Archive for the ‘Navigational Compass’ Category

When I wrote my career story for the first time, I began thinking about the first time I thought about “work” which was probably as an adolescent. My dad worked for Piedmont Airlines/US Airways, and I loved to go and visit him at the hanger. Everything was so big and there were the most wonderful smells of machinery. But that was “men’s work.” When I played with my friends, I either wanted to be the President, a secretary, waitress, princess, quarterback, or a cowgirl.

I also recall a time when my mom told me that I didn’t have to work during the summer break because I was going to have to work the rest of my life, so I didn’t need to push it. Boy! That was a rude awakening. I got a sick feeling in my stomach. Work! That’s didn’t sound like much fun! What about being a princess? I was almost positive Prince Charles got mixed up & selected the wrong Diane (ok, I know it’s Diana).

In the Tell Your Story lesson, you have an opportunity to tell your life story and discover patterns and themes in your career based on various influences and choices you’ve made. In the book, Callings, Gregg Lavoy writes, “The past shapes us, but by following the deep calling to heal ourselves and throw off old curses, we may be able to reshape our response to that past and perhaps even the way we remember it. Sometimes we’re called to move backward so that we can move forward with a greater sense of ourselves, and with greater confidence.”

What parts of your life story are helping you create a new career story – one that works for you perfectly? (You may even find a calling!)

I love thinking about career strategies, but that wasn’t always the case. I made some poor choices early in my career. I remember the day my manager told me that he would love to promote me but his hands were tied because I didn’t have a bachelor’s degree. I was so angry. It seemed so unfair; I had gotten excellent performance reviews for 6 years in a row. I thought about what I really wanted for my career and decided I could complain about it or do something about it, so the next week I enrolled in night school to get my bachelor’s degree. I worked really hard. I had a full-time job during the day, school at night, homework on the weekends, and going through infertility treatments. My husband must be a saint!

After I got my degree I moved into a better position at a new company, or so I thought. At first I loved my work, but after a few years I began to get restless. I wondered what was wrong with me. When I told my boss I wanted to do something different, she said, “Why can’t you just stay where you are?” If you read the Career Concepts article in this lesson, you’ll see that I favor the spiral career concept, so there’s nothing wrong with me.

I couldn’t just quit my job due to financial obligations and had no idea what I even wanted to do, so I hired a coach (the lovely Karen Tax) to help me figure it out. We created a strategy so I would have enough money in the bank to take off a year from work and begin a coaching program. I also found a great part-time job. Interestingly enough, that year was my husband’s highest salary ever due to the bonuses he received (this was post 9/11).

Now I’m completing a master’s program in May, have my own business, and am partnering with Karen in this venture of IAM Learning initiatives.  What I’ve learned is that in our world today, it isn’t likely that we can plan out our whole careers in this linear, static fashion. However, it is essential to be strategic about our careers. If I had not been strategic about my career, I would be have likely been laid off as the company I work for is now in bankruptcy, and my career choices would have been very limited.

In the Sight Your Destination lesson, we asked you to think about what you really, really want for your life and career. As you think about strategies you have employed in your life and career, which ones have worked best for you?

It’s hard to believe that in a little over 4 weeks I’ll be graduating from my Master’s program. The time has flown, and yet I am ready to move on. I love learning (it’s my number 2 strength), but I am tired of writing papers and studying. I’m ready for a break!

Something I have had to get very good at is being strategic and tactical throughout grad school. One of the wonderful components of our program is that I get design my course of study. One the other side, I have had little to no help from the university. To be strategic, I had determine what I wanted the program to do for me personally and professionally which means I have to pick 2 concentrations that will be used to support my Master’s project (created by me). To be tactical I had to set goals for when I wanted to complete the program, my grades, and my course requirements. I also had to be very organized with scheduling so that all my work was completed on time and met the requirements.

Getting my master’s degree was a part of an overall strategy for my career. It has been frustrating at times, but I have always been motivated to stay focused because it’s what I want for myself and my career.

In this lesson, we mention that most failures in action are due to poorly thought-out strategy. How do you use strategy to drive your actions and increase your chances of success?

As we’ve experienced the recession of 2008 – 2009 I keep reading about people who are looking at their jobs as security to get them through tough times. Sometimes I want to jump up and down and throw a bit of a fit when I read stuff like this.

I understand though. I’m feeling grateful that my husband has a nice safe job at the university here in Chapel Hill. At the same time, we’re not looking at his job as secure. Instead, we’re looking at what work we both can engage in that will sustain our interest, will challenge us to learn and grow, and that will prepare us for the changing demands of the world.

I feel like jumping up and down about job security because I know for sure that there is no such thing. But what’s the alternative?

In the IAM Next Steps lesson, we introduce the idea of the sustainable career path – not looking at a job or other external resources as the source of your security but instead two things that we think are much more powerful:

1. Knowing and trusting yourself to be the creator of your experience.
2. Being on a solid path of learning and growing so you evolve with the times.

Simple. Easy. Yes! And no.  The challenge is to shift our focus from what’s ‘out there’ which is seductive, and dramatic to what’s ‘inside’. We can’t possibly be prepared for every possible scary event. We can be resilient, adaptable, kick-butt creators of our work and life … a little bit more and more everyday.

So how about it? What would it take for your career to be sustainable? To be secure from within, inspired (rather than terrified) by what you see happening around you?