The need to identify your career success drivers

Ensuring a successful and rewarding career is not simply about gaining some specific piece of knowledge and then taking on a role that appears to be appropriate. Knowledge is only one component of any career role that you have to take care of and manage - no matter what it is. Depending on the role itself others components (to varying degrees) include;

1. Ongoing demand for that role in the economy/organization

You cannot assume you can continue to perform your current role, in its current form, forever and gain the same financial reward. You need to determine why your role is in demand and ensure you move along with what is and will be required.

2. Leadership and management ability and understanding

This is just not about being a leader or managing others - it's about understanding and having empathy with those who lead and manage you. There are many styles of leadership and management and both as a leader and someone being lead you need to comprehend what is best and how to adapt to the varying styles with which you will be faced.

3. Time and stress management

Put simply, if you do not manage or your time or stress levels then your career performance will suffer. Two key drivers of performance are focus and dedication - being stressed and not allocating time to important tasks will not allow you to be either.

4. Networking

More and more careers are requiring some kind of networking to be undertaken - even if it's inter-departmental. Don't shut yourself off in your cubicle, home office...These days it's very much who you know as much as what you know.

5. Personal presence and confidence

Personality plays a large role in career success, no matter how knowledgeable you are in your role. If you want to progress and develop in and beyond your current role you have to be confident (not cocky or bragging) that you can handle your role and more. This is just not about ensuring promotion in your career. If you wanted a flexible work arrangement for say family reasons, there is even more reason to appear that you are confident you can perform in this situation.

6. Health and well-being

More and more evidence points to the fact that if you are strong physically it will allow your mental capabilities to be fully utilized. Mental health and well-being is also a critical component of performance and you must ensure meditation and relaxation is scheduled into your week.

7. Identification of re-education required

Associated with Point 1, experience will only take you so far - as the world changes, the economy changes and thus demand for goods and services changes. Your knowledge of today will not suffice for what is required tomorrow and you have to ensure you keep yourself up to date - this can mean subject matter knowledge, marketing and sales techniques, IT etc. If you don't, then you run the risk of becoming redundant in terms of skills on offer and career options will be limited.

8. IT ability

You need to assess the basic level of IT skills required now and in the future. This basic level will continue to rise so don't think being young means you automatically know everything required.

9. Perseverence and drive

This is one of the most important components. You need to work hard and smart and don't regard failure at any point as the end of the journey but as part of the journey. Success is not achieved overnight and you cannot assume that once you have achieved one thing that it will not disappear if you don't continue to perform. You need to understand your motivations and values for performing.

If it was only knowledge that was important then those with the highest IQ would have the most successful careers - and this is not the case. Aspects of emotional and social intelligence play a major role in success apart from IQ.

The next three important steps are the following; (1) identifying the rank and percentage of the total current role related to the above components, (2) produce a plan on how to improve your performance of each and (3) do the last two things for your next planned career moves. It's no good finding out you don't know how to drive or drive well when given a car....you have to plan in advance.

When do you make your best or most 'life changing' decisions?

The focus of this question, is in part, due to the fact that many of us are facing some difficult decisions over the next few months because of the challenges presented by the current economic state. I got to thinking the other day what drove a lot of my decision making and came up with the fact that making decisions are meant to benefit yourself - the challenge being whether that benefit is in the short, medium or long term. Short term gain for long term gain is something I do believe in if a decision is made with only the short term being the main focus.

Decision making is a cognitive process that the brain manages and the final decision is based on a variety of underlying factors. Personal values, motivations, your sense of expected rewards (and your valuation of them), emotions, past experiences, consideration of what your friends and family would expect....the underlying components are many. Many of these decisions are not 'life changing' simply because the human being is a creature of habit. It can be difficult to make decisions when you don't 'have to', even if you know making a change would be the best medium to long term decision.

Take for example the situation that many professionals are facing today. You may have been made redundant or there is a good chance of redundancy - what do you do? If you've always wanted to change jobs or get out and start a business then perhaps there is no better time. Sure things are dire now but when is there a 'best time' to make this change. The decision to make this change is more easy for the person who is out of a job then for the person who still has a job. They might have the same goals to start a business but for the person with a job, they might most probably think they are one of the 'lucky ones' to still have employment. They will think it is better to keep their job and plan to leave in a few years when they are more financially secure. On the other hand those who have been made redundant either have the choice to follow their dreams or look for new work.

What I want to emphasize is that when 'forced' to make a decision, there is perhaps a better chance of making it a life changing one. In the example above being forced to choose between job and new business does not mean you have a choice to remain with the status quo - you need a new job or need to start a business. There is no going back. Either path is new. So consider your own situation now and consider what decisions you can make today that might most impact your life...in a positive way and whether your current situation is holding you back. Might be worthwhile to consider what decision you would take if you were forced to change what you were currently were doing - would you try and revert to what you were doing or start out new.

Why are you underperforming in your chosen career?

FACT: what you thought were the key performance drivers underlying your career are probably out of date.

FACT: what you think you need to do to ensure your career is successful is probably not nearly enough.

A career is a fluid creature - it may look like it retains the same shape but in reality it is continually evolving and demanding different things from those involved. Why is this? Because our society is evolving and as such what was needed 50, 20 or even 5 years ago is no longer applicable/not applicable to the same degree.

Take the job of a lawyer, accountant, investment adviser, IT programmer, marketer, recruiter and even a teacher - the career requirements have developed and changed from what they were to something else today. The skills and knowledge required for each has progressed because of the different demands facing each of these jobs.

So what does this mean for you?

Well, if you commenced your career over 5 years and particularly if more than 10 years you should be sitting down and researching the competencies (skills and knowledge) that are now required for your career. Start by looking at what your career is and what your key performance drivers are. Some of the skills might be the same but you may have to change your focus. For example, accountants are just not about financial reports and regulations but business advising and company restructuring and strategy. Teachers have to adapt to the generations coming through in respect to personal branding, networking and IT knowledge. Recruiters are not just about finding you a job but career advisers and personal branding experts (if they are any good of course).

