Winning in a World Without Jobs
The paradigm of work is continuing to change dramatically before our very eyes. The prospect of ongoing economic instability is challenging our strategies and beliefs about security. At the same time, technology is challenging us to keep pace with new ways of connecting, building relationships and marketing our skills and talents. How will you survive and thrive in the world that is at once unraveling and expanding? It is clear that in the years ahead, you will need:
- A new mindset
- A new career toolkit
- A greatly expanded network
- An effective support system
- A personal commitment to learning and growth
- A greater mastery of Internet and communication skills
- The ability to take risks and be decisive in spite of uncertainty
The Old Mindset of Career Success
It is fairly obvious to most people that "job security" is a thing of the past. Yet, many people still cling to this idea and hope it will persist for them. What are the new rules for creating a secure and comfortable lifestyle for yourself and your family? What are the new rules for creating a financially rewarding and fulfilling career and lifestyle? Lets start by identifying the old mindset for career success.
- You seek one job and one paycheck.
- You commute to a nearby location to work.
- You have relatively fixed work hours and vacation time.
- Your company cares about you and your future. Career advancement consists of working your way up to higher and better paid positions within the company.
- Your education is completed when you have your masters or doctorate degree.
- If you do a good job and you are loyal, you are rewarded with job security, salary increases and promotions with greater authority, prestige and respect.
- As you advance in your company, you become more desirable to other companies and command greater respect in your community.
The New Mindset of Career Success
You are open to multiple work relationships and several income streams from a variety of sources which evolve and change over time.
You may travel to work on occasion or you may work at home using technology to communicate to clients, customers or business associates.
Your work hours may vary (sometimes greatly) as the demands on your time and talents fluctuate; you manage your time more independently.
You create a secure and successful future by taking total responsibility for your success and fulfillment and by giving up the expectation that a company or job will give it to you.
Your education continues throughout your life both formally (with advanced degrees) and informally through courses, workshops, training and personal development experiences.
You acknowledge that you live in a time of accelerating change (sometimes discontinuous) and you are willing to adapt and grow personally and professionally. This includes an ability to live with uncertainty and build a base of emotional security along with an effective support system to cope with the challenges and stresses in your life.
You become able to operate like a knowledgeable business person rather than a conventional employee or job seeker. This includes the confidence from knowing your value in the marketplace and from being able to present yourself effectively.
Career Advancement means increasing your self-sufficiency, marketability and capacity to adapt to rapidly changing conditions and technologies.
Acquiring Your New Career Toolkit
The most important thing to remember is that progressing in your career today is an ongoing process rather than a task of reaching a pinnacle of success and then reaping the harvest of your efforts. Similarly, being engaged in the process of learning and growth both personally and professionally is essential in order for you to stay current with rapidly accelerating change.
The old career tool kit consisted of little more than your college diploma, a well written resume and some basic interview skills. If you were well educated and persisted for a while, you were able to get a job and perhaps keep it for ten or twenty years. Today, the rapidly changing circumstances in every industry demands much more of you. Your expanded toolkit needs to include:
Financial planning (both immediate and long term)
Clarity on your short and long term career goals and a clear strategy for reaching them
Extensive market awareness and skill in selling yourself in sometimes highly competitive circumstances
Greater confidence in yourself and your abilities
An ability to communicate successfully in an ever expanding and varied set of circumstances and within multiple mediums (written, electronic, etc.)
Skills with diverse and sophisticated software and the ability to use it creatively in a variety of environments and projects
The emotional strength and stability to endure and thrive in times of uncertainty, high stress and ever increasing demands on your physical, financial, and emotional resources
The ability to expand your skills both within your field and in general in order to remain current with trends and market conditions
Establishing Your Personal Coaching and Support System
When considering the above challenges, it becomes clearer than ever that you will need an effective personal support system. Your support system is the emotional and practical glue that holds things together as you move forward on your path. Many people (especially the type A driven personalities) neglect this area. They believe they should be able to do everything themselves and... that acknowledging any feelings of difficulty or overwhelm are a sign of weakness.
We call this the lone ranger syndrome. Can you relate? This is not only foolish but quite dangerous. We have seen that attempting to engineer a career transition by yourself is the worst form of personal sabotage possible. As an alternative, I recommend that you seriously consider coaching as an option.
Expanding Your Network and Building Relationships
More than any other single factor, it is the development of relationships with key people in your targeted field or industry that will explode your opportunities and success. This is where internet tools such as social networks really shine. If used effectively, they will allow you to get the critical information you need AND simultaneously connect you to key people easier and faster than any medium ever known in history. The key is having a proper mindset and the specific know-how to reach your target.
Conventional avenues of networking or meeting people, e.g., a friend of a friend or attending networking events are useful but they have the drawback of being slow and inefficient. More significantly, making connections with people you don't know can sometimes be difficult. People may brush you off unless you hve been introduced or have some concrete reason for communicating with them. Perhaps you have been reluctant to network for these reasons.
What if... you had a way of communicating with well connected, influential people? This is possible with a powerful tool we teach our clients called the email introduction. By crafting your communication carefully and effectively, you will get attention and get responses. You will be able to open communication channels and... once opened, they can lead to tremendous opportunities of all kinds such as job opportunities, business referrals, strategic alliances and joint ventures.
The huge growth and success of social media websites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are proof of this concept. If you have fears of networking or reaching out and making new connections, be assured that you can overcome them. You DO NOT have to remain limited to job websites with formal job openings. Lets look more closely at how social media tools can allow you to accomplish this objective to reach your targeted industry.
Harnessing Social Network Tools
Do you think email is ordinary and boring? The truth is that email is much more powerful than you may realize. Ask yourself this question: What is the most important difference between a phone conversation today and writing a letter in 1950?
The main difference is that a letter is composed carefully so that it conveys a complete and specific impact on the recipient. The reader usually reads the entire letter before responding, right? We could say that with a letter, the communication is a complete gestalt. In contrast, an interactive phone conversation only gives each person brief snippets of information and, minutes later, whatever was shared has probably been forgotten.
Now consider that email is much closer in its potential impact to the 1950 letter than the phone conversation. It can be composed with forethought and experienced in its entirety. People get the full impact of what you are saying before they respond. The key difference, of course, is that e-mail is delivered in seconds or minutes rather than days or weeks. Therefore, an e-mail "conversation" permits rapid exchange of information but with the added qualities of openness, directness and increased authentic expression at the same time. When we send email every day focused on the mundane matters, we tend to forget this potential power.
Maximizing The Real Value of the Internet with Social Networks
If you are reading this article, you are aware of the enormous power of the internet. However, are you using it to the fullest extent possible in your career transition? Most job seekers and career changers see the value of the internet as a resource for posting your resume, finding job listings or connecting with recruiters. However, this is NOT the most valuable aspect of the web.
A far greater value lies in the opportunity for creating new contacts and alliances. Social Networks like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are offering extraordinary opportunities to meet key individuals in your field of expertise, get plugged into the best opportunities or create business alliances. To get a better idea of the extraordinary power of social networks, watch this short movie.
Regardless whether you are involved in some business venture or in the corporate world, social networking websites are an invaluable resource for building connections and learning from others' experiences and.. getting new clients or customers. However, without knowing about them or how to utilize them skillfully, you can potentially miss out on this potential. At Breakthrough Coaching, you will learn how to tap into the Power of Social Networks.
Winning in a World Without Jobs
If you truly get what I'm saying here, you will likely come to one inevitable conclusion:
You're always working for yourself!
All employment is really self employment and... as the world and marketplace evolves in the direction in which it is going, the best opportunities will go to those people with an entrepreneurial attitude, with an independent passion, confidence, and clarity as well as the ability to express their truth and share their greatest gifts and talents.
Does this describe you? Are you in this group? Do you want to be a part of it? In practical terms this means that companies are now hiring problem solvers rather job seekers. They want people who can achieve results rather than just perform tasks. Why? As economic factors challenge the bottom line, companies can no longer afford to keep people who fill up space.
In the not too distant future, there will be no JOBS as we presently conceive of them. There will simply be organizations and professionals forming profitable, win-win alliances. The masses who remain in the old paradigm will become "wage slaves". Where do you fit in? The time is NOW to make this transition to the new paradigm. At Breakthrough Coaching, one of our mottos is: life is a game. Play to win, and have fun doing it!
Getting Started
Your first most important action step is our no cost career assessment session. To schedule, click here to send us an email with a brief summary of your circumstances and some times you are available to chat. We're looking forward to adding your success story to our website! Take action today!