A crisis of confidence: Leader ponders career move after 24 years in one company
Until recently, Ole Martin Myklebust had only ever applied for one job during his 24-year career. As an engineer from Ålesund, Ole Martin began in Arthur Andersen LLP in 1995. He was young, green and eager to prove himself.
That’s exactly what he did for the next 24 years, moving from opportunity to opportunity and advancing in seniority and responsibility along the way, eventually reaching a position as global lead. He was there for the merger with Ernst & Young in 2002, he managed his way through instability in Africa and shipping new equipment to Syria. He figured out how to lead teams, manage complex situations and deal with internal change along the way.
But something happened during that 24th year. Ole Martin watched as the company changed around him and his scope became more and more narrowly focused. He knew it was time for something new; and he knew that he needed help to make that happen.
“I had never applied for anything during my 24-year career. I just went with the flow, almost as if I was cattle being herded into the next bin,” explained Ole Martin. “This past spring, I knew another change was coming and I knew it was time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. So, I decided to take action; and that’s how I met Jon Erik.”
It’s time to sort out the career crisis
Ole Martin started off with just one coaching session. His wife had noticed his frustration and recommended coaching to help him sort through this mid-life career crisis.
“I was both surprised and impressed with how much I got from that one, first session. Jon Erik had been able, during our meeting, to diagnose the actual core problem, not just the symptoms. What he narrowed in on very quickly was my lack of self-confidence,” said Ole Martin.
Ole Martin needed a shift in his focus. He needed to start focusing what he’s good at doing versus what he cannot do. It is essentially a strength-based approach, in which one looks to their strengths and builds on them rather than focusing on what to fix.
“This one session was helpful, and so we added on five more. Moving forward, we spent quite a bit of time on confidence issue, trying to build more self-awareness,” said Ole Martin. “What I really appreciated about Jon Erik and our sessions together was his approach; he was simply not judgmental in any way. He just supported.”
The second interview of Ole Martin’s career
During the time of his coaching sessions, Ole Martin was involved in a recruitment process for a large Norwegian company. He spent some of his coaching time training for interviews, running through questions and practicing cases.
“Jon Erik gave me the tools, he made me aware of my own strengths, and he supported me in preparing for the interview process – my first in 24 years. And with that as my foundation, I got the job where I know I will thrive the most, in Telenor Norway,” said Ole Martin.
The student becomes the coach
Ole Martin has said that he is taking what he learned into his new role, as Head of Compute Operation for the Norwegian unit of Telenor. He even managed to squeeze in another coaching session after he started in this role.
“I had a lot of questions before starting out in my new role,” explained Ole Martin. “I was coming in to manage a highly competent team of talented people who had many years of experience in the company. I received good advice and got the confirmation I need about the direction I wanted to go with them.”
Ole Martin says he is now using coaching techniques in his new job. He had been a manager for at least 20 years, but he never had any formal training. He’d never been through a leadership training or other formal course. He learned by doing, and it was important for him to get confirmation that his instincts as a leader were the correct ones.
“I’m a far better leader now,” said Ole Martin, who is currently ‘thriving’ in Telenor.
