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Have you sought feedback lately?

July 13, 2017CareerGrow StafferCareer change, Career managementactive career management, career advice, career happiness, career skills

Seeking feedback can be immensely helpful. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your current role or change careers entirely, feedback can help you target and develop your emerging strengths. Here are some of our favourite ways to make the job of seeking feedback a little easier.

Start with the right mindset. Embrace the idea that feedback is about growth more than glory. Accept it’s not all about validating what you already love about yourself. Instead, see it as a basis for improving and developing. Adopt a growth mindset and think “What am I doing well AND what could I do better?”.

Ask the right people in the right way. Only ask people who you know will give you honest and constructive comments aimed at helping you develop. Be sure to give them a heads-up first. Let them know in advance that you’d appreciate their insights on what you did well and what you could do even better. They’ll find it much easier to provide useful answers this way than if you simply showed up saying “do you have any feedback for me?”. And remember to thank them afterwards!

Keep it simple. One of the simplest ways to get feedback is to ask yourself or others: What should I STOP doing? What should I KEEP doing? What should I START doing? It’s amazing how much actionable and productive information this exercise can yield. Another great option is to ask for just one thing – for example, “if there was one thing that would make a difference to my performance or prospects, what would it be?”.

Give yourself some feedback. Not all feedback comes from others. In fact, some of our best insights can come from within. Make time to think through your day or week – which moments do you feel proud of and which do you not? How could you do more of the proud-making stuff and what could you do differently next time with the stuff you’re less proud of?

Be proactive. Look at the components of your current role or the one you want next. For each component, how might you improve?  For example, if you think you’d benefit from strengthening your presentation skills, enlist the help of a trusted colleague. Before your next presentation, let them know what parts you’re aiming to improve and that you’d like to get their feedback afterwards.

Top tips to help you ace your next big conversation

July 4, 2017CareerGrow StafferCareer management

Sooner or later, most of us will want or need support from others to pursue our goals or bring about change. Maybe it’s asking your manager for a promotion, or talking to your partner about a career step that could significantly impact your time, finances, or location. Whatever your goal, it’s likely the stakes feel high and you want the conversation to go well. So, how can you maximise your chance of succeeding? Quite easily, in fact. And it all comes down to a little bit of planning and preparation (like oh so many things in life, it seems).

Without further ado, here are our top tips to help you nail your next important conversation.

  1. Prepare for it, just like you would for an important meeting or presentation.
  2. Stand in the shoes of the other. The better you can understand their point of view and perspective, the more you’ll be able to create the opportunity to influence. Ask yourself “what’s in it for them”? How might they benefit from helping or supporting you? Consider what you want them to (a) THINK, (b) FEEL, and (c) DO after speaking to you. Write it down.
  3. Think about your intention for the conversation and the impact you want to have. Write it down.
  4. If you believe nerves might be a factor, take time to prepare yourself mentally, emotionally and physically. Make sure you’ve slept, eaten, and breathed deeply … By all means pick a “good” day but don’t let this be an excuse to put the chat off entirely!
  5. Break it up if you need to. A conversation doesn’t have to have its beginning, middle and end in one sitting. Better to pause and regroup, rather than go too far or off the rails in one sitting.  It’s very reasonable to say “let’s pause this for now, give us both a chance to think a bit more and revisit tomorrow/next week”.
  6. Pick a suitable setting. Sitting in the park might be better than making a phone call while you’re on the bus. Going out for coffee might be better than sitting across a desk.
  7. Listen actively to what the other person is saying. Make sure they feel heard, even if or particularly if you aren’t in agreement with them. Show that you are listening – build on their ideas, repeat back to check understanding, let them finish their sentences, keep eye contact, and be warm if appropriate.

When did you last let some light in?

June 26, 2017CareerGrow StafferCareer change, Career managementactive career management, career advice, career direction, career happiness

A good career strategy necessarily involves letting the light in (figuratively speaking) on what you need and want to be present in your working life. After all, it’s hard to manage what you can’t see. And it’s even harder to take steps towards change if you’re navigating in the dark.

So, how do you let the light in? Well, it’s really about reflection – taking the time to think through how you’d like to manage your career on an ongoing basis. And while there are lots of ways to tackle this, one of the simplest ways to get going is with a few prompting questions.

