I'm Muriel Wilkins and this is Coaching Real Leaders part of the HBR Podcast Network.

I'm a longtime executive coach who works with highly successful leaders who've hit a bump in the road.

My job is to help them get over that

bump by clarifying their goals and figuring out a way to reach them, so that hopefully they

can lead with a little more ease. I typically work with clients over the course of several months,

but on this show, we have a one-time coaching meeting focusing on a specific leadership challenge

they're facing.

Today's guest is someone we'll call Jada to protect her confidentiality.

She's experienced positive career momentum in the past, frequently getting promotions

and advancing through the ranks. I really learned out of that that I

love people. My soft skills seemed to be something that gets me into places and rooms. I was promoted

pretty often and quickly in the beginning of those stages and got to learn even more about what I was

good at, what I wasn't good at, what I liked, what I didn't like. While she was proud of her

achievements, Jada also recognized that there were things about the industry she started her career in

that she didn't like as much, that weren't really aligned with her values. And so she transitioned to the tech sector,

where she could focus on strategy and big picture planning,

among other things.

But making that switch also came with some downsides.

I knew that changing industries would potentially involve moving backwards to move forward. So that has happened and I was

okay with that. I was a little disappointed that the growth that I saw previously in my old industry

hasn't been happening as quickly as it has been in this one. But generally, I'm loving the work. I find it extremely

challenging. I love a challenge. I'm getting to a place now where it's feeling a little less

...