Accelerate Your Search™ Now

Do you believe you are special?  Talented?  Different?  Unique?  Better than someone else?

Last week, I shared how one experience created many limitations for me over the years in both my career and in business.  I allowed the past to limit my future.

For a long time, I did not stop to think, design and intentionally review the opportunities presented to me.  And, unfortunately, I did not realize it or know why.  Years later, I have come to understand my behavior and spot it in a second!  Now, I do my best to pause in lieu of reacting immediately.

Here is the story that created my limiting beliefs:

It was my first solo sailing trip after purchasing my sailboat.  I had learned how to sail, purchased the boat and went out alone on a great summer day.  Unfortunately, I opened my sails too fast and very quickly the wind caught the main sail.  The wind shifted the boat and dumped me in the water.  I am a good swimmer and almost fearless in the water.  Yet, on that day, the wind was strong and the water cold.  I felt the sting to my confidence of being ill prepared for a brief minute.

This sting momentarily rattled my confidence and tested my knowledge.  A voice in my head said, “You don’t know enough to do this alone.”  That voice was scary and loud.

A moment later, I climbed back aboard the boat and I immediately knew I could correct for the error I made — so I did.  I tried again and enjoyed sailing for another couple of hours.  I was happy, had fun and went home to share the events of the day.

As I shared my adventure with others, they added their voices of concern to the little voice in my head that kept repeating, “You don’t know enough to do this alone.”  Over time the voice in my head, and the voices of others, grew to sound like a bold, robust choir!  I started to believe that perhaps the others knew better than I did.  What if they were right?  What if I did take too many risks?

In the moment that I lifted my head out of the water that day and the cold wind stung my face I began to write the ending to a story that would evolve and limit my opportunities for many years.  My story that resulted in quick “NO’s” kept telling me, “Don’t be too fearless.  Don’t be too courageous.  Don’t risk too much.”

Now when that choir shows up like a cold wind, instead of saying “NO” immediately, I use it to offer encouragement to myself to pause and assess each opportunity.  When that sailing experience flashes through my mind, I see it as an opportunity to design, craft and set an intention for each opportunity before me.  Rather than being a limitation, as it initially was, it is now helpful.

What story do you tell yourself that limits your opportunities?

What story or stories do you need to review?

If you are a courageous, do-it-yourself person, much like me, you may be putting off seeking help and support.  I can tell you I did not learn to turn off the choir and write new endings without help.

Just like learning to sail, building a career or a business are adventures that are much more fun and profitable when they are not solo adventures.  I sought out mentors, coaches and many others to help me.  Who is helping you rewrite your “stories?”  Who is helping you build and transform your career?

If you are ready for a career, business, or life experience that will transform your work and create an amazing new career filled with fun and many opportunities, let’s talk.

Building your know, like and trust factor (aka KLT) is a critical component in a successful career.  Whether you have stepped into a new position, or soon will do so, know that it requires sustained engagement with influencers and advocates in your industry to be known, liked and trusted.

Yes, knowledge and experience are first steps, yet to be trusted as an expert your must also be known and develop clout, both in your organization and your industry.  To build trust, you must also market your expertise and your results.

Begin to build your visibility by assisting others and by being a strong brand ambassador for yourself and your organization.  Grow your external visibility by volunteering and staying connected to channels of trade that support your industry.  This allows you to stay engaged with key influencers inside and outside your industry and organization.

Share your knowledge and passion in relevant ways.  Write for a newsletter or mentor others.  Talk regularly to your boss and other key influencers.  Understand who the thought leaders are in your field and follow and engage them — making sure you have a strong online presence.

Here are three actions not to overlook:

1. Actively manager your online profiles, keeping them accurate and up-to-date.
2. Build your own thought leadership.  Write articles or a blog.  Curate and share content about your field/industry.  Become known as a subject matter expert.
3. Engage and stay engaged.  Relationships do count — both in person and online.  Read, comment and share information.  Introduce like-minded people.  Connect with thought leaders at meetings, conferences, and online.  Make phone calls. Write notes and send them by ‘snail mail’.

Read the reports and articles of others in your organization and industry.  Learn what is important to them.  Note what they are reading and watching.  Listen twice as much as you talk.  Social media has made connecting and sharing information with individuals in your industry so much easier than in years past.

Creating KLT is an ongoing process.  It requires that you build and maintain expertise; build and maintain relationships and share what you know.  Doing so provides proof of your influence and shows hiring managers that you are liked and trusted by people in your organization and industry.

Strategic tips for managing your career – if you are – or seek to be – a paddler…

In the US last week, we celebrated July 4^th the birthday of our wonderful country.  Our nation was founded on ideals, passions, strengths, and vision.

The US has grown and changed since it was founded and it continues to grow and change.  Yet as a nation we have a unique value and purpose in the world.  Our citizens live, fight, and have died to define the unique value of the US.  The nation’s Founding Fathers drafted a living document to define and communicate the value the young nation would offer the world.

2. Define who you are and the unique value you bring to the marketplace.

Have you done this for yourself?  Do you have a clear idea of who you are and the value you bring to the marketplace?

