I guess it's a bit of an occupational hazard of mine that requires me to attend so many conferences, seminars, and workshops run by those "who are here to help".
Whilst I do meet some interesting and successful people, I also meet people who are really struggling to find their way through the confusion of transitioning their career. On one such occasion, I was hiding in the corner, full of flu (The male form of a cold) when I got talking to a guy who had been made redundant from a project management position two years earlier and had decided to set up as a business growth coach!
How long have you been doing this?, I asked. ....Two years came the polite reply.
How many customers do you have? (This is always my second question!) .......None currently.
How many have you had in the two years?..........Well its been a bit quiet!
How many is that then? (No time for small talk!)....... Well none really! But I have a very detailed business plan that I have been working on since I started.
Now I wish this was an unusual story, but it is not. I meet literally hundreds of people who have exited either the Public or
Corporate world, and who think calling themselves a coach will deliver income for the future, it doesn't!
Now I am not saying that you cannot make money coaching, many do, but its a crowded market with only the very best making a survivable living (Thats £250,000+ per year in my book), and they work incredibly hard for a very long time to build a coaching practice of that size!
So, in my experience, people often use the term coach because they don't really know what they want to do for the second, or even third part of their career. They haven't discovered the work they love, or the life passion they want to follow.
Entering Transition
The day you leave your job is the beginning of your transition journey, and for many senior executives I meet, it often means
crawling under a duvet for six months feeling sorry for them selves and "catching up" on sleep. This is a natural reaction,
particularly when your exit has been traumatic, although for many people, six months under a duvet is a luxury they can ill afford. But for everyone, it is a missed opportunity.
You see, this is the time to walk the crooked path, a time for experimenting, a time of trying new things for size. Many of us
discover the work we love by accident, so experimenting, getting feedback, and experiencing new approaches can help us. Now for many people this is a lengthy process and often it is two years down the road before they have gained real clarity as to what is important to them, but it doesn't have to take that long.
Ask yourself
- What is my purpose in Life?
- What is the working environment I need that will enable me to do the work I love?
- When other people describe me, what do they say I am good at?
- What are the things I hate most about working?
- What do I need to develop to improve my performance?
Now at this stage it can get a little heavy, as this is the part where I take my personal clients on a very deep journey of self
discovery, or put more simply, what REALLY matters in life?
But remember, its not the answers to these question that matter at first, just that you start thinking about them, because this focus will enable you to gain clarity on what matters.
Now here I should point out that for many people, finding the work they love, is having the income and flexibility to allow them time, space, and financial security, to go and fulfill what they consider to be their life's purpose. In other words, its not the day to day work activities, but the lifestyle choice that is important.
Part of this process is certainly an internalized one, but part must also be identifying external sources to inform and populate
your decision making process, this includes Networking, which I will talk a little more about next week.
Ah yes......... the man with a detailed plan,
My point here is that your career transition is not about planning, its about experiencing and experimenting, the planning
bit comes later when you are designing your leveraged business model, a subject for another time.
Why not start the process now?
I would like to give you a heads up about a small workshop I am planning to run shortly, that not only will reveal to you the 4 1/2 Big secrets to to successfully transitioning your career and finding the work you love, but will also help you explore further
how to manage your career transition in a fraction of the time it takes most people.
To find out more go to http://www.james-kneller.com/1-day-workshop/
I'd love to see you there!
Take care
James
No comments:
Post a Comment