Tip 5: Get Support Through Your Transition

This is the final article in our series following our recent Career Change webinar in which Karen and I shared tips to overcome the 5 key mistakes people make when faced with redundancy or career change.

The fifth mistake that we discussed was “the mistake that leaves you feeling undervalued”.  Because you are going through so many conflicting thoughts and feelings, you may well hide these from the people around you.  To reveal yourself to colleagues or employers may be seen as a sign of weakness, and have unintended consequences.  Even if you do share your thoughts with those close to you, your partner or close friends, they will not be able to truly empathise with what you are going through.  One very senior executive who registered for our Career Transition webinar asked if his wife could participate too, “so she can understand what I’m dealing with right now”.

The remedy for this is to build a support system around you so that you can respond positively to the changes ahead. When you have someone who will hold your vision for you and believe in you, it redoubles your strength to take the necessary steps, knowing that you are not alone, and knowing that you have people to turn to who will support you at every stage.

This is exactly why we designed our programme called “From Crisis To Clarity in 50 Days” – so that Karen and I can provide you with that support mechanism, reinforced by the peer support of other people who are going through the same programme with you. We will keep you focused on your long-term vision, and on the short-terms steps that will get you there in the most effective way.

To find out more, and to sign-up for the “From Crisis To Clarity in 50 Days” programme, just visit www.crisistoclarity.com

We look forward to working with you.

Tip 4: Have a Clear Sense of Self

Once again, this article is designed to share with you another of the tips for overcoming the  5 key mistakes people make when faced with redundancy or career change.

The fourth mistake is “the mistake that prevents you reaching your full potential”. It is common when facing a career crisis to find yourself wondering if “there must be more to life than this”.  You may be without a job, having been made redundant, or you may be in a job which is not fulfilling you. Either way, the consequence is that you start to lose sight of your own strengths, and of the attributes that have made you successful so far. You also risk falling into the trap of complacency, particularly if you are a senior person or a leader – you may be trapped in the safety of being the “expert”.

This is dangerous territory, because it stops you from seeking out opportunities to grow and develop, and stops you from achieving your full potential.  To remedy this mistake, what you really need is to have a clear sense of self as you are now, not who you have been, or who you would like to be.

We have a great exercise which we do with our VIP coaching clients, and which we’d like to share with you:

1. Contact at least 10 people from all areas of your life – colleagues (peers, subordinates and superiors), friends, family, people from your community and simply ask them “what is it that you value about me?”.
2. Be open to whatever comes back.   Some answers will be refreshing, self-affirming, illuminating and encouraging; and some may be inconvenient truths that you just have to act on!
3. Take time to reflect on the responses and what they tell you about who you are, and how people see you. Use this to nourish your sense of self, and to keep you focused on what will fulfil your true potential.

We will be posting more tips to help you through your career transition over the coming weeks.  For intensive coaching support around this exercise, and many more which will help to ensure you avoid this mistake and the others in this series, join our “From Crisis to Clarity” Bootcamp.

Tip 3: A Systematic Process Makes For Successful Transition

During our recent Career Change webinar Karen and I enjoyed sharing tips to overcome the 5 key mistakes people make when faced with redundancy or career change. We have now turned these 5 tips into a series of blog post to share with you here.

The third mistake we explored was “the mistake that keeps you on the treadmill, and stops you making the career change you really want”.  A significant career change is an infrequent event for most people, and so you don’t have the experience to do it effectively.  You feel as though you are treading a brand-new path without guidance or support as to what steps to take and in which order.  You may also feel quite alone if you are unable to confide in colleagues or friends.

To overcome this mistake you need a system and a process to follow through to successful transition. Ideally, this should be a process which is already tested and proven to work, and will enable you to learn from the experience of others who have been through it before you.   By having a clear process, you will be able to apply your energy in the most effective way, focused on your successful transition, doing everything that you need to do, and nothing you don’t.

To help you through your transition and provide you intensive coaching support to ensure you avoid this mistake and the others in this series, we’ve developed the “From Crisis to Clarity” Bootcamp to ensure your career transition is a successful one.

Look here for more tips to help you through your career transition over the coming weeks.

Tip 2: Know your true priorities

During our recent Career Change webinar, dozens of people really responded to the second of the 5 mistakes that we discussed.  These are the 5 key mistakes people make when faced with redundancy or career change. We have now turned these 5 tips into a series of blog post to share with you. Here’s the second one.

This is the mistake that leads many people to make the wrong career choice when faced with career crisis.  Whether you’ve been made redundant, are unemployed, or are considering a career change, the mistake people make is to put their financial situation first when choosing what to do next.  This is natural – we all need to pay the mortgage, buy groceries and pay the heating bills.  However, putting money too high up the priorities list means that you might make the wrong choice, or make a choice too quickly just so that you can rest easy about having an income coming in, whereas in fact  you will find that whatever caused you to be in career crisis in the first place hasn’t actually been addressed.

To overcome this mistake, here is an exercise which can really help you to explore all the different values and priorities which are unique and personal to you, and which will help you to make the right choice:

1. Take a blank sheet of paper, and ask yourself “What is important to me at home?” Write down the answer.
2. Then ask yourself “What is important to me at work?” Write down the answer.
3. Then ask yourself “What is important to me for myself?” Write down the answer.
4. Then ask yourself “What is important to me within my community?”  Write down the answer.
5. For each of the answers that you have written down, ask yourself “… and what is important to me about that?”. Write down the answer.
6. Repeat this with your new set of answers, and continue until you can’t go any further, or until you start to get repeated answers.
7. Put the paper aside for 24 hours, then come back to it with fresh eyes and look at the list of things that are your real priorities. Make sure that you are meeting these true needs in anything that you choose to undertake.

We will be posting more tips to help you through your career transition over the coming weeks.  For intensive coaching support to ensure you avoid this mistake and the others in this series, find out more about our “From Crisis to Clarity” Bootcamp to ensure your career transition is a successful one.

Tip 1: Know What You Want

During our recent Career Change webinar Madeleine and I enjoyed sharing tips to overcome the 5 key mistakes people make when faced with redundancy or career change. We have now turned these 5 tips into a series of blog post to share with you here.

The first mistake we explored was “the mistake that means you are sending out the wrong signals”. When facing change you may find yourself thinking negative thoughts: “what if I don’t find another job?”, “what if I am unable to do my new role well?”, “what if my new team don’t respect me, after all what do I know?” and so on…  These thoughts start to define who you are, you lose confidence and start to seriously doubt yourself.  This negative self talk can become quite debilitating and affect your whole physiology, behaviour and language.  You may start to transmit signals of desperation, uncertainty, lack of confidence… and ultimately your thoughts become self fulfilling.

To overcome this mistake you need a clear picture of your preferred future.  By creating a clear picture of what you want, rather than what you don’t want, you have a vision to guide you through the process of transition, something positive to focus on and keep you on your preferred path through the good times and more tough days.

We will be posting more tips to help you through your career transition over the coming weeks.  For intensive coaching support to ensure you avoid this mistake and the others in this series, find out more about our “From Crisis to Clarity” Bootcamp to ensure your career transition is a successful one.