Case Study: Jessica wants to quit her job...but what next?
Jessica is dying to leave her job as a therapist; she's exhausted and feels that her clients' challenges have impacted her own mental health and she needs a way out.
She wants to change industries and worries about what she could qualify for. Based on her previous job experience and skills, she is thinking about maybe librarian, hotel concierge, corporate wellness director, or event planner.
Jessica is really struggling with which career path she should take. What should she do?
Here’s what Jessica decided (and how, through coaching)
Jessica decided that she wants to open a Bed and Breakfast.
Wait…what?
Sometimes when we are really stressed out and are trying to make a change, we think a lot about what we could do in the moment, but not what we want in the future. So here’s how I approached coaching her:
Coaching Goal #1: Identify what success looks like to Jessica
I asked Jessica to imagine that she was starting with a blank slate. A blank slate means that not only is she not working at her current job as a therapist, but that there is a world of possibilities that don’t rely on whether or not she has any job qualifications.
Out of the blue, Jessica shared that she always had a dream of having a Bed and Breakfast.
Coaching Goal #2: Explore what that dream looks like and how it would make an impact on her life
What draws Jessica to wanting to have a Bed and Breakfast? Here are a variety of things she came up with:
Bed and Breakfasts are where people come to experience some sense of relaxation or joy (opposite of the stress that she experiences with people in therapy)
Bed and Breakfasts open the doors for creativity, such as event planning
Jessica would feel that she’s able to contribute to her community by doing collaborations, hiring local university students as a job provider, and also involving her family members
Coaching Goal #3: Figure out what is possible
At this point, even though Jessica has a dream, the dream feels too big. She doesn’t know how to run a Bed and Breakfast, she doesn’t know where she would get the funding…the list of obstacles and her lack of experience feel overwhelming.
But she doesn’t have to achieve running a Bed and Breakfast by tomorrow. The question I asked her is what kind of experiences she wants to have now that could help her dream of running a Bed and Breakfast in the future feel achievable.
Her response was to look into Hotel Concierge and or Event Planner. She feels that working in hospitality would be a great way to learn about booking systems and how to help customers plan celebrations. She also feels this would be a nice way to let her creativity shine and to interact with people in a more joyous way which is the freshness she needs after stepping out of therapy
Coaching Goal #4: Envisioning a timeline
The great news is that Jessica has direction on what industry she wants to explore, purely for learning purposes that would contribute to a future dream. The next question is asking her what kind of timeline she wants to have in place so that she feels that she isn’t just making a switch but has a clear plan.
For her, she feels that 2 years in the hospitality industry is a good framework before thinking of her next steps.
What about you?
If you were to re-read this dilemma again with coaching questions in mind, would you still take the same path you originally thought?
It’s interesting to see what people decide, isn’t it? Every person is different, so even the same coaching sequence can lead to a different result - as long as the participant feels they are moving forward in alignment with their needs, it’s a win!