So it's just not about assuming you're on the right career path - you have to assume that as society changes, demand for your skills change and thus you need to adapt to that demand. What our society is going through at the moment is this on a very wide scale; our society is changing what is wanted and what is not and thus the allocation of resources is being turned on its head. We are finding that we are not able to provide the correct resources and there will be therefore a period of exploration and consolidation whilst our society gains the required skills and knowledge to move forward.

For you, take a look at yourself and if in doubt as to how to manage your professional career, feel free to email me.

Manage your professional development effectively by understanding how and why the value of skills and knowledge changes

So you're a professional worker or business owner and you are currently providing the market place with one or more services. These services are based on your current skills and knowledge and the services are supplied because there is some demand for them. Not so hard to understand. At any point in time your services (the drivers of which are your skills and knowledge) are attributed a certain value based on market demand. So how do you base your career or business development knowing that the value of your services may increase or decrease simply because the wider market values them more or less? Do you assume as a professional that your skills will always be useful and if you decide to re-train/study etc how do you know whether that will add value to you or just cost you time and money?

The point I want to make is that you shouldn't assume any professional development is actually going to be beneficial even it is does improve your professional performance. Economic forces of demand and supply are what determines our value and so even if you study to become a lawyer, a web developer, a consultant, a banker or psychologist (to name but a few) your value may not increase because (1) you are not the best at what you do (2) there are too many others with the same skills for a level of demand in the market (3) whilst there is a need for many with your skills the value-adding benefit perception of your skills is not so high.

This is why I am personally against training and development programs just for the sake of providing people with new skills. Whilst there are skills and knowledge that we should all aim to improve for the sake of developing in line with our society (such as in the area of the internet and general understanding of IT) a lot of skills that are taught in training and vocation programs are simply going to provide knowledge that (1) might not be effectively utilized and (2) not going to be in demand when it comes to ensuring a strong career path or business venture.

Professional development has to be taken in context of what is needed by our society. Learning for the sake of it is commendable but it will not enhance your professional development. You have to consider what benefit your professional development activities are providing and how they are taking into account demand and supply shifts for certain skills and knowledge in our society. You have to consider trends in society around the way we live, how we see ourselves (who ever considered personal branding consultant to be as big a hit as it is), the influence of technology and global mobility. What is in demand one day might easily not be in demand the next.

Make sure you are in control of your career, don't let it control you

So we all know there are hundreds of articles in the paper and online about the economic disaster and job losses and I'm going to give you yet another one http://www.cnbc.com/id/29034624.

I only wanted to put this in today to show the extent of job losses across the economy, no company is not impacted and no job is safe. However right now I wanted to make three points about the situation - one is that the jobs are disappearing because there is no demand for them, two is that there is no guarantee the same jobs will return and three who is making the decision as to what you do next - you or your situation?

When it comes to an organisation making a position redundant because there is lack of demand that is not something within your control. What is in your control is what you choose to do about it and how to plan on moving forward, updating your skills and knowledge to make yourself in demand again.

What our society is becoming to understand is that an organisation will no longer provide a job for life and whilst many of us realize this and prefer this when times are good when times are challenging many of us look to the organisation for security. Going forward this is not going to be a solution but will simply cause more issues. Why? Because you will have no control over your career because you have no plan. You will scramble to take 'a job' and this leads to a situation where you will reduce the quality of your life because you do not identify with or value the job you were forced to take. Organisations are also on a trend where they are looking to continually reduce their costs and this will result in lower permanent staff. Where does this leave you if you have no career plan and no job security?

So what to do? Well no matter if you need to find a new career or are thinking about a new career, start now by looking at what you need to do and who you want to be. Define your path, define each action in detail and ensure you are the one in control of where you are heading. Do not wait for the tap on the shoulder from the organisation - the bottom line is they do not care about you when it comes to creating shareholder value. Respect yourself and do not let yourself get in a situation where you are forced to take a job for the sake of survival. I do realize there are times when this will happen but in this case still make sure you have a plan to hold this job only temporarily with a clear vision as to what you want to do and why.

Competence in looking for a job and career

Looking for a job and career transitioning is a pretty hot topic today for obvious reasons so I wanted to spend a little time today addressing it. Everyone's situation is unique; you may be out of work and looking for a job, be in a job and looking to move to another, or you may simply be considering whether you should look to change careers. All of these mean that you fall in the category of needing to be effective at researching, planning and taking action towards getting a new job or transitioning to a new career.

I read an article today on CNBC http://www.cnbc.com/id/28938016 that talks about some of the secrets of finding a job. The thing about finding a job is that it can be quite simple to find A JOB, but not so simple to find A CAREER. For me a job is something you do to satisfy basic needs e.g. financial security, food, shelter etc. A career is more than that in that it is one representation of your mission in life, a reflection of your interests and values and something you wish to develop. That being said defining the career that is right for you at any point in time is not an easy task.

There are lots of ways to get a job, but not so many components are key. You can speak to friends, family, recruiters and look for advertisements in the paper. You can go online, network and knock door-to-door until you get something. A career on the other hand requires a lot up front work that is not so much about looking for a job but about defining the principles of the job you want to do and why. This is one of the key differences I think between a career and a job.

So when it comes to defining your career where do you start and what guarantees are there that you will get it right? How do you know what you're doing will get you the result you want, how do you help guarantee that you will not look back in a few years thinking you made a huge mistake? Now I want to quickly say one things about mistakes. Everyone will make one and it's how you learn and develop from mistakes that are more important in making the mistake itself. But what I'm talking about is limiting mistakes compared to successful actions and being confident that your actions will more likely than not get you to your goals.

Competence in finding a career is like a job in itself. You should first of all recognise that it can take skill and knowledge to define and find the career that is right for you at this particular time. You need to spend time with a professional understanding yourself, your strengths, your passions, your interests. You should also consult with someone or undertake research yourself on the trends of our society, industries in demand and industries in decline. You need to be effective at networking, your 'elevator speech' and communication. There are many more things, but the message I want to leave you with is that the process of finding a job and definitely a career is not a task to be taken lightly. Respect yourself and put the time in to do it properly.

Motivation and motivating others at work

So what does it take to motivate you at work? The thought of money, the feeling of accomplishment from achievement, the respect of your peers or the fact that you are working at something you are passionate about? Apart from the last point it can be difficult to motivate yourself at work or motivate others simply due to the fact that work is not something we enjoy or choose to do in many cases. It is something we have to do as part of our life journey and for that reason not being motivated is not wrong, it is a circumstance of life. Even someone with passion, such as Barack Obama, would have days when he is not fully motivated to perform and his energy is low.

