Run Toward the Roar in 2010 Case Studies

For case studies of clients I helped run toward the roar in 2010, please read the success stories below.

Case Studies
I worked with each person to describe his/her vision of how things could be in the ideal world for them and then, how the fear was keeping them from this ideal.

Client #1, Ruben:

Fear: Ruben had a fear of confronting poor performance in his staff. “What if it de-motivates them? What if they don’t want to work here anymore?

Solution: He had a vision of employees who not only did their job without being prodded, but a staff that was also proactive and had a sense of ownership. He had a fear that if he shared his feedback with them, they would feel offended. We worked to better understand if this fear was based in reality and if he wanted the type of staff who would give him an attitude if he gave them feedback. “That’s not right. I work hard to create a stable and happy workplace for them and I should have the right to expect a certain level of performance,” he said after several meetings. He then proceeded to follow up with each of them to review what each was doing well and what each should work on. He also started holding regular meetings and sharing his vision with the team. His employees now tell me that they feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves and they actually like getting feedback because it feels like someone cares about their work.

Client #2, Jenna:

Fear: Jenna wants to start her own business. “What if I fail? People are telling me that it is the worst economy to do this. I’m scared.”

Solution: She actually envisioned having her own business but feared taking the first step. “Even though I’ve been doing this kind of work for years and know I can help clients, I just feel it is scary to take the leap to do it on my own.” Her vision was to have a staff helping her meet her client’s financial goals. She could even picture their bios on her website and the successes they’d bring for their clients. She also envisioned holding  weekly conference calls with the new staff. Her fear was that she was listening to a few people who did not see her being a success in this economy, versus the many friends and colleagues who were wondering why she had not gone on her own yet. Through a process that helped her see if her fears were real or not, she decided to listen to her intuition and do what she always wanted, rather than being safe and agreeing with the naysayers. She made the jump and is now running a successful business, networking, experiencing some of the pains of starting a new business and all of the joys that come from taking the leap of faith. She said she finds it easier to run toward the roar because she did it for such a big area of her life and succeeded.

Client #3, Dr. Robert:

Fear: Robert, a physician, wants to motivate his team. “I want to have a talk with the nurses I work with to engage them to serve our patients better, but what if they don’t take me seriously? What if they think what I’m saying sounds silly?”

Solution: He described the service that the nurses gave as tepid, disengaged and untimely. He described his vision as a team of nurses who were happy and received positive feedback from patients. I worked with him to realize that the best way to understand what motivates someone is to ask them. He diligently met with most of the staff and while attending their meetings, found out that indeed, first, there was a motivation issue and second, he and the other physicians were unwittingly contributing to it. The open dialogue he created helped him understand what things were keeping the nurses from giving their best and what he could do to either change those things or make them more bearable. Dr. Robert is now seen as one of the favorite doctors and an advocate for the nurses. He tells me that running toward his unknown fear was the best thing that he did and that it has helped him have a completely different perspective on employee behavior and motivation.

If you have a story you would like to share on how you were able to identify your fear and run toward the roar or would like to brainstorm on where to start, please email me at sherry@strategymeetsperformance.com.  Best of luck in 2011!