Career and Executive Coaching from Hong Kong

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Case Study - Career Transition Using Harrison Assessments 

This case study shows how Harrison Assessments combined with coaching can reveal hidden causes of  behaviour that can have a long term impact on results.  

The Problem

The coaching client, John (not his real name), was considering taking a new job in a new field. He was passionate about environmental businesses and was committed to finding a job this field, despite his lack of technical education or experience. He had been offered a sales role in this industry and was considering taking it just to get his foot in the door. However, he had never done sales before and was concerned that it might be too difficult for him. Since the compensation was largely commission-based, he would have to be successful in order to achieve a reasonable income.  

The Insight

John's Position Comparison Report showed that while he had many of the essential and desired traits for a sales role, he was strongly lacking in diplomacy and was often blunt. At first this result seemed surprising because John was often concerned about how he came across to others and frequently sought advice on how to say things politely.

The Root Cause

Since the Harrison Assessments are based on preferences, we knew that John disliked being diplomatic. On further enquiry into what caused this dislike, John replied that being diplomatic meant hiding the truth and being dishonest. Because he held this belief about diplomacy, he tended to avoid it, and therefore had not accumulated skills in diplomacy. As a result, when he wanted the results of diplomacy (clear communications without insult), he didn't know how to achieve it.

The Solution

Simply by discovering the root cause and the belief behind his difficulty in being diplomatic, John was able to immediately understand how his thinking could and would change as he progressed in his sales role. John was able to work deliberately towards improving his diplomacy while setting aside his negative beliefs about it. John realized that by being diplomatic, he was actually assisting people in hearing and understanding important messages that he wished to convey directly. 

Conclusions

• Our preferences are the result of our beliefs, judgments and assumptions that make up our understanding of the world.
• Our preferences influence our accumulation of skills in specific areas.
• By changing our beliefs, we can alter our preferences and immediately begin accumulating skills without internal contradiction or resistance. 

Angela Spaxman is a Distributor for Harrison Assessments based in Hong Kong.