However there are some solutions to this challenge. The one I wanted to look at was motivation through relating work to an activity one might enjoy, for example sport or music. A lot of people like and watch sport and respect the dedication, perseverance and technical ability of athletes. Likewise many of us appreciate the same for musicians and performers. Now if we look at what it takes to be a top athletics star for example, we can break down the activities and personality traits into the following;

1. Dedication and perseverance
2. Technical ability
3. Need to stick to a plan and plan a course of action
4. Definite short term and long term goals
5. Attention to detail and long term vision

Same could be for musicians but the fact is success in these areas takes a lot of hard work, planning and dedication. Though you might not be required to do the same at work, you might find that your motivation (or your ability to motivate) will improve if you use examples that you and the people you are looking to motivate can relate to and believe in.

Does our society need employees or freelancers?

Historically our society was all about employing people with the intention that they would be with the organisation for pretty much life. Organisations had the upper hand, employees would be forced due to demand and supply imbalances to be satisfied for most part with what the organisation offered. That trend has changed and gained a lot of traction, in my opinion, from the beginning of the 1990s with the introduction of the internet and associated online businesses and with the global recession causing downsizing which led to many professionals becoming freelancers and contractors.

There is no doubt that society sees the rules and cultural norms surrounding employment to be greatly different than they were even 30 years ago. There is no fixed assumption that a job is for life and neither do employees or employers want this. Employee loyalty and performance is still demanded by the organisation but the rewards expected by the employee is not the job tenure, but rather the benefits attached in the form of motivation, enjoyment, professional development and financial reward.

So we come to our current economic climate where many organisations are finding it difficult to adapt and many employees are also finding the time very challenging. I know many professionals who five years or even a couple of years ago would with no second thought market themselves to different organisations whilst employed if it meant they could benefit in some way. Now that is definitely not the case and many of these professionals are willing to take any relevant job in order to gain some kind of job security.

But what is best for our society, for economic growth and benefit of both organisations and employees? Is the concept of an employee something that we should start to move away from and instead look at developing our society as a flexible group of individuals who can fulfull a number of roles and who are flexible and adaptable to develop new skills in order to easily fulfill future role demand? Organisations do not want employees who can only perform a fixed role set because the nature of their business may find this skill set obselete within a short period of time. The employees should not want to work in this environment as it creates a false sense of security that they are more valuable to the organisation than what they truly are. That we have seen in this current environment where many professional employees are finding their so-called skills and knowledge is just not required. This is because the role requirements for a professional employee are on an expotentially increasing trend - if you don't think this is the case just think back to the start of this century and how the demand for skills and knowledge have changed.

This change is not going to happen overnight but it has been communicated that organisations want a more flexible labour force and as such employees are going to have to adapt. Society is also demanding a more flexible work-life balance and if you look at these demands, then it makes sense to focus on a contractor or freelance driven environment than than of a permanent employee driven environment. My advice is for all professional employees to start to reassess their knowledge and skills and to make plans to adapt to an environment that is ever increasingly hiring on value alone.

Does our society need employees or freelancers?

Historically our society was all about employing people with the intention that they would be with the organisation for pretty much life. Organisations had the upper hand, employees would be forced due to demand and supply imbalances to be satisfied for most part with what the organisation offered. That trend has changed and gained a lot of traction, in my opinion, from the beginning of the 1990s with the introduction of the internet and associated online businesses and with the global recession causing downsizing which led to many professionals becoming freelancers and contractors.

There is no doubt that society sees the rules and cultural norms surrounding employment to be greatly different than they were even 30 years ago. There is no fixed assumption that a job is for life and neither do employees or employers want this. Employee loyalty and performance is still demanded by the organisation but the rewards expected by the employee is not the job tenure, but rather the benefits attached in the form of motivation, enjoyment, professional development and financial reward.

So we come to our current economic climate where many organisations are finding it difficult to adapt and many employees are also finding the time very challenging. I know many professionals who five years or even a couple of years ago would with no second thought market themselves to different organisations whilst employed if it meant they could benefit in some way. Now that is definitely not the case and many of these professionals are willing to take any relevant job in order to gain some kind of job security.

But what is best for our society, for economic growth and benefit of both organisations and employees? Is the concept of an employee something that we should start to move away from and instead look at developing our society as a flexible group of individuals who can fulfull a number of roles and who are flexible and adaptable to develop new skills in order to easily fulfill future role demand? Organisations do not want employees who can only perform a fixed role set because the nature of their business may find this skill set obselete within a short period of time. The employees should not want to work in this environment as it creates a false sense of security that they are more valuable to the organisation than what they truly are. That we have seen in this current environment where many professional employees are finding their so-called skills and knowledge is just not required. This is because the role requirements for a professional employee are on an expotentially increasing trend - if you don't think this is the case just think back to the start of this century and how the demand for skills and knowledge have changed.

This change is not going to happen overnight but it has been communicated that organisations want a more flexible labour force and as such employees are going to have to adapt. Society is also demanding a more flexible work-life balance and if you look at these demands, then it makes sense to focus on a contractor or freelance driven environment than than of a permanent employee driven environment. My advice is for all professional employees to start to reassess their knowledge and skills and to make plans to adapt to an environment that is ever increasingly hiring on value alone.

Ensuring your career adds value rather than being just useful

The way society works these days is a lot different from the past...and that includes what organizations require of their employees. It used to be enough to be useful to the organization and to serve a purpose if you wanted to ensure job security. However it is evident that today that is definitely not the case. Today, if you wish your career to be within a corporation, you must add-value to it's bottom line - not just today but next month, next year and so forth.

The two questions you might ask yourself are (1) what do I need to know or do to provide this value? and (2) who can I obtain this information or guidance from? The short answer to the first question is to understand that impacts the bottom line of the company and your division in particular and look for ways to improve it. Do more than your job requires, particularly if you realize that your actual position adds very little to the bottom line of your organization. If you realize this then someone higher up will and you know that is the end of your career as you know it. In respect to question two look at those who are successful in your organization to provide guidance or those in similar positions at competitor organizations. For what it's worth I find that HR and Training departments unfortunately are not sufficiently resourced or knowledgeable these days to provide any real assistance. It's not all their fault as organisations are requiring them to pick up more administrative tasks and subsequently their skill sets are being diluted away from what I believe are the more important roles of people management, being reskilling advice and career advice for employees.

