yearned to do something that would allow her more time with her son and a higher level of remuneration. She recognised that she was an emotional person and tended to be sensitive to criticism but was gratified by the positive feedback regarding her organisational skills and presentation.
Yasmin had a general interest in a number of other areas, including retail and social work. As a result, she had no clear career goals. She explored tertiary education options, but with her financial and time constraints, ruled that option out as not viable at this time. She was interested in events management, although it was a questionable fit with her values, and she had limited experience.
Yasmin identified two short-term goals:
1. Take six weeks leave to spend time with her son and volunteer with an events management company to determine if she liked the work.
2. Begin looking at public-sector opportunities to improve her work/life balance.
A year down the track…
Yasmin volunteered with an events company run by a friend, but although she enjoyed the work, the hours and customer demands were onerous, and she ultimately decided that this was not the career path for her.
She liked the new Medivalue CEO, Tom Packer and found that, although demanding at times, she enjoyed working for him. He gave her time off to attend school functions, as long as she made up the hours.
Yasmin is still considering a move into a public-sector role that would provide security and increased flexibility, but she hasn't found a role of interest to date.
Clara Cooke
Career review
Clara was an only child and grew up in a creative environment; her mother was an artist and her father a musician. Due to her parents' careers, her family moved seven times during her school years. As a child Clara was shy and slightly overweight. She struggled to make friends and was bullied badly as a teenager. Clara had a close relationship with one auntie, Auntie Ann, who was a chef and would regularly stay with Clara's family between her many different jobs. Auntie Ann had excited Clara's interest in cooking, and the mobile lifestyle seemed a natural part of work life due to Clara's life experience. Auntie Ann was able to arrange a chef apprenticeship for Clara. In the absence of other options, this seemed a logical career choice when she completed school.
Clara found she had a natural talent for cooking and progressed easily through her training. To build her skills and reputation, and enjoying some stability after the multiple childhood moves, she worked for six years at one of Sydney's better restaurants. She then met her partner, a restaurant manager, who encouraged her to travel. Clara spent three years overseas working in the restaurants of several three star London hotels. When that relationship broke down, she returned to Australia.
Clara's experience allowed her to source a role at a small, boutique Sydney eatery. Always a hard worker, her creative menu development and culinary expertise helped the restaurant become well known and successful. After five years, the owner suffered a heart attack and decided to sell. Clara took out a loan and purchased the restaurant.
Clara refurbished the restaurant to give it a trendy and modern look. She created a new signature dish and business was growing steadily. Unfortunately, Clara's strengths were on the creative side, and she struggled to manage the operational running of the business, finding the recruitment of good staff and the development and leadership of a cohesive, efficient team especially challenging. Mr Arnold Strong was a regular patron and ultimately offered to purchase a fifty-five percent share of the rest
aurant, promising Clara that she would maintain creative and management control.
Strong did not keep to his word and began to interfere in all aspects of the restaurant operation, casting aspersions on Clara's competence to staff, suppliers and patrons behind her back. Clara, stressed by the continual conflict with Strong and the staff, just wanted to get out and agreed to sell her remaining percentage of the restaurant to Strong at a bargain basement price, on the condition she was paid to continue to run the restaurant until such time as she found alternative employment. He sacked her the day after settlement. With financial commitments to meet, and distressed by the damage done to her reputation, Clara was keen to obtain alternative employment as soon as possible, preferably out of Sydney. Therefore, when Strong mentioned the advertisement for a chef's position at the Edge resort, she applied.
Career options
Clara left The Edge soon after Arnold's death. She took another position as a chef at a lodge in Tasmania. Battling depression and a sense of failure despite the move, Clara soon found herself in conflict with her boss and colleagues. She started relying on alcohol and pills to get her through each day. Ultimately, she reached a point where she was unable to function at work. Realising that she needed help, Clara sought psychological counselling.
A year down the track…
Counselling raised a range of issues beyond the incident with the Sydney restaurant. Clara is slowly working through these issues with her psychologist and is again focusing on exercise as one strategy to deal with stress. She remains on medication at this stage because she has recently commenced working two shifts a week in a small Launceston restaurant.
