Biggest Challenges for a Senior Manager Organizational Development at Global Entertainment Company
Elizabeth's greatest challenge as a Senior Manager of Organizational Development is navigating the inherent instability of consulting work; the need to "flex your own needs...to meet the needs of your client," while simultaneously managing emotional attachment to teams and the required detachment at project completion creates a dynamic and personally challenging aspect of the role. This constant flux between "really liking these people" and needing to "say goodbye" presents a unique professional hurdle requiring adaptability and emotional intelligence.
Project Management, Teamwork, Communication, Adaptability, Interpersonal Skills
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
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Traits
Elizabeth DeVeny
Sr Manager, Org. Development
Global Entertainment Company
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
Hult Intl Business School, Master's International Business
Communications
Arts, Entertainment & Media
Human Resources (HR)
Worked 20+ Hours in School, LGBTQ
Video Highlights
1. Adaptability and Flexibility: Elizabeth highlights the need to adjust her working style to fit the needs of different teams, even if it means operating outside of her comfort zone. This emphasizes the importance of adaptability in consulting roles and organizational development.
2. Emotional Intelligence and Interpersonal Skills: The challenge of building rapport with teams, knowing when to step back from a project, and managing her own emotional attachment to teams demonstrates the crucial role of emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills in her work.
3. Ambiguity and Change Management: Elizabeth notes the inherent ambiguity and lack of stability in her consulting work. This speaks to the importance of comfort with uncertainty, proactive problem-solving, and effective change management skills for success in similar roles.
Transcript
What is your biggest challenge in your current role?
My biggest challenge, I think it's probably its personality. I love getting to work with people. I love getting to infuse myself in teams. That's a big part of what I do: drop in, help a team out, and then you have to walk away right at the end of a project.
There's always the chance that when you first walk in, you just don't mesh with the team that you're trying to help out. You really have to have the ability to flex your own needs, personality, and style of working in order to meet the needs of your client, not vice versa. You can't expect them to flex to you.
This means that sometimes you end up in projects where you're having to operate in ways that just aren't naturally your style or comfort level, which is really challenging. On the other hand, sometimes you get really attached to teams that you mesh well with. You really like them, and you want to stick around.
It's also my job to close out projects and say, "I think we've made a lot of headway here, and you guys just need to go do your jobs and operate. Check in with me later so that I can free up my time to go do other things."
I just think it's that personality thing where you're like, "Ugh, I really like these people. I want to stick around here." And it's like, "Nope, it's my job to say goodbye." Or, "This isn't comfortable for me. This isn't the way that I want to work, but I need to do it for the duration of this project."
That lack of stability in how I work, the amount of ambiguity that you have to work within, I think is a pretty challenging part of any type of consulting work. But it can also be really great for your own growth. It's really exciting to kind of keep you guessing what you're going to do every day and how you're going to do it.