Whilst being useful is about performing a process, adding value is about providing knowledge and skill the company doesn't otherwise have or not have in sufficient quantities. What does this mean for you? In simple terms obtain more knowledge, not just about what is required to perform for the company today but what is going to be required in the years to come.

The last piece I want to say is in respect to networking, both inter-company and outside of company. Having connections can be invaluable to providing value to the organisation you work for, in respect to possible sources of new employees, new sales channels and other information. Don't think by putting your head down within your cubicle and working the 15 hour, 6 day a week schedule will guarantee you the career of your dreams (doesn't sound like a great career anyhow). Rather get out and network with others in the industry(s) in which your organization deals. Establishing a positive relationship with management from another organization or your own will never hurt your career and in 9 times out of 10, be sure to enhance it.

Rebranding misplaced late Generation Xer's

Since the turn of the century there has been increasing focus on the influence and impact on business strategy, workplace engagement and communication and networking initiatives from the individuals termed as Generation Y. To a lesser degree there is talk about the influence of the baby boomer generation as they either look to extend their careers by continue working at their organization or rather than retire look to move into setting up their own businesses. There is no doubt the shape of the workforce has changed immensely since 2000 because of these generations.

However I have noted an age range that is starting to find itself in 'no man's land', a situation where this particular group of people is starting to find themselves or think themselves too old to be too innovative and risk taking but too young to find security in their current career in view of all the opportunities taking place around them. Particularly in face of current market conditions, on top of the changing nature of the workforce this is a problem. The age group I am talking of is the late to mid Generation X, individuals from the age of 29 or 30 to 44-45.

So why is this a problem. Well at the short-term tactical level there is a lot of market unrest and over the next few months to years perhaps there will a lot of volatility in the job market. This is due to the shifting demand of the consumer, the reactions of organizations to economic downturn and shifting consumer demands and even people themselves deciding to change careers for one reason or another. This age group of 30-44 are least able to make adjustments to their lifestyle/career due to; current financial obligations e.g. mortgage, family obligations e.g. family and kids in school and the fact that they have put up to 20 plus years into a career and perhaps organization that they expect results and rewards from. Considering all of this volatility and the need for career change is not optimal.

However at the strategic level the situation becomes even more challenging for this age range, particularly those closer to and in their early 40’s. The job you are will most likely be made redundant in the future as economic and social demands and trends change or at the very least require an updated skills and knowledge. The environment in which you work will change, will become more mobile and as many organizations look to reduce their financial overhead the largest one which is permanent staff, will see the workforce become more contractor/freelance/self-employed based. Already the ‘job for life’ is a ethos no longer believed or accepted by our society as the norm – it that is the case then you shouldn’t expect the working environment and norms to change as well.

The one message I want to get across here, while focusing on this late Generation X age group, is that any of us have to be adaptable, forward thinking, visionary not reactive, with a focus on professional development. Many basic IT skills that children of 10 have today far surpass the IT knowledge of 30-40 year olds and don’t forget this latter age group will have to not only manage this younger group but also live in an increasingly technical society.

So my focused age is this late to mid Generation X crowd and I am of the belief that it is this group that need the most help in preparation for career transitions and revamping their professional development plans and strategies. Branding is part of this process as it is important you know where you stand in the workplace universe and just as important know what you stand for. Be aware of what you know and what you don’t – I work with clients in this age range to determine the skills and knowledge that they will need but do not have. Whilst I am becoming a bigger proponent of web 2.0 architecture and social networking this is not what personal branding should be restricted to or solely focused on. The basis of high performance, success and even survival in the future workforce is just not about internet tools, it’s about adapting and preparing your psyche and inner you. I work with clients to increase their performance in collaborative work environments and structures and to prepare themselves for a more entrepreneurial workplace environment. I also work building self-confidence and belief in respect to preparing for the day when you might not be able to or want to rely on your organization to support you.

So all up this late Generation X group has to be conscious about the changing future and ensure they are not left behind because they chose not to act or even worse ignored the fact that they even had to even consider their perceptions of the changing workforce and the personal impact it would have.

Focus on the present, plan for the future and learn from the past – how to plan to enhance your skills and knowledge capabilities

Economic cycles are in continual flux and are always moving from boom to bust to boom and so forth. Within these cycles there are various and shifting demands for the supply of goods and services. However many people do not recognize this to apply to them when it comes to managing a career, small business or looking to startup a business. The truth is demand and supply relationships relate to all of us and that means as individuals we need to be prepared to shift careers and business strategies to protect against being left behind socially and financially.

It appears that the underlying economic and social structures of our society are changing at an ever increasing rate. Review of history has never found political, financial and social trends to change so quickly and with so little warning. One aspect of this is that we are having to rely on ourselves to manage our own careers and professional development rather than leave that responsibility with our employers. The same goes with small business owners and entrepreneurs; the reliance on demand for current products or services is less and less as the awareness that demand can change overnight has become more prevalent.

I am personally very interested in history and I believe we can all learn from it to help predict the future. This is because at both a conscious and subconscious level humans will act and behave the same as they have all through history – our genetic makeup ensures that is the case. Emotions, motivations, personality type influences, cultural hierarchies…at some level our society today is as it was 500, 100 and 50 years ago. But it isn’t all we need to do to ensure we are prepared to face the demands of the future. Let me also say it doesn’t matter where you work or what you do; the demands on you will change and if you are not ready and prepared you will be left behind. So as I said it isn’t just the past you have to take an interest in.

Let’s just start with the past for a minute. It is imperative that you focus on where you are right now financially, knowledge wise, motivation wise, clarity around management of your career and professional development. Until you are clear as to where you are you will not be able to effectively establish your motivation around your short term and medium term tasks and goals. You need to ensure you are true with this personal assessment because it will impact your next and future decisions and if your decision making is flawed due to inaccurate information than your decisions will be less than optimal.

