‘We spend so much time in the mindset of preparing for an interview that we forget to spend time preparing for the leadership role that comes with a promotion,’ says Canberra’s Dr Kim Vella. Photo: Supplied.
The last thing Kim Vella wants to see is someone roll through the door asking for help with a job interview they’ve got lined up next week.
The highly experienced Canberra-based leadership coach believes that approach can be a recipe for disaster and one she doesn’t recommend – particularly when it comes to applying for a promotion.
That’s because she knows a promotion in the public service is about so much more than what you’re going say (or even wear – cue eye roll) during the interview.
“We spend so much time in the mindset of preparing for the interview that we forget to spend time preparing for the leadership that comes with a promotion,” she says.
Getting your ducks lined up for the interview is one thing, Kim says, but if you don’t take the time to prepare for the promotion itself, you may find yourself floundering in that new position you were so keen to secure.
It’s why Kim ideally likes to start working with people anywhere up to two years before they even start thinking about a promotion in the Australian Public Service (APS).
While that’s not always practical, she uses this perhaps surprising timeframe as an example of the type of reflection and in-depth thinking required to ensure that coveted step up doesn’t end in a spiral downwards.
She says sometimes that might even mean the best way to prepare for a promotion is to realise you’re just not quite ready for it.
In other words, there are no quick fixes in Kim’s coaching camp.
As a former senior executive in the public service with a PhD in Sociology (on top of a long list of credentials), she has more than 30 years’ experience in helping “to support and shape competent leaders for an increasingly complex and uncertain world”.
She knows that working towards a promotion or any type of leadership position actually involves doing a lot of work on yourself.
Work such as asking, analysing and answering honestly questions such as: ‘Where are you feeling stretched, what do you avoid or what is missing in you right now that will prevent you being successful at the next level?’
“What parts of your current job for example are you ignoring or not leaning into,” Kim says.
“Given (a promotion) will involve more complexity and an increase in expectations to perform, decide and lead, how are you going to navigate and respond to that in real-world time?”
During her intensive leadership workshops, Kim and her team guide clients through individual and group coaching sessions designed to bring those issues to the surface and work through how you “assess, act and adapt” to increase practical skills and responses.
She cites the example of working with a client who was leading major regulatory reforms in the SES and under intense pressure to come up with answers quickly.
“She was under the pump, stakeholders had her under the microscope and there was political risk,” Kim says.
“Uncertainty was raising its head minute to minute and it was hard to pause and reflect. It was a situation where lives were on the line.
“Not wanting to get left behind she pushed on and pushed her team, who grew tired and started to complain. Every time she pushed she just added to the pressure and discomfort … to the point where she questioned whether they even knew what they needed to do.”
After working with Kim, the client came to understand she had made the whole process harder – and slower –- by not stopping to create a space for all possibilities and for all the competing perspectives to come out.
In working through those processes, this leader went from “firefighting to facilitating”, Kim says.
“And guess what? When she did that, things didn’t slow down, but outcomes got better.”
Since launching Kim Vella Coaching 10 years ago, Kim’s focus has been on providing pathways that foster insightful leaders who can help their people and organisations be the same.
It’s not about getting the promotion – it’s about what qualities you bring to the table when you get there.
“Are you the person who can cut through what’s happening in times of crisis and uncertainty, whose organisation won’t face damage to its reputation, whose staff don’t want to leave because the burden becomes too much …?” Kim says.
“It’s about the consequences for you, your team, your organisation and the wider community.”
To find out more about the upcoming Winter Leadership Strategies Series go to Kim Vella Coaching.
