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Susan and Doug Sterling

Let’s take another example of a family that successfully navigated a major
career transition, Susan and Doug Sterling. Susan was a nurse with many
CASE STUD Y two young sons, ages two and four. Susan was acting as an interim chief
years of both clinical and administrative experience. Susan and Doug had

nursing officer (CNO) for a major university hospital when a recruiter
called with the prospects of a job that Susan had long thought about.
Susan was encouraged to apply for the job of chief nursing officer at
one of the premier hospitals in the country. She was excited about the
opportunity, but she understood quickly that taking this job would
involve major changes for the family. The job would be a significant pro-
motion for her. While she was an interim CNO, she was really maintain-
ing the function until her boss was able to return to work after an
illness. Now she would have the chance to advance to the position of
CNO, a position that she had set her sights on for quite some time.
However, her new job was in another metropolitan city, and it meant
the family would have to relocate. Doug was a litigation attorney with a
prestigious law firm, and he had developed a substantial practice over
the years. Doug enjoyed his work, liked the law firm, and had colleagues
he valued. The Sterlings decided that the family would relocate to the
new city, and once the relocation was complete, Doug would get a small
apartment in the city where they were currently living and would com-
mute back and forth. It wasn’t an ideal arrangement, especially with
young children, but this arrangement met both of their career aspirations.
Finding a new house was much more difficult than the couple imag-
ined. They were making this move in winter when very few houses were
on the market. The search for a new house took five months. During
that time, Susan commuted to her new job while her husband and sons
stayed in their current home. Susan had anticipated that the relocation
would be a strain on her, the boys, and her husband. It was particularly
complicated during the period once Susan began her role in the new
city and Doug and the boys were still in their original home. Susan had
arranged for additional support for the children and her husband while
she was commuting to her new job. She had arranged for additional
child-care hours for the boys and extra cleaning help in the house so
that Doug could spend the little time he had caring for the boys. This