Cici approached me seeking counsel about her business relationship with a senior investor and advisor that had become strained and guarded. Her business was suffering from repetitive and unconstructive conversations; it was clear that they had lost the ability to hear one another. She felt frustrated and stifled, unsure about how to bring forward her perspectives while still respecting his inputs and helping him feel valued. Her worry and sense of loneliness on the issue left her feeling pessimistic and discouraged.

We had weekly coaching sessions for an intensive 3 month period, where we addressed some important topics. These included acknowledging power dynamics and their influence in the relationship, her own ‘story’ of what was happening and how it was limiting her, reclaiming unrecognized gifts she had that would assist in transforming their negative dynamics, and acquiring practical conversation tools she could use to divert talks away from accusation and blame towards deeper listening and collaboration.

Through this work, Cici was able to repair the relationship by incrementally restoring trust and goodwill. By improving their connection in meetings, they were able to leverage each other’s good ideas and create more interesting solutions to help grow her business. Beyond that, they rediscovered what they truly appreciated in one another and affirmed the reason why they had come together in the first place. At the conclusion of our time working together, she excitedly gave me the news that her investor had decided to double his investment into the company, explicitly affirming how much he trusted her and felt commitment to their work together.