Do you have clients who are struggling with their careers?
There are times in all of our careers when we are at a crossroads. Some of us actively seek our next step, while others wait for the next step to come to them. If you believe you can have a career that brings you excitement and fulfillment, then you will have that. Coach your clients to a career they love by walking them through these five simple steps:
1. Describe What You Want
You cannot get what you want until you can describe what it is. What do you see yourself doing if there were no perceived obstacles in your way? Give yourself the freedom to brainstorm and the answers you are seeking will come.
2. Explore Your Options
What did you learn from Step 1? Take your realizations and turn them into real career choices. Begin researching and using contacts you know today, or people you haven’t met yet, to help you.
3. Create Your Game Plan
Take what you gathered from the exploratory process and put these steps into your calendar.
a) What I want.
b) When I will get what I want.
c) The actions I will take to get there.
4. Implement Your Plan
Keep the momentum going. Set daily, weekly, and monthly goals. Persistence and forward movement is what will help you reach your goal.
5. Reach Your Goal
You made it! Applaud yourself for your hard work and effort. Congratulations on discovering you can handle anything that comes your way.
Author – Deborah Brown-Volkman is is the creator of the Career Escape Program™ and author of The Sage and Scholar’s Guide to Coaching Career Transitions.
There are things we don’t want to happen, but have to accept; things we don’t want to know, but have to learn; people we can’t live without, but have to let go. And some things we can get ready for only after they’ve already happened.
The change is the event. The situation. You move to a new city, divorce, retire, experience a significant loss, take a new job, lose an old one, or change careers. As we focus on change, we address the rituals of change, the work tools, the strategic goals. And every ending begins something new. The transition is the process. It’s the internal story of change: a shift in orientation, even in definition. In transition, we let go of the old story, the outlived chapter, and evolve into a new story. A new identity internalizes the changes to sustain and enhance them. Otherwise, this most powerful organizer of the human psyche, our identity, is what we return to no matter what new behaviors we engage in – unless we evolve our identity along with the new experiences. We can develop a transition story that provides the coherence to reassure in the present and foreshadow the future.
The ability to understand the dynamics of both change and transition, and to craft a meaningful story is essential to the success of dealing with significant life change. The strategically informed bridge between past and present creates a successful passage to the uncertain future. There is both an art and science of coaching transitions: understanding the dynamics, developmental stages, and strategic steps. It’s the ending that makes the beginning possible.
Author – Dr. David Krueger, M.D., is a Trainer/Mentor Coach and Dean of Curriculum at Coach Training Alliance. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money (McGraw Hill) is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.