When looking to the future you firstly cannot assume that anyone should be more responsible for the outcome than yourself. Spend some time with a professional business or career coach to understand your inherent likes and dislikes, interests and motivations. Understand how you can influence your performance, enhance your strengths and minimise your weaknesses or development areas. Professional development is important if it will allow you to achieve future goals but do not professionally develop for the sake of it. For example, do not blindly take on an MBA if you do not have a plan for it. Also when looking to the future understand potential demand for skills and knowledge in the future and again speak to a professional regarding this. Do not assume that any skill will be useful – be smart in selecting the skills and knowledge you wish to enhance because you have limitations in the time, finances and brain capacity you can allocate.

Let me end by saying that your actions in the present and future should be referenced in least to those you have undertake in the past. Look at what has worked and what has not – and understand why this is the case. Understand any trends that you wish to continue and identify the motivations that underlie these. On the one hand habits can be difficult to break but only because time is not spent analyzing why these occur and secondly because the old motivations are not replaced with new ones. So be conscious about how you have lived life and be conscious about what you need to do to survive and thrive in the future.

Why "awareness'' is critical to you achieving what you truly value

The word 'awareness' has come to my attention recently and in fact the more I think about it the more I am beginning to appreciate the importance and benefit of paying attention to what it actually means. The context in which I want to approach 'awareness' is that of recognizing where you are today, where you want to be in the future and ensuring you are undertaking the correct actions to make that happen - and not get lost in the complexities every day life brings. Some might even want to call this 'self awareness' but what I'm talking about isn't really about being aware of your identity...it more about being aware of your actions and are they congruent to your goals.

Why do I choose to write about this today? Well it's been on my mind for a while and I've come to the conclusion that whilst many of us have goals, or seeing as we're at the start of 2009, perhaps a resolution I would predict no many of us know how to achieve that goal, whether it is the right one for them considering their current position or whether knowing what it would take to achieve the goal be prepared to undertake the commitment. Such as saying you will go to the gym 4 times a week for an hour when your current schedule would only allow 2 or by saying you'll save 25% of your income when your budget is tight at 15% savings limit - these are all good goals but there are non-considered hurdles in between to take care of. You might say "Daryl, but I'll just clear my schedule or ask for a pay rise...this will take care of those hurdles". Great, but what is the cost of clearing your schedule and what do you have to do to ensure the pay rise?

From my perspective the importance of awareness is that to clearly understand what is probable, possible and not possible at any point in time and to focus on the first two to enable the latter to be achieved as well. Being aware will prevent you from wasting time, money or emotion on actions that are not going to permit you to achieve your goals and may perhaps take you further away. It is also of great importance to be aware of what those goals mean to you...even if you do achieve it then what? If you 'just go' to the gym 4 times a week then what? If you save 25% of your salary what does that mean for you? If you get promoted in your work what position does that put you in?

Being aware is critical in career and business management - particularly at the early stages of each. Pretty much everyone I know is excited during the interview stage of a job and even more so when the job is offered. However if that job does not turn out right then only a short time later that excitement is replaced by disappointment. Same goes with a business, where everything in the startup phase is exciting but the reality hits home once you are running the business. Being aware will allow you to make better informed and objective decisions which should create more optimal results for you.

So my advice is do not live life on automatic. Achieve a state of awareness of where you are, why you are where you are and where you want to go. Ensure that you are taking the necessary steps to head in the direction you want to go and if you remember one thing, don't assume everything will just work out. You need to take control.

Are you prepared to take your career 'off-road'?

Flexibility, adaptability, vision and determination are factors I work on a lot with my clients when it comes to enhancing careers or kick starting an entrepreneurial venture. Multi-skilling, value-adding and adapting to the demands of a developing society and economy are musts for any of us if we want to achieve our own goals and dreams. I must say I has happy to come across an article that talked on a topic I believe in, not in a lot of depth, but better then nothing. That is around hybrid job roles and that was in Marketwatch @ http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/tough-job-market-qualifying-hybrid/story.aspx?guid=%7B2A799D13%2D5D3E%2D453D%2D8BA4%2D979FDDBDB53B%7D&dist=msr_7

Why was I happy to see this article? Because I am passionate about re-skilling and ensuring people are focused on gainful and useful employment - for personal and society benefit. It is not about sticking in a single role for life if that role has no more use in society or, just as important, to your own professional development.

At the moment society is developing in such a way to see that our motivations in respect to careers are torn in two separate directions. Whilst things are going well we are demanding more opportunity for self-development, more empowerment over the role and flexibility. When things take a turn for the worst, as they are now, we all turn inward to protect what we have and job security increases greatly in importance. There is a school of thought that individuals must be less reliant and beholden to organisations to guide and develop our careers - we must be responsible for our own knowledge, skill and professional development. Your work motivations thus are focused on increasing your 'employability' not your chances of being found a position at your current organisation. Thus it's time to stop talking the talk and walk the walk.

So the thing with a hybrid-career role is that it not only makes you more employable, it also increases your ability to grow as a professional - no matter what role you are in. At the same time it enables your professional network to grow which is critical for the workplace of the future which will be increasingly more collaborative based - much more about who you know and how you apply your knowledge to multiple situations then a single subject of expertise. With the workforce declining it will no longer be possible to be capable of working in one area and you will have to become extremely adaptable. The workplace in 2020 will be even more collaborative and team-driven than it is today.

So start thinking about your future goals and how to enhance your current skills with new knowledge that can enhance your position in the employment market and prepare you for the workplace of the future. Don't just keep your career on the same main road and expect it all to work out for you. Take it off-road and look for new paths and opportunities to enhance your professional experience.

The need to be aware of where you are and what you are doing

The word 'awareness' has come to my attention recently and in fact the more I think about it the more I am beginning to appreciate the importance and benefit of paying attention to what it actually means. The context in which I want to approach 'awareness' is that of recognizing where you are today, where you want to be in the future and ensuring you are undertaking the correct actions to make that happen - and not get lost in the complexities every day life brings. Some might even want to call this 'self awareness' but what I'm talking about isn't really about being aware of your identity...it more about being aware of your actions and are they congruent to your goals.

