overextended 60+ hour weeks to a first vacation in years
“It's not just about me.”
Deb McMurray, Associate Director Contracts and Finance, Biogen
ready to make your team happier?
situation
Even leaders who are doing the best they can with the resources they have can be more productive while cutting back on the time they spend working.
Deb McMurray, Associate Director at Biogen, was heading a team where most people were working 60+ hours per week. Deb herself was working seven days a week and had left two previous jobs because of stress.
Her VP, Jen, knew that the team could not be successful being this overextended. So she brought Marcey in to work with their team of 20, as well as investing in 6-month private coaching packages for the Director and two Associate Directors, including Deb.
opportunity
At first, Deb was skeptical about coaching. Given her situation, Deb thought she was as healthy and productive as possible. She assumed it would always be stressful because her work is cyclical, and she blamed her company for failing to staff appropriately during the busy times.
Working with a coach seemed like a punishment to Deb, “during our first session, I doubt I uncrossed my arms.” However, Deb quickly began to notice a difference. At first, she followed the coaching recommendations simply because they seemed easy enough. But then she began to look forward to her sessions to see what would be recommended for any challenges that came up during the week.
” Working with Marcey didn’t just affect me. It made me a better manager, yes. But it also made my team happier. There were many things Marcey taught me that we rolled out to our whole team. One person was struggling. Now I work with her each week to come up with her Top 3 Task list. I find myself paying Marcey’s great ideas forward. It’s not just about me.”
result
Deb continues to follow Marcey’s recommendations. Because of Marcey, Deb has gone from spending nearly every waking hour on work to walking out the door of her office by 6:30pm and from working seven days a week to not logging into her work email on the weekends or outside of work. Also, after years of never taking a vacation, she spent a week at the Cape this summer. With her mind and environment decluttered, she gets the work done during reasonable work hours and accomplishes more than she did before.
” I don’t come to work with a stomachache anymore. I come in ready to work on Monday, feeling recharged. “
In the office, whenever a challenge arises, said Deb, we will often turn to each other and ask, “what would Marcey say about this?” All of this is a testament to Marcey, and the longstanding legacy of her unique approach.
sound inspiring?
This can be you and your team! Take the first step to reach out and find out how RaderCo can help.