Just keep learning

As you know from my July post I recently made some changes in my career. It has now been almost six months and those changes have moved from uncomfortable to invigorating. Yes I still have moments of doubt but I would be worried if I didn't. The moments of doubt mean I am still being challenged, still stretching.

For me the criteria for a great job is learning. Once I stop learning I stop wanting to do the work. I think it is important to know these key criteria for yourself. For you it may be a comfortable schedule, a dynamic team, friendships in the office or clearly defined tasks that can be satisfyingly checked off each day. Whatever keeps you charged up and gives you a sense of satisfaction as you end your day is what is going to keep you getting up each morning and going to work with a smile on your face.

If you are in a job right now that isn't satisfying you, think about what you feel is missing and start writing those items down. Essentially start writing your ideal job description.

Now, keep in mind there will always be those things in every job that we don't love but that's okay because they just make us more grateful for the other exciting things we get to do.

Lessons from my bus driver

I've started taking the bus home from work everyday and much to my surprise it has become one of the highlights of my day - as long as I catch the 4:24 bus! I know it sounds strange but the bus driver is not your ordinary transit employee. He is an entertainer!

Here is a guy who truly loves his job or at least makes the very best of it.

Everyday he posts a joke or funny fact on the ticket box for your enjoyment when entering the bus. If you ask him how his day is going he will always answer with a joke and he thoroughly encourages interaction between riders.

The 30 minutes I spend on that bus I am thoroughly entertained and by the time I get home the stress of the day is gone.

I think we can all learn something from the driver of the 4:24 bus. Here's what I've learned:

• A good attitude is infectious
• Loving what you do is a choice
• Being friendly to strangers can improve your life
• A good joke goes a long way!

Think about how you approach your day. Do you dread your day at work? Do you make an effort to be positive? Have you chosen to look at the good or the bad in your daily routine? A positive perspective can change your life and the life of those around you! My bus driver's changed mine;-)

The transformative powers of fall

There are two times of year when I feel the strong urge to make plans, set goals and generally get organized. The first is that media imposed New Years Resolution time and the second is about now when the crisp scent of autumn and school supplies fills the air. The first cool day after Labour Day I am filled with the urge to buy a new notebook and pen and to start making lists.

I think this is true of a lot of people, business starts to get busy again once everyone is back from the lazy days of summer. So what are you doing this fall to improve yourself and your life?

It is a perfect time to sign up for a continuing education class, take up yoga or curl up with the latest business book. Whatever it is, get motivated! This was a time of transformation from when you were 4 to 20 something. Why stop the trend?

20 Rules for Career Success

Scrolling through the archives of the Globe and Mail Careers section I found this article about career success. Since I couldn't say it better myself click here to read the article.

My favorites are numbers 8,9, 14, and 19. What are your favorites?

Change is uncomfortable!

I've made some changes recently and had forgotten how uncomfortable they can be. We are creatures of habit. There is a lot of wisdom surrounding change. The title of this post is new wisdom to me that I received from a friend. She was right. Change really is uncomfortable but absolutely necessary as you work towards achieving your goals.

Pushing past our comfort zones and trying new things is ultimately how we evolve but it is important to give yourself time to adapt to your new situation. Change is a process of both beginning and ending. It is important to take time to grieve what you are leaving behind while you embark on your new opportunity. Although starting a new job can be exciting it can also be very stressful to be in an unfamiliar situation and to have to let go of all the things you liked about the old job.

As I settle into my new life and push past the initial discomfort of transition I am beginning to feel energized by the adventure. The new is starting to feel familiar as it always eventually does.

Authenticity

I was asked the other day about what annoys me the most. To my initial surprise my mind immediately went to "inauthenticity." I was shocked that I didn't automatically say "people who don't signal" or "dirty dishes that don't quite make into the dishwasher." Instead my thoughts went immediately to a core value - in everything I do I want the opportunity to be completely myself and I expect that from others.

From a career stand point I've come to realize that if I don't feel as though I can be myself after spending some time in a job I'm probably in the wrong job. Barbara Moses gives us an excellent definition of authenticity in her book Dish:

Being authentic means not thinking about how you are perceived, talking about what you want, expressing personal views, behaving in a way consistent with values, not changing your behaviour from one situation to another, and having a personal style that is readily communicated.

When people say that you should follow your gut when making career choices, to me that means that you should go in the direction that allows you to be you. That ever prevalent word 'fit' that so many employers use these days speaks directly to the ability to be authentic. You will only 'fit' with an organization that will allow you to be the best version of yourself. That will draw on your greatest talents and allow you to grow.

Having it all & balance too!

