The Background

 

 

I first met Ms. Laney in July 2004 when she asked that I meet with her based on a recommendation she had received from her life coach. I was immediately impressed by the sheer drive and determination she showed. A very smart Senior Manager, Linda openly spoke of her lack of tolerance, especially when it came to staff issues. A shrewd commercial operator she was, but certainly not a ‘man manager’ and her interpersonal skills lacked finesse.

 

 

 

Through personal development sessions with her personal life coach, she realised that this also had an affect on her family and personal life. An ‘a’ type, driven personality, she decided that she wanted to tackle the problem in a different way whilst also training three of her middle managers that formed part of a long term succession plan. One of these managers was her 29 year old daughter, Vanessa. The national sales manager for the business and managing 3 small sales teams of approximately 6 account managers per team, Vanessa had a successful track record of over target performance, year on year, for the past four years and was destined for a board position within the following eighteen months.