Focus on Career Development

Challenge

Jason, a brilliant software architect at a very large software company, had been preparing for a promotion to the next level of management. He would be leading a team of 75 people. When he was passed over for the job, he stewed over the rejection for several months and put his résumé together.

Action

Having been selected for the company’s high-potential leadership group, Jason attended a 5 Dynamics Fundamentals program. While there, he had a crucial self-discovery: although he had rather high Energy in Excite (toward people) his entrepreneurial drive through the project completion cycle was much stronger. The 5 Dynamics report and the facilitator described his combination of Energies as “entrepreneurial.”

Results

Jason approached the 5 Dynamics facilitator during a break and told him, “I just called my boss and thanked him for not giving me that job. I realized I am really happy doing what I do in my own little skunkworks: I develop ideas in Explore and can jump right to action in Execute. People and administrivia slow me down. I actually have a dream job doing what I am doing.”

His highest Energies, Execute and Explore, told a simple story that lifted months of disappointment and bitterness. He now sees how he best fits into the project completion cycle at his company and how he can best leverage his talents.

Jason remains with the company and is going strong in his current job. In his online profile, the company refers to him as “Chief Architect and Visionary” in a major product area.