Steph

Manager @ Consulting

Meet Steph, a Manager at a big consulting firm. When we started working together, Steph had reached a new level of burnout in her 10-year long consulting career. She assumed it was the intense workload, and wanted to find a path that felt more sustainable. 

In our very first session, we discovered that while the long-hours were burning Steph out, there was a more fundamental issue. The core strategy consulting skills - ideation, drawing conclusions and making recommendations (in consulting speak: “blue sky” or “blank sheet” thinking) - she had spent nearly a decade honing, were not her natural strengths. 

Instead, Steph was phenomenal at building relationships, making people feel connected and seen and building off of others’ ideas. Steph felt liberated. Instead of being disappointed that she wasn’t good at conventionally glorified skills or forcing herself to work in a way that drained her, Steph could create a career around her superpowers. 

I helped Steph create a purpose statement for her career: “I build bridges with and between people's hearts, heads, and bellies.” We clarified her priorities – balance + wellness, financial security, international mobility – to give her direction on the next steps for her career. 

Steph used this direction to move from a high-burn client project to an internal project to give herself balance, wellness and time to carve out her next steps. Steph is planning to stay at the firm, which offers her a lot of flexibility, financial security and upward mobility, and is exploring roles in facilitation to put her superpowers and life purpose into practice. 

In Steph’s words:

“There’s incredible calm and freedom that comes from understanding what truly gives you energy. Rather than trying to be good at everything and to live up to everyone else's expectations (which can provide a nice but ultimately not sustainable boost), I’m now able to discern what does/doesn’t drain me and know how to redirect my career. I am beyond grateful for Cydnee's approach, which helped me get the clarity and direction I was seeking!”