Why do I choose to write about this today? Well it's been on my mind for a while and I've come to the conclusion that whilst many of us have goals, or seeing as we're at the start of 2009, perhaps a resolution I would predict no many of us know how to achieve that goal, whether it is the right one for them considering their current position or whether knowing what it would take to achieve the goal be prepared to undertake the commitment. Such as saying you will go to the gym 4 times a week for an hour when your current schedule would only allow 2 or by saying you'll save 25% of your income when your budget is tight at 15% savings limit - these are all good goals but there are non-considered hurdles in between to take care of. You might say "Daryl, but I'll just clear my schedule or ask for a pay rise...this will take care of those hurdles". Great, but what is the cost of clearing your schedule and what do you have to do to ensure the pay rise?

From my perspective the importance of awareness is that to clearly understand what is probable, possible and not possible at any point in time and to focus on the first two to enable the latter to be achieved as well. Being aware will prevent you from wasting time, money or emotion on actions that are not going to permit you to achieve your goals and may perhaps take you further away. It is also of great importance to be aware of what those goals mean to you...even if you do achieve it then what? If you 'just go' to the gym 4 times a week then what? If you save 25% of your salary what does that mean for you? If you get promoted in your work what position does that put you in?

Being aware is critical in career and business management - particularly at the early stages of each. Pretty much everyone I know is excited during the interview stage of a job and even more so when the job is offered. However if that job does not turn out right then only a short time later that excitement is replaced by disappointment. Same goes with a business, where everything in the startup phase is exciting but the reality hits home once you are running the business. Being aware will allow you to make better informed and objective decisions which should create more optimal results for you.

So my advice is do not live life on automatic. Achieve a state of awareness of where you are, why you are where you are and where you want to go. Ensure that you are taking the necessary steps to head in the direction you want to go and if you remember one thing, don't assume everything will just work out. You need to take control.

Why being 'defined or labelled' by your career reduces life options

'You are what you do' is a commonly used term that I have read and heard many times when it comes to analyzing your behaviour, motivations and plans for achieving goals. Now there is no doubt that this is a pertinent and relevant observation...actions speak louder than words and often in this society of ours you are judged based on the actions you take. Not at all unfair considering that there are few better ways in which the wider world can understand and make a decision on you as an individual. However at this stage you might want to ask yourself 'what drives the behaviours that make me act the way I do?'.

Many of us identify with the career we have at any particular time and this identification includes the conceptual boundary of the behaviours that are appropriate for that career label. Whether you are in sports, advertising, accounting, construction, music etc....there is a preconceived notion of what is acceptable for an 'athlete', 'advertising exec', 'accountant', 'construction worker', 'rock musician' etc. You know when thinking these words an image comes into your head of what 'that person would or should be like'. When it comes to your own career, if you see yourself as 'your job role' then both consciously and unconsciously your behaviours will mirror this image; consciously because of the environment you are in at work and unconsciously because of your inner perception of this label.


What I am saying is that this 'label'; the identification of yourself as your career role e.g. accountant, athlete, doctor, teacher, psychologist will begin to narrow your options as to how you think and behave because you are conditioning yourself to think and behave along the lines of a image that is attached to your career. You may say this is crazy, but after a period of time it will be a difficult habit to break. Why else are huge career changes to difficult to make; in reality they are quite easy but the change in behaviours is difficult to assimilate in reality. There is also the danger of identifying with a career that is actually not 'you' - it was meant to be a part of your life but not control it. There are many examples of people realizing after 20 years that there job means nothing and that they feel trapped in their career - but do not know what to do. This is because they confused their identity with their career image.

What you need to do is not label yourself as your career; instead see yourself as a person with numerous skills and multiple levels of personality - which you are applying only a selection of to a particular career role at only this point in time. Be aware of how to apply your skills and personality to many challenges in life and never think that once you are on a path that you cannot choose another direction. This is something I undertake with my clients and whilst not always easy to control, because your options become limitless, the danger is that you narrow your options so much that in the future you literally become stuck in your life.

Knowing if you are value-adding to your company's success?

Why would you want to know if you are a value-adding component of your organization? At least for the following two reasons; first is simply to know where you stand in respect to job security, future opportunities including promotion, new challenges and remuneration. The second is to know, for personal development reasons, whether your role actually means anything to anyone, including yourself.

I decided to write on this topic taking into account the economic challenges we are facing in the world today. Many people are being made redundant, there is concern about where new jobs will come from and on top of that there is an issue where the meaning of many roles is becoming very unclear, adding stress to the human resource system.

Without going too deep into the concepts of personal development, engagement and satisfaction from your role within your company I wanted to address the more immediate concern of job security, value of knowledge and skills and future employment prospects. What we are finding in the current economic climate is that many roles are no longer needed and this is leading to either redundancies, people being let go, lack of pay rises or indeed pay reductions. Many of us are finding it hard to cope because lets face it, Gen Y and late Gen Xers have never worked in this kind of environment. We would have never thought that "my skills and knowledge is obselete" and in fact we have something in common with the older generations and their 'job for life concept'. So the question is just how valuable to your organization are your skills and knowledge?

You have to start by being completely honest and looking at both the direction society and your organization is moving. If you have a niche skill, is the demand for that going to continue in the future. An example of this is mortgage broking...sure it will continue to be needed but not to nearly the same degree. The bottom line is that you cannot think your skills will always be needed by your employer, but you also have to remember that they will not tell you that until it's too late.

To be able to ensure your job is safe and be able to request any rise in remuneration you have to make sure you are fulfilling a demand - a demand by both the organization and society. This is the only way to know you are a value-adding component. The work I undertake with my clients is around this very matter...determining the value of someone's current skills and knowledge both now and in the future. Plus more importantly determing what skills and knowledge will be required.

So ask yourself two questions; firstly could my organization replace me easily if I decided to leave today and secondly, what would it mean to my organization's bottom line and performance if my role no longer existed? Answering these honestly will give you a good indication of where you stand. What you then do about it is up to you.

A business or career begins with a dream...but succeeds from a solid foundation

I'm not sure if it's due to the recent economic crisis...actually let me say economic events as I don't want to be another conveyor of doom and gloom, but I have been reassessing my own skills and personal resources recently. Purpose? To discover what I actually know and what value I provide to society. What I have found in fact is a bit of a wake up call in that whilst I do know certain things I perhaps thought I know more than I actually do.

