Effective career management requires
visualizing your career environment as
one huge jigsaw puzzle with many
different pieces. One piece may be your
present job, a second, the company you
work for; a third your industry; a
fourth your profession; a fifth the
city, town, region or state you live in
and so on.
You may only be aware of certain
pieces of the gigantic puzzle. However,
those other pieces are also extremely
important. They can stop you in your
career tracks or enable you to take
advantage of new career opportunities.
Here are three savvy strategies to
monitor your changing environment and
prevent you from being caught with your
pants down.
1. Act As an Information
Magnet
Don't be a modern-day Rip Van Winkle.
Don't wake up to a world you no longer
understand and feel comfortable in. Are
you so tied up in everyday life that you
fail to see the shifts in your workplace
and in the marketplace?
Keep your intuitive antennae up and
eyes open. Establish an early-warning
system. Look for signals everywhere. Tap
into the grapevine and be in the know
about as much as possible. Become an
information junkie. Do you regularly
watch CNN, documentaries, and TV
magazine programs? Do you regularly scan
the Wall Street Journal, or Fortune, or
Forbes, or Business Week for the big
picture news? Are you hooked onto online
or the Internet?
As pace of change accelerates,
careers will be affected by what's
happening inside and outside your
workplace. Don't find yourself in an
information vacuum. Stay in tune with
the changing workplace. Realize that
information is power and it is
absolutely necessary for career
survival.
2. Scan the Changing
Landscape
Imagine your career as steering a
ship down an unexplored river. To ensure
safe passage, you must be attentive to
ever-evolving conditions. These are the
powerful trends occurring in society,
business, and technology that will be
impacting your professional life and
career. How do you begin spotting these
trends?
You must become an amateur futurist.
Take the information you've gathered and
begin speculating about what you're
seeing, hearing, or reading. What's
happening in your company, or the
marketplace or the political and
legislative arenas? What seems to be
just a fad and what seems to be on going
occurrence? Get out of your narrow
tunnel and start seeing the big picture.
Then start thinking strategically.
Ask yourself: What are the immediate and
the long range influence of these
trends? How can this information
directly or indirectly affect me, my
industry or my profession? How are
changes that I see today likely affect
my job security tomorrow? Are there any
actions I should be taking right now?
What can I start doing today to prepare
for the next year, or three years, or
five years? Discover the trends and what
the future holds.
3. Prospect for
Opportunities
Change generates hazards as well as
gigantic opportunities. The work world
rewards those who catch on to what's
happening and then position themselves
to take advantage of change. To that
end, think of yourself as a surfer on
the ocean forever looking for a new wave
or opportunity to ride. How do you find
those new waves?
Recognize good fortune. See new or
challenging assignments as an
opportunity not just more work. Can you
learn something new? Or gain greater
visibility within your department,
business unit or region? Or add to your
bag of skills? Every project you take on
is a potential door opener for your
career future.
Be a detective. For example, the
flattening of organizations is really a
two-edged sword. It can reduce the
chance for promotion, but it also can be
a lucky break for you to take on
responsibilities that you may not have
been able to when positions were more
narrowly defined. In times of rapid
change, there are always critical things
that may fall through the crack. So
start looking for some problem areas. Do
you have a way to fix it?
Key Idea
Change constantly creates potential
ways for you to shine, show your stuff,
and leverage your career. Be on the look
out for career opportunity seeds all
over your work environment. Then decide
which are ripe for picking. Do not
merely muddle through workplace change
as a casualty of its twists and turns.
Rather be ready for change, spot the
opportunities, and make maximum use of
them.
Take Charge and Take Action Now!
Do you know there are three kinds of
people in the career world? Those who
make it happen - those who let it happen
- those who are surprised by what’s
happening. Which one are you?
Invest in Your Future
Find the keys to
career security in an insecure world with the Career Success System. You
will learn to avoid career crash and increase your competitive edge.
Check out
strategic coaching services to help you revitalize, reposition or retool
your career. Do you know where you want to go and how to get there?
Read free articles on how to
jump start your career, make a quantum leap to the next level and play the
career game better.
Contact Marcia for a
complimentary consultation. Make sure you’re always in the driver’s seat of your
career.
"Marcia’s caring advice, in the
face of really difficult management
changes, helped me adapt and grow into
my new job. Her coaching exceeded my
expectations. I would definitely
recommend her."
--- Development Director,
National Health Care Non-profit
