Page 158 - Talane Miedaner - Coach Yourself to a New Career_ 7 Steps to Reinventing Your Professional Life (2010)

146 COACH YOURSELF TO A NEW CAREER

there as head of sales and marketing and a slightly higher salary package.
She hemmed and hawed and wasn’t sure what to do. Then, on one of our
calls she told me about the unbelievable behavior of a senior executive
with whom she worked. He struck one of her employees with a cane.
Thank heavens there was a witness in the room: a secretary had seen it
happen. Catherine didn’t know what to do. Her employee was mortified
(and probably scared to death) and didn’t want her to say anything at all
about the event.
I pointed out to Catherine that as his boss, she had an obligation to
protect him from physical abuse in the workplace and that knowing what
she knew, she had to report this outrageous behavior. She couldn’t cover
it up without becoming liable herself. Taking action required tremendous
courage on her part, and she was certain this incident would derail her
career and possibly get her fired herself. In short, ratting on the big boss
was not something that she was keen on doing. She took the courageous
step of reporting this event to human resources in spite of her employee’s
concerns. An internal investigation ensued, during which other employ-
ees came forth and spoke of similar abuses, and thankfully, the offender
was terminated.
Given the clearly appalling work conditions, it would seem obvi-
ous that she should jump at the new job offer with open arms, but
Catherine still couldn’t decide whether to accept the position at her
former bank. My advice was that she shouldn’t take the new offer until
she was jumping up and down for joy. I said, “If they want you and are
coming to you with an offer, then you are in a great position to ask for
what you really want.” Then I suggested, “Make a list of everything you
want that would get you really excited about taking the job, and make
a huge request.” Catherine knew that in order to really do what she
wanted to do, she’d need a bigger title. With the title comes respect,
power, and influence (not to mention better perks). She made a list of
about ten conditions she would need to have met in order to accept the
offer, including bringing her assistant with her and getting the executive
vice president title, among a host of other terms. She got almost every-
thing she asked for on her list of ten! At that point, she was jumping for
joy and took the job.