Case study. The following case study will help participants analyze obstacles to a person’s ability to reach a goal. Joe Smith has been a lawyer at a big city law firm for six years. He is a high performer, and has been told that he will be up for partner at the firm within the next 12 months. Sue Smith has worked for five years as a financial analyst at neighboring town manufacturing company, receiving excellent performance reviews. She is well-thought of by her peers, and has willingly taken on some sticky special projects in the past two years. Joe and Sue have two children, a boy in fifth grade at the local elementary school, and an eighth grade daughter at Magnet Junior High School in Big City. Sue has the major responsibility for the children’s transportation, extracurricular activities, and medical appointments. When the accounting manager recently announced he was leaving the company to live a green life in Colorado, Sue was encouraged by the chief financial officer to submit a job bid for the manager’s position. Excited about the opportunity, Sue shared the news that evening with Joe. He said to her, “How do you know you can perform that job with your experience? Who will look after the kids while you’re stuck at work late into the evening solving last-minute accounting problems? Don’t I make enough money to support this family without you having to be away from home, the kids, and me even more?” Sue knows that Joe is the breadwinner, and she is reluctant to assert herself. Help Sue out by writing some assertive statements that she can make to Joe in support of her goal of gaining a promotion to manager.