I recently read a book about midlife women and their insights on their careers and lives. I intend to write a review of the book on this site but I also want to address individually some of the great insights the book offered. The book is " Dish: Midlife Women Tell the Truth about Work, Relationships and the Rest of Life" by Career Guru Barbara Moses.

The book talks a lot about how we as a society tend to "want it all": the big job, the perfect marriage and family, personal achievements and so on. The women Moses surveyed collectively came up with this insight regarding that desire:

You can have it all, just not at the same time.

Reading that phrase was yet another eureka for me. Life happens in stages and each stage has it own focus. Accepting this and deciding what focus is right for your current stage or whether or not you are in the stage you need to be in, is key in finding that ever elusive BALANCE.

Depending on the stage of life or your career you are in, balance will mean something very different to you. I know quite a few high performing individuals who truly believe their sixty hour work week is balanced. I also know other high performing individuals in very different stages who find it difficult to feel balance in their twenty hour work week.

What stage of your career are you in? What are your current priorities? What do you think the next stage will look like? Answering these questions and truly understanding your place in the process may relieve the pressure to "have it all at the same time."

The Key to Learning

Our society is placing more and more value on life long learning. As an employee you are expected to be constantly updating your skills, abilities and knowledge just to maintain your current role or to be able to move up and on. The interesting thing is that at the same time demands on our time are increasing in the workplace. This is interesting because the key to learning is having the time to reflect. As we charge through life it is impossible for us to learn from our experiences if we don't take the time to reflect and process the information.

When you attend a workshop or a learning opportunity, how do you process the information? Do you summarize the key points and bring them back to your colleagues? Do you take the materials, truly intending to review them again, but really just file them away because you don't have the time to revisit them?

Think about this next time you take the time to learn and remember that you need time after the experience to integrate the learning.

The Secret to Networking

I attended a workshop recently, something I like to do often to recharge my brain, and gained a lot of valuable tools and insight. Some of the most interesting learning though came from the conversations I had in the breaks with my fellow participants.

One key insight came through a conversation about the great networkers we've all met and watched in awe. You know the type, you attend an event with a friend and realize they know almost everyone in the room or you watch another friend have a conversation with a perfect stranger that has the quality of one between life long friends. As I chatted with the workshop leader about these phenomenal people he mentioned this gem, one of his great networking friends said it all came down to four words: Be interested not interesting.

Eureka! There is no better way to say it. I think we can all remember a time when we've walked away from a conversation at an event thinking "What a nice person" and realized you didn't really learn much about them but they learned tons about you. That is what the great networker does, they ask questions, paraphrase and generally make you feel like the most important person in the room. They are interested and that makes the person they are interested in feel great. Not only that but they now have great material to follow-up on with you and continue the relationship. Next time you are out there meeting new people give it at try!

Career vs. Job

Someone said to me recently that they wanted a career not a job. That got me thinking about what exactly the difference is between a career and a job. Some would say that a career is a series of jobs, others would say that a career involves actually having a titled profession.

The dictionary defines career as:

1.	an occupation or profession, esp. one requiring special training, followed as one's lifework.

2.	a person's progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of life, as in some profession or undertaking.

A job is defined as:
1. a piece of work, esp. a specific task done as part of the routine of one's occupation or for an agreed price.

2.	a post of employment; full-time or part-time position.

I know what this person meant was that what they were looking for was something that fulfilled them, that offered something more than just a pay cheque but also came with some status, a title and the opportunities for progression. A noble aspiration of course, but my fear is that we can get lost in the language and the expectations. Sometimes a job turns into a career when we least expect it. After all careers are made up of a number of jobs! Someone who claims to be looking for a career is likely unsure of what they want to do and would benefit from trying on a job or two to see if they fit.

From the definitions above jobs are the building blocks of a career. Overlooking that great job for the labeled career may mean passing up the first block that will ultimately build your career. So many success stories start with flipping burgers or sorting the mail. At face value these starting points are just 'jobs' but when viewed from the other end of a career they end up being catalysts for great careers.

Counting the little things

In an earlier post I mentioned the J.R.R. Tolkein quote "Little by little one goes far." Everyday we are taking small steps toward attaining our goals. Throughout this process it is key that we recognize the inches we move forward and not just the feet or miles. This is a point that Seth Godin made in The Dip as well. Being able to recognize even the small steps forward ensures you are not leaving an opportunity that is beneficial to you. Inches add up to feet and feet add up to miles.

Even if you are not working directly in the field that is your goal, you can focus on the transferable skills you are building in order to reach that goal in the end. Transferable skills are those things you use in any job, be it waiting tables or answering phones or running an accounting department. Skills such as communication, conflict management, organizing, decision making, creative thinking, etc... While you work towards your ideal career keep your mind open and aware to all the little things you do and learn. The number one issue I see with clients is that they sell themselves short and ignore all those things they have done that are not only tangible but transferable.

