Figure Ground Consulting
Transitions / Consulting / Executive Education / Coaching
Transitions
Most people by the age of 45 - 50 will have changed jobs 8-10 times.
Taking up a new role – especially a senior one – is a stressful and
exciting time. Changes of country, sector and level as part of that new
role, add even more complexity – and anxiety. We specialise in
coaching senior leaders through such role transitions using approaches
based on extensive action research with dozens of transitioning
leaders and their teams.
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For leaders who prefer to read, rather than talk about their transition then our acclaimed book, Leadership Transitions: How Business Leaders Take Charge in New Roles, is a practical and readable guide. Click to buy
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We work with leaders facing many kinds of transitions. We bring well-tried methods and approaches, plus a depth of experience and understanding of how to find a way through such challenges.
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Transitions - New roles
...in a new country, company or level – and often all three. We accompany the leader over a 6 month period using a range of tools developed from our research. The leader benefits by avoiding the typical traps of arriving in a new role and by getting both feet under the desk more confidently; the organisation benefits by avoiding the expensive ‘sink or swim’ practices commonly associated with new senior hires.
We offer role transition coaching in a number of formats: one to one, for teams or for groups of transitioning executives, such as after mergers and acquisitions.
Transitions - Career re-direction
...many executives reach a point in their career when they begin to question the path they have followed so far. Brought on by job dissatisfaction, a desire for new challenges that corporate life may not satisfy or, increasingly likely, a stage in life which asks for more than the typical 9 to 5 can offer. In this work we explore the choices made so far and why these were important; how the executive is currently experiencing working life and what is prompting their restlessness. This is a transition which is often a search for meaning and relevance in the world – so we connect personal values with purposeful action.
Transitions - Portfolio careers
…how do energetic, experienced executives deal with the period of their professional lives which comes after their ‘conventional’ career? If playing golf all week doesn’t excite, and a life of gardening seems too dull, how to make the choices and shifts in lifestyle to a portfolio career? In these situations, we explore the legacy and leaving of a career; we help executives understand what is still possible from their unrealised dreams and ambitions; and to identify the new conversations they need to have with those close to them, who are often most implicated in this next phase of their life.