I'll be the first to admit I have some great career goals in respect to the businesses I want to develop. Lots of goals and objectives supported by motivations but the one thing I needed to do was assess whether I had the ability, knowledge and experience to achieve the goals I wanted when I wanted. Let me tell you it's an interesting exercise to undertaken, particularly when you are brutally honest with yourself.

Let's take for example you want to run a consulting business and you think you know enough to succeed. Can you answer the following questions in a positive way:

1. Do you know more than 80% of competitors?
2. Have you validated the knowledge you need to know to succced?
3. Have you confirmed the above with your potential customers?
4. You might have 'consulting' knowledge but do you have 'financial performance' management knowledge? (that is, the knowledge to run your company finances)
5. Have you undertaken a risk assessment on the impact to your business of negative events e.g. economic downturn. Has this been validated?

See the thing is, it doesn't matter if you are smart as a 'subject matter expert' and have a great dream to go out on your own - if you don't build a solid business foundation behind you then you will not succeed. Likewise, you definitely need a great dream to succeed but it is only the start. Failure is achieved by being under-prepared and it is not hard in this fast-paced world to indeed be caught short.

Don't get confused by 'buzz' words on job descriptions

Right now you might have a great idea for a business or have just read an unbelievable job spec for a new role. The feeling you have might be incredibly positive and you are feeling upbeat and eager to explore these opportunities. But ask yourself why do you feel this way?

It is important to be motivated but more importantly it is important to use that motivation to undertake the research necessary when exploring new business or career opportunities. There are a number of reasons why an opportunity might seem attractive but there are also many reasons why not be get confused by an opportunity you do not accurately or correctly understand. It is always easier to walk into something than walk out.

It just so happened to be MBA bashing day on the blogs attached to an article on Marketwatch. Of course with the upheaval in financial markets MBAs were always going to receive some blame in respect to the mess created by the financial engineering that took place. However like all of us MBAs are also people looking to further their career, perhaps be involved in something meaningful and challenging whilst providing for their families. Hey, sure some greed is involved and in this case a disaster has occurred but no one has ever said human beings are perfect. I digress a little, but the point I wanted to make is that many jobs are not what they seem to be. They promise a lot and offer very little - perhaps they offer a lot of money but nothing else. Many of my friends in investment banking would perhaps agree with me....then again after working 18 hour days they may be too tired to read this blog.

Why you need to identify each of the 'components' of your career

Ensuring a successful and rewarding career is not simply about gaining some specific piece of knowledge and then taking on a role that appears to be appropriate. Knowledge is only one component of any career role that you have to take care of and manage - no matter what it is. Depending on the role itself others components (to varying degrees) include;

1. Ongoing demand for that role in the economy/organization

You cannot assume you can continue to perform your current role, in its current form, forever and gain the same financial reward. You need to determine why your role is in demand and ensure you move along with what is and will be required.

2. Leadership and management ability and understanding

This is just not about being a leader or managing others - it's about understanding and having empathy with those who lead and manage you. There are many styles of leadership and management and both as a leader and someone being lead you need to comprehend what is best and how to adapt to the varying styles with which you will be faced.

3. Time and stress management

Put simply, if you do not manage or your time or stress levels then your career performance will suffer. Two key drivers of performance are focus and dedication - being stressed and not allocating time to important tasks will not allow you to be either.

4. Networking

More and more careers are requiring some kind of networking to be undertaken - even if it's inter-departmental. Don't shut yourself off in your cubicle, home office...These days it's very much who you know as much as what you know.

5. Personal presence and confidence

Personality plays a large role in career success, no matter how knowledgeable you are in your role. If you want to progress and develop in and beyond your current role you have to be confident (not cocky or bragging) that you can handle your role and more. This is just not about ensuring promotion in your career. If you wanted a flexible work arrangement for say family reasons, there is even more reason to appear that you are confident you can perform in this situation.

6. Health and well-being

More and more evidence points to the fact that if you are strong physically it will allow your mental capabilities to be fully utilized. Mental health and well-being is also a critical component of performance and you must ensure meditation and relaxation is scheduled into your week.

7. Identification of re-education required

Associated with Point 1, experience will only take you so far - as the world changes, the economy changes and thus demand for goods and services changes. Your knowledge of today will not suffice for what is required tomorrow and you have to ensure you keep yourself up to date - this can mean subject matter knowledge, marketing and sales techniques, IT etc. If you don't, then you run the risk of becoming redundant in terms of skills on offer and career options will be limited.

8. IT ability

You need to assess the basic level of IT skills required now and in the future. This basic level will continue to rise so don't think being young means you automatically know everything required.

9. Perseverence and drive

This is one of the most important components. You need to work hard and smart and don't regard failure at any point as the end of the journey but as part of the journey. Success is not achieved overnight and you cannot assume that once you have achieved one thing that it will not disappear if you don't continue to perform. You need to understand your motivations and values for performing.

If it was only knowledge that was important then those with the highest IQ would have the most successful careers - and this is not the case. Aspects of emotional and social intelligence play a major role in success apart from IQ.

The next three important steps are the following; (1) identifying the rank and percentage of the total current role related to the above components, (2) produce a plan on how to improve your performance of each and (3) do the last two things for your next planned career moves. It's no good finding out you don't know how to drive or drive well when given a car....you have to plan in advance.

Building wealth...and understanding what you're truly worth in the new economy.

Whether you choose to be wealthy or not is completely up to you - but all of us require a certain level of wealth to live. Food, shelter, education, giving to charity and providing for the family...this is the basic expenditure each of us will face during the course of our lives. If you want to live a different lifestyle, assuming the basics are the minimum you will require more wealth - by this I include additional education costs, asset costs (houses, cars), additional health costs etc. So we all know a ballpark figure how much wealth we might like to have...the difficulty is calculating exactly what you will need and then knowing what it will take to achieve it.

The danger around wealth is the concept of having 'too little or too much'. This is pretty much a rule of thumb based on what we think we need, what life costs, what others around us tell us and what we hear on the media. Even going to financial planners (note that I do not consider all planners to be experts) doesn't help that much in this regard because again the use heuristics (fancy word for 'rule of thumb') to assess Rate of Return on assets, life expectancy, inflation etc etc. So I would advise everyone to take a hard, long look at what they think they'll need for the future and calcuate a number in detail.