Identify your strengths, your interests, and your passions. The use of assessments can assist you in this step. Typically, these factors drive your career accomplishments and motivate you. Coaching can help you discover and better express your message, and your attributes to others in a manner that enhances your value in the marketplace.

Action Tip:

Label three pages Strengths, Interests, and Passions. Write until you fill each page with your strengths, your interests, and your passions.  Then ask yourself the questions below and write down your answers.

How do I currently use my strengths?

What interests are really important to me and why?

What do I have so much passion and drive about and why is this important to me?

How do I incorporate my strengths, my interests, and my passions into my career right now?

How do I want to incorporate my strengths, my interests, and my passions into my career in the future?

Do you have a question about your search? Look to the right and sign up for next Q & A session, join the session and ask your question.

Strategic tips for managing your career  – if you are – or seek to be – a paddler …

1. Don’t turn your career over to anyone else to run.

Your career may be your most significant asset.  Be cautious about allowing others to control and manage your assets. You can manage your own career and you can find others to help you.  We have all experienced coaching at some point. The coaching process can help you discover any number of blind spots you may have.

Who is managing your career?  You may be managing your career or you may be allowing others to manage your career to their advantage.  Bosses or human resources departments usually work in the company’s best interest. Sharing appropriate information with them about you may help advance your career and help you get where you want to go.  For these coaches to help you do need to know where you are going, your purpose and how you can help them with their goals along the way.

Having your own coach, someone who works for you can help you if you are still in the process of discovering your purpose, your vision, your goals, and how to communicate those to others.  You can also discover these things on your own over time or find others to help you with the process, just be sure those who help you put your interest before theirs.

I often refer to those who live their purpose and manage their careers as paddlers.  PADDLERS take charge of their direction, path, and speed. Paddlers are going somewhere – with a purpose.

Paddlers have a distinct mindset and make life happen.  They take time to understand what they want, why that is important to them.  Paddlers know a fulfilling life is not stagnate.  Paddlers know that they do control how they react and handle the life they have been given.

Paddlers have a purpose. They don’t look to others to define why they do something, their value, direction or career.  They assess where they are, what they want and then they form an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, skills, of the currents, conditions, and environment.

Action Tip:

Write down what you want from your career, your next position, and in your life.  Ask yourself the tough questions below and jot down your answers.

What is my purpose?

Why do I work?

Why do I do what I do as a career?

Do you have a question about your search?  Look to the right and sign up for next Q & A session, join the session and ask your question.

First if you got the interview you can bet someone saw value in you, your skills and your experience.  Often being told “no” encourages people to try harder or push on doing the same things.  Most people believe coming in second means they just need to try harder to be first.

In job searching that may or may not be the case.  Far too often I see people who don’t really fit in a job or an industry, yet they fail into it, got hired again and again into a similar position so they just keep pushing in that direction.   For some it is time to stop, to assess, plan and execute something new.

Joe (not his real name) had eight jobs in eleven years in the same position and industry.  After his last termination, 120 weeks of unemployment and nine interviews he decided to explore help for interviewing skills.  He assumed his interviewing skills were his problem and the reason he was not getting hired.

When we discussed why and how his past jobs ended his answer was the work ended, then he collected unemployment until he was hired in the same position again.  I ask if I could call his references and check with this last two employers and he agreed. 

 The discovery from his references and his employers was different than his point of view for each of his last positions.  All of his professional references painted a different picture than Joe did of his work and his work style.  His references spoke well of his skills, yet painted a different picture of his work style. 

One reference shared that often when he was called as a reference he asked if he enjoyed working with Joe he said no.  One reference disclosed that after working with Joe at two different businesses he would answer the call with an example about Joe’s work style and how is affected him and let the new possible employer draw whatever conclusion they would from the example.

The reference valued Joe and his skills, yet Joe had a few blind spots about his work style and this caused issues, problems and a diconnect in cultural fit within the industry.  After gathering the information and sharing it with Joe, he said that his references had told him all of the information I shared before and one had offered to help him change to another unit were the work culture was a better fit.  However Joe had declined the transfer or the assistance to adapt his behavior. 

Joe had choices to make.  He could change is occupation, or change his style or change the positions he was seeking to find a work culture where his work style fit the culture and the needs of the business.  Joe decided to seek other positions using his skills and where the work style and culture of the organization was more suited to his work style. 

He was hired after 3 interviews and returned to work within 2 months of his decision to seek work that was a better fit for his style. Recently I got a message from Joe, he has been on the job a year, enjoys it, got his 2^nd pay increase, things are well.  Additionally, he noted thanks for helping him see the impact of his blind spots and assisting him to find the first job he ever liked and the only job where he had worked for a over a year.

What are your blind spots?  Do you have the confidence to take a hard look at your search and see what might be holding you back in your career?  

Are you pushing in a direction that will not help you accelerate your search or accelerate the success you want.  You may need to dust yourself off, stop pushing and head in a new or different direction. 

Do you have a question about your search?  Look to the right and sign up for next Q & A session, join the session and ask your question.