For example, when did you last stop to consider what kind of organisation you’d like to work in? When did you last reflect on your strengths and how you’re bringing them to bear (or should bring more of them to bear) at home or work? And what about your interests – have they had any air time lately? Or if you’re a creative soul, how are you giving light to your creativity if it’s not part of your current role?

Reflecting on your career needs and wants is a great habit to build. And you probably already have the tools you need. Aside from time, it just needs an open mind, your favourite thinking place, and perhaps a pen and paper to capture any insights or inspiration that strike. (Hey, if it works for Richard Branson, it’s probably worth a try. Reportedly, he’s never without an old-fashioned notebook to help him record his reactions and ideas!).

Lastly, not only is letting the light in useful for career analysis, but it’s also high on the feel-good factor. And who couldn’t do with a bit more of that?

How will a cup of tea help you get a new job?

June 13, 2017CareerGrow StafferCareer management, Networking

The hidden job market is a key part of finding a new role.  So how do you find out about jobs that aren’t being advertised overtly or, let’s say, haven’t even been thought of yet?  Bottom line: It’s through conversations you have with your network over tea. (Yes, we’re controversially swapping coffee for tea. Now that people are down to discussing their favourite beans (OK, guilty too!), tea might save you precious minutes to talk about the important stuff!).

And here are our top tips to help you get over any misgivings and make the most of those networking opportunities.

  1. Start with someone you know well and/or will say yes to a meeting or phone call. Remember that you are most likely asking for information, not necessarily a job.
  2. Prepare your questions and plan how you will present yourself and your situation succinctly. Consider letting them know in advance why you have asked to meet or speak.
  3. A good preparation technique is to ask yourself what you want them to THINK, FEEL and DO as a result of their conversation with you.  What is your intention for the conversation?
  4. Be curious as to what is going on for them by asking questions. Offer to help out if there is any common ground.
  5. Send a note of thanks afterwards!
  6. Build your network before you need it, ideally! But if now is when you need it, it is never too late to start.

If you are looking for more in depth pointers, you might want to check out Networking for People who Hate Networking by Devora Zack (2010),  Network Like an Introvert by Tim Klabunde (2012), or  It’s Who You Know by Janine Garner (2017). And if you haven’t already seen it, Brene Brown’s TEDx Houston talk is well worth a watch too, for its (poignant and funny) insights from her fascinating research on human connection.

Now, who is ready for a cuppa?

That’s the trick – business case first

June 5, 2017CareerGrow StafferCareer change, Career management

If you want to get a different job within your organisation, try approaching it like someone who is selling something to your company.

Think about the new role from a commercial perspective. Start by considering the value proposition to the organisation – in other words, how your new role will help the company make money, reduce expenditure, innovate, or raise engagement and therefore productivity. For example, say you are seeking to take on a leadership role. How would you describe and quantify the business value of that role? It’s also important to consider your network within the company. Who would be most interested in the value proposition you are offering? Who might support your proposal? How might you set up a conversation to engage their support?

Let’s take Mary as a case study. Mary worked in the IT team and wanted to propose a stimulating new job investigating the efficiency of the technology within her company. The role would assess the user experience and whether users spent the right amount of time doing the right things. Drawing on her colleagues Jo (proficient at pulling together business cases) and Pete (who helped her present her figures), Mary created a succinct proposal that laid out the role’s potential remit and cost savings.

If you are thinking about making a change, but ideally would like to stay put, it’s always worth considering what opportunities might exist within your own organisation. What roles are missing or needed but haven’t yet been created? After all, what’s there to lose by finding out what’s possible?

What to do when career fear takes hold

May 29, 2017CareerGrow StafferCareer managementcareer advice, career management

Career fear can take many forms. It can be fear of missing out (what if there’s something better?), fear of taking the wrong next step (what if I’ve made the wrong choice?), or fear of being found out (I feel a fraud, but if I move jobs or organisations for sure I’ll get found out!).

These are all fears grounded in the fear of the unknown. The bad news is there’s never a guaranteed outcome – it simply doesn’t exist. But the good news is you probably have more control than you think.

Certainly the first step is to find out as much as you can about the potential change so that you can make it with a degree of confidence.  Talk to people, explain your dilemma, listen to their views but, remembering that no one can know for sure, take on only what is helpful.  After all you are conducting research, not getting them to make your decision for you!

