Prepare for the worst - take responsibility for your own career
Posted on September 17th, 2008 in Coaching, Personal development, World of Work, redundancy |
I had loads of time to browse bookshops in Canada. I love wandering amongst shelves of books seeing what jumps up at me. I order most of the books that I know I want online - but I almost always come home with a book that I didn’t know existed if I have been in a real bookshop.
Even better ( and this appeals particularly to me as a Scot!) when I find a book in the “bargain” section. I discovered one by Tom Peters called “Talent - develop it, sell it, be it” for a whole $2.99 Canadian - which worked out at a grand £1.75!! It’s a wee book and a quick read but it really caught my imagination.
Not that there is anything new in it - just that the pages are sharp reminders of what we should all be doing in times of economic and job turmoil - as Tom puts it ” Being the CEO of Me Inc”. To do this he suggests that to understand your own personal brand you need to know who you are, why you are here, how you are uniquie, how you can make a difference and who cares ( including you yourself).
One of the coaching programmes I offer is called “What makes me so special?” It is based on 6 questions
- What is important to me
- What am I good at
- What am I passionate about
- What choices do I have
- What will success look like for me
- What do I want to be remembered for
Based on the answers to these questions I encourage clients to think about where they are now, what they are doing and how that might be different ( maybe better - but maybe just different!).
In the book , which was published in 2005 - Tom Peters says that in a fast changing business world we owe it to ourselves to have a plan for our future. It is my strong belief that we should not expect our employers to offer a job for life. Indeed the most successful organisations will be evolving all the time to thrive (and indeed survive). How that relates to how they treat their people is an issue for another time.
Over the past couple of days I have seen the pictures of the shocked employees of Lehman Brothers here in the UK leaving the building with boxes of possessions which possibly feels like the sum total of their experience with the company. This will be a sad/confusing/anxious time for most of them.
In a world of uncertainties why don’t you start thinking about your own “Me Inc” right now?
2 Responses
Jackie, timely and appropriate post. Of the 6 questions the last is the most intrigueing as it may not relate to work or career at all. In fact for most hopefully it won’t. I want to be remembered for helping others and being a good father…enough said…
PS thanks for your comment on the CEO of your own career post!!!
Hi Mark. I agree with you on the last question. This is often the one that my clients find most challenging - because they start out thinking it has to relate to work - but of course it is a “whole life” question. Amongst other things I want to be remembered for being the best Mum I could for my son and daughter, a good and loyal friend ( to my husband too!) and someone who could be relied upon…
thanks for your comment.