The Choice is Yours

I've been thinking a lot lately about choices. So many of us go through life letting others make our choices for us. Granted some of the aspects of our careers are in the hands of others but many aspects are based completely on the choices we make. When thinking about you're next career move, or even the place you are currently at, it is important to have a framework for making career choices. Some questions you should ask yourself in building your framework are:

Number one: What do I value in my life and in my job? Is it balance, achievement, monetary wealth, feeling as though I am making a positive contribution, flexibility, autonomy? Knowing the answer to this key question should inform the choices you make. If you value balance over money and are offered a job that pays more but requires you to work 20 hours more a week than you currently do will you be happy in that position?

Number two: How do I define success for myself? Our society has created a clear idea of success. Make lots of money, have a big house and drive a fancy car is the simple vision of success that is presented on TV. This vision of success often does not align with your personal values or reality. Consciously deciding what success looks like for you in the short and the long term will allow you to focus on achieving what is right for you.

Number three: What am I willing to sacrifice for career success? What am I not? These questions align closely with the first two. If you know what you value and what success looks like for you, you can then decide what sacrifices you are willing to make to achieve success. Perhaps balance is important to you but you are willing to sacrifice balance for now while you establish yourself. Or maybe money is paramount to you but you may be willing to take a step back in pay to have the opportunity to earn more longterm. The key is to make these sacrifices and choices consciously and with a plan in mind.

Book Review: The Dip by Seth Godin

The Dip: the little book that teaches you when to quit (and when to stick)
Synopsis: (from Amazon.com)
The old saying is wrong—winners do quit, and quitters do win. Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out exciting and fun. Then it gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low point—really hard, and not much fun at all. And then you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Maybe you’re in a Dip—a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it’s really a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try. According to bestselling author Seth Godin, what really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts. Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt—until they commit to beating the right Dip for the right reasons. In fact, winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can become number one in your niche, you’ll get more than your fair share of profits, glory, and long-term security.
Losers, on the other hand, fall into two basic traps. Either they fail to stick out the Dip—they get to the moment of truth and then give up—or they never even find the right Dip to conquer.
Whether you’re a graphic designer, a sales rep, an athlete, or an aspiring CEO, this fun little book will help you figure out if you’re in a Dip that’s worthy of your time, effort, and talents. If you are, The Dip will inspire you to hang tough. If not, it will help you find the courage to quit—so you can be number one at something else.
Seth Godin doesn’t claim to have all the answers. But he will teach you how to ask the right questions.

Key ideas:

• Quitting is not the same as failing. This point is a great one and is the greatest virtue of this book. Their is no guilt or shame in quitting a job or project that is not a right fit for you and isn't leading to success or important learning. We make choices everyday that create our future. This is a great way of expressing the importance of trusting yourself in making a choice to turn in another direction that is right for you.
• Quitting out of fear or NOT quitting out of fear is not the right way to make a choice. Godin suggests having an 'exit strategy' before beginning. This is an exercise worth doing, even though your personal circumstances change you can always revisit but thinking through to the end allows you to understand what you want to get out of the experience you are embarking on and how to identify when it is no longer working for you.
• "If it scares you it might be a good thing to try" - pg 76
  

Take with a grain of salt:

• Godin really focuses on being the best in the world at whatever you do. I don't find this realistic. I found his style lacking a balance with choosing the lifestyle that is right for you. He doesn't seem to allow for definitions of success outside of the economic marketplace and uses the word 'loser' a little to easily.
  

Overall:
This book at 80 pages is a quick, interesting read that will help you think about your career in a more strategic way. That is always a good thing. Godin truly supports the concept that you are the CEO of You Inc. He asks some excellent questions to help you figure out where you are and where you should go next.

More about you...

As I outlined in my last post, the first step in Career Development is assessing yourself. Self awareness is extremely important for finding the right path for you; building an accurate, effective resume; answering interview questions; setting personal and professional goals; and basically living life to the fullest!

These are the basic questions you should know the answers to:

• Who am I? This questions focuses on your Personality Traits
• What can I do? This questions helps you clearly understand your Skills and Abilities
• What do I like to do? This question helps you figure out not only what you’re good at (because most of us enjoy what we do well). What you are good at and what comes naturally to you is known as a Talent
• What’s important to me? This questions helps you figure out what type of organization you want to work for and understand what your Values are. This is important in finding the right fit.

Here are some more links to great self assessment resources to help you get to know your self better:
http://www.careers.unsw.edu.au/careerEd/planning/knowYourself/knowYourselfSteps.aspx
http://www.rileyguide.com/assess.html

I recommend keeping a file, notebook or journal for all your career exploration information. This will be useful if you are called for an interview or have to revise your resume for a promotion etc…. Having all your goals, past experiences, skills and ideas about your career in an easily referenced place will allow you to be ready for anything. Remember, luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity!!

