Coaching for Emerging Managers and Leaders

It is extremely frustrating for businesses when young professionals are unable to reach the levels of performance and success they are capable of, despite the time, energy and resources spent on recruiting, training, developing and retaining them.

The problem is that many of these young professionals are hampered by behaviours and characteristics that get in the way of their success. Because of factors like the history and ongoing challenges of our country, as well as the well-documented challenges of working in inter-generational teams, many emerging managers and leaders from all walks of life feel out of their depth in a professional environment – and so do the people who are responsible for managing them.

My programme of facilitation and coaching helps both managers and their staff to understand the challenges and characteristics that accompany young people who have grown up in unpredictable and inconsistent environments, and in a world that is markedly different to the ones their managers grew up in.

As an expert in this field who understands the particular and specific challenges faced by this group, I can help both young professionals and their managers to better understand how to:

Build their resilience at work and elsewhere;
Develop and enhance emotional and workplace intelligence;
Manage their time and workload efficiently and effectively;
Communicate and manage conflict effectively;
Develop and maintain healthy professional boundaries; and
Work in inter-generational teams.

I have developed a range of practical tools and approaches that empower managers and leaders to recognise, understand and change patterns of thought and behaviour that are not serving them or the organisation they belong to. Through a combination of facilitation and individual and team or group coaching, I take emerging managers and leaders through a process that helps them to be calm, rational, empowered and effective at work – and outside it. A similar process for their managers ensures there is shared understanding of what support is required, and commitment to both provide and receive it.

Working with ‘adult children’

The basis of my work centres around coaching ‘adult children’, defined as any grown-up who had a childhood that was inconsistent or unpredictable in some way or for some time. Most people who grow up in South Africa, have at least some of the characteristics of adult children.

These characteristics are a direct consequence of micro and macro environments that they grew up in and often give rise to a range of habits and behaviours (largely unconscious) that can be career limiting or slowing, including struggling to ask for help, difficulty with follow-through, a constant need for approval and affirmation, a tendency towards black and white thinking and lying when it is just as easy to tell the truth (i.e., pretend to be coping even when they aren’t).

To make matters worse, these characteristics – individually or in combination – make adult children prone to developing burnout, which also limits their progress.

However, there are many positive aspects to adult children as employees: they are generally resilient, resourceful, reliable, hard-working, good at problem solving, take initiative, dependable, good in a crisis, caring, and concerned about others. With the right guidance, they can reach their potential and become the professionals that they are meant to be.

This coaching programme improves and enhances organisational effectiveness by focusing on young professionals and ensuring that they stay there long enough to grow, succeed and reach their potential – and help the organisation to do the same.

For more information or to set up a consultation to discuss how to bring this programme to your workplace, please contact me.

About Judy Klipin

I am an adult child and have worked with, researched and written about adult children for 15 years in my capacity as a coach and facilitator. I have written two books: Recover from Your Childhood; Life Lessons for the Adult Child (originally published as Life Lessons For The Adult Child By Penguin In 2010) and Recover From Burnout; Life Lessons to Regain your Purpose and Passion, both published by Bookstorm.

I have worked with hundreds of people and scores of teams to help them to understand how their individual and collective adult child traits have been holding them back from the life they wish they had – and equipped them with tools and skills to create that life.

I can help your organisation to help its emerging managers and leaders to find and enjoy the success they deserve through any combination of the following offerings: