Career Coaching Secrets for Successful Careers
Why are some people promoted to positions that bring
out the best in them, while their peers, who are equally talented,
get left behind in positions that do not allow them to
flourish? Are there secrets to a rewarding and satisfying
career in the corporate world?
According to Gallup research, only twenty percent of
people are working in jobs that provide them the opportunity to
excel in what they do best.
Since we spend so many of our waking hours working,
shouldn’t we try to make that time rewarding
and fulfilling? Unfortunately, many of us feel trapped in
mediocre careers and place the blame on poor company leadership and
lack of opportunities. In these situations, daily work becomes a
grind when we cannot apply our strengths into our work.
Do we then change jobs or move on to another
company? Why change seats on board the Titanic? The key to
career fulfillment and success lies within you. It is up to you to
find out where your passion lies and how you can become successful
no matter where you are.
Earlier in your career life, career choices were
probably easier to make as it was clearer which options were
advantageous. At that point in time, you probably plotted
your ascent up the corporate ladder and went after career enhancing
goals.
However, by the time you reach mid-career, the ladder
has moved quite a bit. With flatter organizational
structuring, it can be challenging to know how to make the right
career moves.
You Are in Charge
No one manages your career but you and you must rely
on yourself as your own guide, even if you are fortunate enough to
have a trusted mentor.
Complicating anyone’s career
landscape is the fact that people change jobs and organizations
more frequently than in the past. Executive turnover is at
an all-time high. According to an international study conducted on
484 corporations by Drake Beam Morin, a management consultancy
firm, 58 percent of large and medium-size companies changed CEOs
between the years 1998 and 2001. The median tenure of CEOs is now
2.75 years, down a year from 1999. Only 12 percent of CEOs have
held their position for 10 years or longer.
There is no safety net. Your individual
career is becoming as complex as the business environment. While
companies are becoming more sophisticated and creative in their
quest to attract and retain talent, issues of incentives,
compensation and opportunities also become increasingly
complex.
Career success is not achieved easily as it requires
investment of time, effort, focus, emotional intelligence and some
personal sacrifices. Those attaining the highest levels of
professional success report being more satisfied with their jobs,
their lifestyle, their compensation, and the balance in their
lives.
Three Core Questions
The factors that form the core of career success lie
in the answers to these three questions:
1. Who are you,
and what are your core values?
2. What is your
core purpose?
3. What are you
trying to do with your life?
Those people who experience high levels of success in
their careers state that there is an alignment in what they do with
who they are. They somehow manage to attain that magic
blend of their purpose in life with what they do in their
jobs.
The power of these questions lies in the power of
purpose. The search for one’s purpose is
important but it is by no means an easy task. Many of us spend our
lifetime searching for our true purpose. We all seek meaning in
life. Everyone wants to leave footprints. Yet finding and clearly
defining what that is can be elusive.
The Power of Purpose & Energy
Many experts believe that we can identify our purpose
by looking within ourselves. Regardless of our spiritual
or philosophical beliefs, most people agree that when we act in
alignment with our strengths, talents and desires, there is a sense
of heightened energy and flow. Therefore, when our purpose is
aligned with our vocation, we become more driven and motivated in
our lives. Work no longer becomes a chore but rather an enjoyment,
reflected through our expressions and behavior.
The key to acting with purpose is to connect the needs
of the world or business to our unique talents in the form of a
vocation – a calling. We apply our
talents and passion to the tasks that we perform. At this juncture,
work becomes a way of actively making a contribution to the world
or society.
Without purpose in our lives, or without knowing what
that is, work lacks direction and joy for us. Many of us
aspire to be recognized and to be able to contribute.
Ambition is Never Enough
For people to really excel in their work, they need
more than just ambition. Satisfying goals, attaining
numbers, receiving rewards and compensation, and attaining status
is rarely enough. We must be connected to our core values and
intrinsic motivators in order to be truly fulfilled. Determining
what our internal drives are is not an easy task. Most of the time
we require a professional coach or a career coach to assist us in
our quest.
The Tools for Self-Knowledge
Here are a few types of assessment tools which you can
use to know yourself and your strengths better:
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
- Strong Campbell Interest Inventory
- Emotional intelligence assessments
Although there are many formal ways in which you can
discover your strengths, reflections on your past successes are
excellent starting points. Make a list of when you are at
your best at work. What activities do you love doing, and what
makes you so engrossed that you lose track of time?
Research shows that emphasizing strengths instead of
working on weaknesses is the key to performance
improvement. Not coincidentally, that same key is also
useful in sustaining career success and satisfaction.
Finding Your Core Strengths
Your strengths—whether they are
problem solving, intuition, inspiring action, relationship
building, altruism or a keen analytical
mind—are your natural appetites.
You will find a way to express these strengths no matter what
position you are in. Since your strengths and natural talents are
reinforced positively whenever you use them, this leads to a
powerful and confident feeling.
Most people gravitate into jobs where they can use
their strengths frequently, so that they can shine
naturally. But what happens when you are recognized for
your strengths, and asked to apply these same strengths to a new
job or a new promotion? The same strengths may not work as well
under new conditions or in different situations. It may be tempting
to accept a new job opportunity, even though it is not in your best
interests because it does not emphasize your strengths.
This requires us not only to recognize and identify
our strengths and to seek opportunities to express them, but also
to understand our weaknesses and to avoid being involved in roles
that are not our forte. This can be difficult. Nobody
likes to turn down a promotion or a challenge. We even relish
opportunities to overcome weaknesses in order to prove ourselves
capable. But to sustain career success, you must wisely turn down
positions that will not bring out the best in you.
To accept such challenges will only leave you feeling
drained and unfulfilled. Sure, you may be able to stretch
yourself, but it is better to focus on your strengths and develop
them, rather than fight to overcome a weakness.
Stop Doing What You Don’t
Like!
According to research from The Gallup Organization and
Marcus Buckingham, it does not make sense to stretch yourself with
new and challenging assignments, or even to balance your life, if
it involves doing things that you don’t have
an affinity for. Buckingham contends that you will not
feel energized when you focus on your flaws.
Some people will protest and defend the common belief
that you don’t have to like your
work—you just have to be good at
it. Others will insist that you can’t choose your
work, and you certainly can’t avoid the things that are
difficult; you must take the grit with the good.
The longer you put up with aspects of your work that
don’t play to your strengths, that are not
aligned with your core values and purpose, the less successful you
will be.
When you focus on your best talents and what you love
to do, you will achieve more. You will experience
sustained career success. You will find that your career path is
exactly where it should be, on purpose, and aligned with who you
are.
© 2010
