The Joining

Swetha, has joined a multi national pharma firm as an executive lead for a new launch of a key project .

Barely a month into the project she realised the project was more complex than the scope defined it ,and in addition to the complexities ,there was a sudden change of leadership from the other side of the world,bringing in new changes to the project scope and long term vision.

The constant changes were exhausting and pushed everyone in the project including Swetha to a brink . The communication began to fail and deadlines missed ,both in India and overseas the team camaraderie was going through a chaotic phase.

The Wrong Move

Swetha ,has joined this organization with lot of hopes pinned on this project which was part of her career progression strategy, however with the way it was shaping up, she became more and more enmeshed into conflict zones she find very difficult to avoid and deal with , to justify she at times would take steps that further added fuel to the fire and everything seems to be in a mess.

Swetha was frustrated and annoyed and soon started looking for a job, but luck would have it, the roles and compensation were not at par with what she had achieved both at a professional and compensation level.

She felt as if she had hit a dead-end. This experience made her misuse some of her authority to keep things in control as she realised that while the external market was not holding anything, she somehow had to stay put and, to do so, ended up with some wrong moves, jeopardising her current position.

Journey of Self

On our first coaching Zoom call ,Swetha cried for good ten minutes before she could pick her self up ,find a composure and explain what was her issue in detail.

I gave her space and deeply appreciated her courage to share her vulnerable side with me,sharing my example when I broke down before my coach.

And my only question to her that day was ;

“What do you want in this situation, Swetha? What are your goals?

I gave her seven days to reflect and sit with her difficult experience, and then she replied,

I want to do meaningful work that I thought this project would offer; while the work went for a toss, several other complexities made things murkier, and I now find myself in a conflicted situation, which neither resonates with my long-term plan nor offers me any respite from it. Before anything else, I want clarity on what the next immediate thing I could do is to correct my perception of the team and then for the project that could put me back on track with the pace at which this project is moving.

As a Coach, I offered Swetha a new perspective, awareness of her blind spots and an effective strategy to establish her long term career goals based on her value system ( what mattered to her the most) .

As on today, after a successful two years of the project,Swetha today has moved up the ladder in a more higher role with the same organization which once she was about to quit in a month of joining.

---

© Mehnaz Amjad 2017-2025

Mehnaz Amjad | Coach
Hyderabad, India