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Feature Article: Is your Career on Cruise Control?
"If you coast, the only way you coast is downhill."
Jeff Taylor, founder of Monster.com
Conversations about life
transitions and career change fill many of my leadership and life coaching sessions. When you think about it, it
certainly makes sense that this is the case. As I listen to people's stories, I am reminded that all too often we are
forced by huge discomfort or even a crisis to take a look at the life we are living and the work we are doing. We tend to
view work as a means to an end. It is the way to support our family and sustain our lifestyle. It is what we do
because we must. Our bodies show up at work yet our hearts and minds are elsewhere or worse yet, in neutral. Yet
work is where we spend most of our time and energy. Doesn't it behoove us to pay close attention to that part of
life?
Recently, I have had the good
fortune to work with women and men who are having a courageous conversation about their work and life with energy and
purpose. Their stories vary. A young father in his thirties drawing a substantial salary had three months to find a
job because his company was going out of business. Another found herself stuck in a position with no opportunity for
advancement. Not only that, she felt her talents were not being utilized. She was bored and frustrated, but this
mom with two pre-school age children was the primary breadwinner in her family and she was very concerned about risking
change. A very accomplished woman had carved a niche for herself as the CEO's go-to person for special projects.
Accustomed to collaborating with top management, she was shocked to be let go when a new CEO appeared on the scene. Where
could she possibly go to earn the six-figure salary she was accustomed to and more importantly, how could she present her many
talents to potential employers?
These individuals discovered creative ways to
navigate the waves of change and uncertainty facing them by finding meaning and opportunity in the situation and eventually new
direction in their life. One has re-directed her career changing industries entirely. Two more have received job offers
from companies they never dreamed of working for because they never imagined they "had what it took" to get through the
door. Each has gained perspective about themselves, their unique gifts, their creative potential. There is much to
be learned from their experience.
What made them successful? Each recognized the
opportunity for growth and discovery that would come from focusing on their career. They were ready to view their work not
only as a means of support, but also a way of developing self-expression and identity. Unwilling to settle for "just a
job," each was committed to doing whatever it took to find the right job. They chose to take charge of their own lives rather
than operate on cruise control.
Now that is not to say they each knew exactly what
steps to take to achieve their goals when they decided to hire a coach. In fact, goals were not always totally
clear-especially long-term goals. The situations in which they found themselves had undermined their
confidence. Our coaching plan to move them through transition and into the next chapter of their life required both inner
work and external action.
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Success Strategies for Career Transition
- Look inward
to discover new possibilities for your life ahead.
Conduct a rigorous self-assessment to identify your
- Most important, unchanging attributes such as
work ethic, honesty, creativity
- Personal values and needs
- Track record of accomplishments.
- Be diligent and disciplined-Organize your
search, set daily and weekly goals to keep yourself on track.
- Clarify your marketing message-What is your
"personal brand?"
- Create your marketing tools-resume, cover
letters, elevator speech.
- Build job-search skills.
Practice before you go on interviews and know that practice builds skill and confidence.
- Become an explorer. Place yourself around
people, places and events that will expand your universe of job possibilities.
- Work your Network-Relationships count. A
strong personal network is good for you and good for business.
-
Take good care of yourself during this transition process.
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Leadership Lessons - Entrepreneuring the Future
Your life is a story in progress and you are the hero, the main
actor in that story. Chapters are periods of external achievement and
accomplishment with transition periods in between for reflection,
rearrangement and renewal. If you look back, you can see this pattern.
Themes, events, characters show up and as you move on, you introduce
new ones. The challenge is to find ways to shape your life amidst the flow of change and uncertainty around you.
"Entrepreneuring the future" means taking responsibility for your
life direction as fully as you can within our fast-moving, ever changing
world. To create your preferred future, you must compose and weave
future chapters of your life. If you don't take the time and energy to initiate
your own path, develop your emerging strengths, and make choices
accordingly, you may be forced to pick up the leftovers from others who are doing so.
