J.Ferm's Blog

The Challenge:
Sara started the conversation by saying “I was just fired, but I don’t know why. I was meeting the numbers, getting the job done, and people were impressed with my results.” After a few coaching sessions, Sara began addressing the brutal facts that brought her career to a halt. She was a top performer [...]

The Challenge:
Phil, a senior partner at a mid-size law firm approached J.Ferm with a performance challenge. He felt that his employees were not meeting his expectations and he was concerned because he couldn’t see a successor among his team.
J.Ferm’s initial task was to conduct a thorough “root cause” analysis of Phil’s team and organization. J.Ferm [...]

The Challenge:
Anne was overwhelmed. On her desk were piles of documents she needed to review, a to-do list with no end in sight, and an important meeting with her Board of Directors for which she had not yet prepared.
Anne often felt like she was one step behind and recently received feedback from the chairman of [...]

The Challenge:
Jack, a senior leader at a major consulting firm, was struggling to get his work done. A few months ago he had been promoted from individual contributor to team leader and was now responsible for 10 direct reports. He was excited to have a team to work with, but instead of closing deals and [...]

The Challenge:
Stuck on a plane, with no access to his BlackBerry or computer, Ernie had a few rare moments of uninterrupted time to reflect on his recent accomplishments. As the new CEO of a major corporation, he had produced significant financial results, built an effective team, and positioned the corporation as a leader in its [...]

The Challenge:
George reflected on the successful law firm he helped to build. Under his leadership the firm had grown to include four offices, 150 employees, and an opportunity to add another 30 attorneys this year. Finding people was easy. The real challenge for George was retaining top performers and managing the evolving corporate culture. When [...]

The Challenge:
Grace, a senior consultant in a highly specialized consulting firm, struggled with the thought that she didn’t quite fit in. Her performance record was outstanding and she was considered an expert in her field, but she often felt like the “odd woman out.” The way she naturally thought about challenges and solving problems seemed [...]

The Challenge:
Joel, an HR Director of a medium-sized organization had a bad experience with a 360 degree assessment process and was reluctant to re-introduce assessments to his organization. The initial 360 process created confusion among participants and was poorly administered and delivered by the vendor. When approached by his new boss to interview a potential [...]

The Challenge:
As the Managing Partner of a fast growing professional services firm, Carol wanted to take her firm from “good to great.” The annual retreat was coming up and this year she knew she needed external help to confront the firm’s most pressing matters. Specifically, the firm had experienced significant recent growth in revenue and [...]

The Challenge:
Rob had known for a long time that he needed to make some tough decisions about his staff. He kept postponing the changes hoping it would get better with time. After an eye-opening call from his most important client, Ron learned that “hope” isn’t an action plan.
Rob was stunned by what he heard. Julia, [...]