The next step is to know your Plan B – ask yourself what would be my Plan B if I needed to take it? Assess what’s the worst thing that could happen. Then work out what you would do if it did – in other words, how would you mitigate the impact.  Some people we work with do a full risk analysis taking into consideration the odds, the impact and the mitigators.  There is a view that says once you have done an analytical risk assessment, then follow your gut.

Jeanette Winterson, Author, says “I notice that doing the sensible thing is only a good idea when the decision is quite small.  For life-changing things, you must risk it.”

And finally, an extremely useful question is – what is the likely outcome if you did nothing? Doing nothing might lower risk in the short term, but in the longer term where will it leave you?

It’s time to make time

May 22, 2017CareerGrow StafferCareer management

Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix

It’s time to make time.

If you want to make changes to your career, you’re going to need to spend some time on it. Everyone is super busy, and for most of us free time doesn’t suddenly just land in our laps. So, you’ll need to carve out that time. And, just as importantly, you’ll need to protect and use it wisely.

Where to start? Well, some people look at their week ahead on a Monday morning and book time in with themselves. It might be 20 mins a day before work, during lunchtime, or in the evening. Others might opt for a longer chunk of time, perhaps even on the weekend. Booking time is usually the easy bit. Protecting that time and following through on using it for its intended purpose, that takes some discipline. Not the kind required to climb Mt Everest, but the more accessible kind of discipline that most of us probably already apply in other areas of our lives (especially health and well being).

Often, the key is to mentally prioritise the time you’ve set aside. If you don’t mentally prioritise it, it doesn’t really matter what mechanism you put in place. This is relevant not just for taking a career step but for any change. It’s about paying attention to what’s important, not just what’s urgent. And it’s about knowing what’s important to you rather than being at the mercy of everyone else’s urgent. While no one else is going to do it for you, there are some tools that’ll make things easier. An oldie but a goodie is Stephen Covey’s time management matrix, pictured above. So simple and yet so effective at weeding out time wasters, and – more importantly – helping you focus on more important activities, like career management, that contribute to your purpose, goals and values.

Are you drifting or driving?

December 21, 2016CareerGrow StafferCareer managementactive career management, career advice, career direction, career happiness, career management, career skills, Marshall Goldsmith

Driverless boat

As we hurtle towards the end of the year, we wanted to share with you a Buddhist story that we love and is highly relevant to active career management. The story was posted by Marshall Goldsmith on LinkedIn and it illustrates, rather beautifully, the premise of active career management: take charge and stop yelling at all the empty boats! Click here to read the full story (it’s not too long).

Career-wise, the key takeaway is simple: do you and those you love want to spend the next year yelling at drifting and driverless boats, or is it time to take charge?

Persistence pays off

November 29, 2016CareerGrow StafferCareer managementcareer advice, career direction, career management, career skills

Persistence

Continuing our look at key skills for actively managing your career, let’s talk about persistence. Just like day to day life, career exploration will throw up challenges. Persistence helps us to keep on working through barriers and apparent difficulties. How would you rate yours? 

A client recently recognised their tendency to give in early when they were researching. For one week, they decided to consciously notice when they reached a wall of “I can’t do this” or “I’ve had enough”, and then told themselves to do 5 minutes more.  After doing this for one week, they applied the same thinking to their career exploration – just when they were ready to stop, they did 5 minutes more.  Try it. 

We know the brain grows new neural pathways, so it’s like building a muscle.  It takes less time and money than going to the gym!

Curiosity is key

November 21, 2016CareerGrow StafferCareer management

Active career management skill number 1 ... Curiousity

Actively managing your career – in other words, consciously choosing to take control and create and make the most of opportunities – involves five key skills: curiosity, persistence, flexibility, optimism and risk taking.  Let’s start by looking at the first skill – curiosity.  If you think you might score less than 5 out of 5 for curiosity, then read on.

Never before have we had so much available to us to feed our curiosity, but there is a difference between passively consuming information on Facebook, news feeds and forums, and being purposefully curious.  One of our clients said that their curiosity had dampened over the years as they had become stuck in a rut in their life and job.  On becoming aware of its importance for optimally managing their career, they started putting time aside to purposefully feed their curiosity.  Watching Ted Talks and reading blogs in their areas of interest had a knock on effect where the more they learnt the more they wanted to learn, the more they then wanted to do and an empowering and enriching cycle of being curious, growing and adaptable emerged.

What are you interested in and what time will you put aside to feed and build your curiosity?

In our next blog we’ll look at persistence.

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