An excellent guidebook for this process is called Life Launch.
According to the authors, the secret to a successful Life Launch is to be
visionary with the time and space in front of you as you move through
life. Measure your life deliberately and learn from it constantly. Refuse
to be trapped by your age or your past. "The single, most important
ingredient to a successful life is to remain proactive-to concentrate on
options and mapping your way into tomorrow with deliberate decisions,
risk-taking, realism and caution." (Frederic Hudson and Pamela McLean)
"Knowing is not enough, we must apply; willing is not enough, we must do." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
TIPS, TOOLS AND PRACTICES: Do You Have Attitude?
Most people spend more time planning their vacations than
planning their careers, according to Jeff Taylor, founder of Monster.com.
"We dream, worry, agonize, fantasize about our careers, and yet many of
us just let them happen to us." Since we spend at least one third of our
life at work, doesn't it make sense to get the most out of it. If you are
questioning where you are in your work life today and you really want to
make your job and your life more fulfilling, Monster Careers is a terrific
resource.
Monster's F.A.M.E Attitudes
- Think like a Free Agent
- Train like an Athlete
- Prepare Like a Marketer
- Work Like an Entrepreneur
Taylor describes F.A.M.E. as an attitude of lifelong career management.
"If you think like a free agent, you're taking responsibility for your own
career. If you train like an athlete, you're pouring energy into productive
and exciting work. If you prepare like a marketer, you're building an
irresistible personal brand. If you work like an entrepreneur, you will
succeed in unexpected ways. Entrepreneurs follow the credo "the harder you work, the luckier you get."
Here's more:
- Think like a Free Agent.
Every job arrangement is considered temporary.
- Train like an Athlete.
Train for a competition in which there are winners and losers. Remember
when managing your career, you win only if you land in the right job. Part of your training is taking your
best shot at jobs that are right for you.
- Prepare like a Marketer.
Define your "personal brand." Focus on target customers as you prepare
your resume, cover letters, and interview notes. What are their needs and how will hiring you benefit them?
- Work like an Entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs put themselves in the way of opportunity. Entrepreneurs
take action. If something doesn't work, try something else. When conditions change, adapt your
strategy and actions. Entrepreneurs are relentless in pursuing their goals.
In Her Own Words
"I knew I needed to make a career move, but I felt stuck. I'd climbed the ladder to middle
management in a large corporation, but dreaded returning to work after maternity leave with my second
child. The work was uninspiring, not meaningful, and I was just a number in a vast organization. I longed for
something different, a new challenge consistent with my work style, strengths, and values. Mostly, I longed
to be more than a number, but doubted my ability to reinvent myself in another company or industry.
One of my first coaching assignments was to examine and tell my life story. I was resistant to this
exercise because I could not understand how my life story had anything to do with my pending career
decisions. Examining my life's events was not something I had done in any deliberate way, but the process
of examining those events and of telling my story was a powerful one. It helped me to recognize my past
successes, to appreciate the strength and resilience within me, and to remember that I have a solid
foundation on which to build.
Fully examining and appreciating my past anchored me in my quest to find challenging and
meaningful work. Thinking of my career decisions in the context of my life story has allowed me to
understand that my career is a decades-long journey requiring flexibility, steadiness, and resilience rather
than a breathless ascent toward an ever-moving finish line (or to the top of a single organization). I am
proud to report that I have reinvented myself in a new industry and found my place in a company where I am
more than a number." Meredith
"Life is a daring adventure or nothing." Helen Keller
© 2006 Bette George & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Associates, Inc. From Conversations on Leadership and Life
, an e-newsletter by Bette George, website: www.bettegeorge.com email: bette@bettegeorge.com."
Conversations on Leadership and Life is a bi-monthly e-newsletter written by Bette George of Bette George
& Associates. In each issue, Bette offers best practice tips and resources, innovative ideas and inspiration
to help you begin to create the change you want to see in yourself, your workplace, your community.
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