Getting to know yourself

In order to build a vision of what you want to be when you grow up you first need to know who you are now. To some this may sound like a very new age idea, looking inward, but it is simply a very practical thing to do before setting forth to create the career that will work best for you. Before you bake a cake you always make sure you have the right ingredients. Building a career is no different. You need the right ingredients. The exercise of “getting to know yourself” is called ‘self assessment.’ There are numerous ways to go about this including personality inventories (like the Myers-Briggs indicator); skills inventories; and reflection exercises. I included a link in the useful web sites section of this site called The Testing Room that has resources to get you started.

When completing your self assessment it is extremely important to be totally honest with yourself and to be objective as possible. This can be quite difficult so you may need to solicit the help of others who know you well. Friends, family, co-workers and colleagues can often identify your strengths and weaknesses more readily than you can. We can often be blind to some of own traits. If you choose to ask others for help be sure not to react immediately to their input. Our first instinct may lead us to be defensive. This is not constructive. Ask questions to be sure you understand what they are telling you and then take time to reflect before making a judgment on the input.

The goal of self assessment is to create an inventory of your employability skills, your personal strengths and weakness, your work preferences, your values and work style. With this information you can do a number of things. If you already know what you want to do as a career you can compare your current skills, knowledge and abilities to that which is required of the certain profession you’ve chosen. From this comparison you can identify where you need to improve and fill in gaps to help you reach that goal.

If you are unsure of what you want to do you can compare your skills and preferences to potential careers to help you figure out where you best fit. For instance if you do not enjoy working independently and focusing on detail you may not want a job as a data entry clerk.

Self awareness is a key for career success, in any career. The exercise of self assessment is an on going exercise that you should never view as complete. Most organizations have yearly performance reviews of their employees. This is an ideal time to revisit your self assessment and see how things have improved and changed for you and to apply this new learning to your career plan. The more you know about where you are the better you can plan for where you want to go.

Good things come to those who plan...

Many people believe that planning their career is too daunting a task and can't seem to decide on what path to take. Others have a very clear idea of where they want to be in 5, 10 or 20 years but are not sure how they will achieve that end. Others just want to be employed and can't imagine going through the exercise of setting medium to long term goals because they are completely focused on what they need immediately.

I don't subscribe whole-heartedly to the "do what you love and the money will follow" philosophy - I am too pragmatic for that. What I do believe is that you should "do what you can and plan for what you love." Little by little you will get there. JRR Tolkien wrote "Little by little one goes far." It seems so simple but it is true.

By looking at what you want to be 'when you grow up', what your vision is for your life (or at least the next little while) both personally and professionally, and looking at how little by little you can get there you will be amazed at what is possible, at what you can do!

So many people have the belief that there will be that moment of clarity; that all of a sudden they will know what they want and how they are going to get there. In my experience, that rarely occurs. As a student fresh out of university I felt so inadequate when I realized I didn't know what I wanted to do. Presumably I didn't know who I wanted to be. In reality I just needed to try many things to discover what I liked and what I didn't. I have learned that even those who seemed so focused in school or so sure of what they wanted have had to go through the trial and error of life to figure out what they are truly good at and what they really enjoy. They've changed direction and found new passions or focused the old passion on a new horizon.

I used to think that by setting a goal or creating a vision for my career I was limiting myself. I thought I would be locking myself into that path and if I did not complete it exactly as envisioned I was a failure. That was a hard thing to unlearn. Goals change but by setting that goal at least you get started on a journey. It is inevitable that you will reach a fork in the road or better yet have to create a new path for yourself. Either way you will learn and adjust along the way.

Another misconception I once embraced was that there is only one path to each destination. If you want to be an accountant you must take certain exact steps in an exact amount of time or you will never succeed. Granted there are specific hurdles that one must jump over to become an accountant but those hurdles can appear on a number of different pathways and along the way you may discover that the skills and tasks you enjoy so much about accounting can be used for this other profession down this other path that is far more interesting and exciting to you! Good thing you ventured that way or you never would have found it!

Setting some goals and coming up with a plan of how you will achieve those goals simply allows you to focus and understand the progress you are making. Revisiting the plan lets you see what you have achieved, how you have changed and helps you refocus. The plan is a tool to move you along, not a trap to lock you into a direction.

Now that I have made a case for making a plan and embarking on the path you choose, I would like to give you the tools to do so. Please check back to this site monthly as I outline strategies to help you along the path to achieving your vision, whatever that may be.

Also, please contact me if you are interested in one-on-one consultations. I would love our paths to meet!

Yours truly,

Kathleen