Steve Twinley partners with a recruitment agency in London who employ around 80 staff, across sales and non-sales teams. As part of their expansion, in late 2023 they promoted 4 individuals into leadership positions, as well as moving a team leader up to Associate Director.
Steve met separately with each of these 5 individuals, for Purpose sessions once a week for 6 weeks initially, and is now continuing to work with the new Associate Director on an open-ended mentoring basis to help this person with challenges around confidence in their own abilities.
In the past, when the company had promoted people into leadership roles, their own billing tended to decline after 3-4 months. Steve’s remit was therefore to mentor each of the new leaders so they gain the confidence to set clear boundaries, being present and supportive for their teams while also staying organised and efficient to maintain their own billing. The key to this has been to identify what each person’s unique blockers are, helping them to understand their obligations as leaders and giving them the tools to work through different situations in a clear, focused way.
One individual in particular (“Jack”) has struggled with the change of status from being “one of the team” to being in charge. Jack used to be very sociable, but his initial instinct following the promotion was to become ultra-serious, no longer engaging in banter 0r light-hearted behaviour in the office, and no longer attending after-work drinks. His mental wellbeing was suffering as a result and he quickly began to resent the promotion. In Jack’s Purpose Mentoring sessions with Steve, they have been working together to uncover the reasons for Jack’s extreme change in behaviour, helping him to still be the Leader whilst not shutting off completely from the fun side of recruitment (which is an important part of the company’s culture).
Purpose sessions don’t have to be rolled out across the entire organisation. They can be used strategically, with particular effectiveness in new leaders or people who are being earmarked for future promotion. This wouldn’t be ‘leadership training’, but an additional supplement to your existing training which may not cover the huge personal impact that becoming a leader can have on an individual.