However one of the biggest disconnects I see around wealth management is knowing how to achieve the wealth number you have calculated in the step above. There are many ways to make money - own business, working for a corporation, investing but there are no guarantees in any business venture, return on investment or career earnings. One of the problems created is that the wealth target is not going to be obtained because the initial calculation was incorrect and the earnings estimate is also not correct. Which gets me to the main point I wish to make - you need to carefully assess your 'economic value' and what that means in respect to potential revenue to be earned. I want to focus initially on those who career is within a corporation, where a role title and framework of responsibility is quite often the basis for an earnings estimate. No one looks at their own individual skills, the ability to undertake a role effectively, how useful that role is to the company's future and bottom line. We assume so much and validate so little around what our abilities are truly worth - and the impact on your overall wealth is potentially immense.

We will see fallout from what I have spoken of above from the recent financial market events - many people will find their once high-paying jobs not existent and come to realize that their current skills are no longer relevant for the transformed financial or economic environment. For some this will impact their medium and long wealth assumptions and situation. My hope is that the wealth management industry and individuals in the future challenges some of the current financial heuristics in effect but pay closer attention to the forever changing economic value of one's skills and knowledge - and what that has in the wealth creation process

Tactical and strategic career management - both need sufficient attention

I tend to focus a lot of my thoughts on career management these days as it is aligning itself more and more with my business mission. My primary focus is on increasing professional performance in the context of both an organization and individual. That is, improving the performance and the results you achieve in your professional life and in many ways apply where possible sport science princples for individuals. Why shouldn't bankers, educators, engineers, fitness professionals, actors etc all benefit from a complete performance improvement program similar to that made available to professional athletes who train for the short terms and long term? From what I see many small business enterprises and individuals do not have a clear objective or an understanding of how to control the actions necessary to achieve their objectives. Instead both business enterprises and individuals just go through the motions, perhaps working hard, but there is no real control or management over the direction they are taking.

On the back of this I wanted to discuss what career planning and management is about and what should be recognized as being required. Planning is crucial in running a business and no self-respecting or successful businessman or entrepreneur (at least the ones I know as clients and friends) would ever consider a project or opportunity without a plan. If you watch Dragons Den on BBC 2, concepts without a plan are just that - concepts as opposed to a potential business idea or model. In talking about career management, at least for this blog, I am looking more at those people working for an organization rather than working as an entrepreneur or business owner. Reason being is that I believe if you're running a successful business then you have dealt with the issues I am discussing - however please feel free to take note of anything useful.

For many in organizations the concept of career management is based on a six-monthly and annual review with your direct manager. You discuss some objectives for your role and what you want to achieve or need to achieve in the next period. Longer term plans are not really discussed, your manager has no expertise in this field, there is no discussion around shifting demand for your role and knowledge requirements, and there is no talk on how to improve your performance - not just in the role but your baseline performance ie. mental agility, confidence, core skills, leadership and teamwork etc etc. Is it no surprise you find you lose control of your career after a period of time, do not know where your job is taking you, become unmotivated and most probably on a path to not having the skills or knowledge you need to perform in the job of your choosing in the future.

I've decided the answer to this is tactical and strategic career management - similar to short term and long term goals and objectives but more of a plan rather than just listed points or abstract concepts. Career management must be split between tactical and strategic because they are not the same thing. Tactical plans are in place to achieve short term goals and strategic plans long term goals. If you are in war and win a battle, you will not win the war if you only know how to fight a single battle with a single goal. Likewise strategic thinking is of no benefit if you get killed in the first battle. So below is some advice divided under tactical and strategic career managment headings.

TACTICAL

1. Understand what it will take to succeed at your current role and what the next step will be and by when.
2. Do not just work for the sake of being busy - work hard to achieve clear objectives.
3. Do not make a decision today that will negatively impact your strategic goals.
4. Do not think your organization will support you in achieving your long term objectives - you have to make your own effort to learn, network and gain useful knowledge.
5. Recognized the tactical planning is the foundation for long-term achievement but that short-term wins do not guarantee long term success if they are not the 'correct' wins'

STRATEGIC

1. Achieving in the long-term means achieving many times in the short-term.
2. Your mission, values and self-purpose form the basis of your strategic objectives - you need to establish these early in your career and self-manage on a regular basis.
3. Once you have a plan don't be impatient and look for a short-cut in the short-term.
4. Never believe in the status quo and visualize yourself and the world two decades or more from now. What skills will you need, what will be job demand etc.
5. Combine Personal and Professional development plans to create your 'career framework'.

I use a combination of performance psychology, neurolinguistic programming and business strategy concepts with my clients to achieve the above framework. The bottom line is too many of us do not give our careers the attention they deserve (rather hoping for the best) or make too much effort in the wrong areas. Don't think you know what is going to work - put the time in to ensure your effort is rewarded.

Enhance your career by adding value, not just being useful

The way society works these days is a lot different from the past...and that includes what organizations require of their employees. It used to be enough to be useful to the organization and to serve a purpose if you wanted to ensure job security. However it is evident that today that is definitely not the case. Today, if you wish your career to be within a corporation, you must add-value to it's bottom line - not just today but next month, next year and so forth.

The two questions you might ask yourself are (1) what do I need to know or do to provide this value? and (2) who can I obtain this information or guidance from? The short answer to the first question is to understand that impacts the bottom line of the company and your division in particular and look for ways to improve it. Do more than your job requires, particularly if you realize that your actual position adds very little to the bottom line of your organization. If you realize this then someone higher up will and you know that is the end of your career as you know it. In respect to question two look at those who are successful in your organization to provide guidance or those in similar positions at competitor organizations. For what it's worth I find that HR and Training departments unfortunately are not sufficiently resourced or knowledgeable these days to provide any real assistance. It's not all their fault as organisations are requiring them to pick up more administrative tasks and subsequently their skill sets are being diluted away from what I believe are the more important roles of people management, being reskilling advice and career advice for employees.

Whilst being useful is about performing a process, adding value is about providing knowledge and skill the company doesn't otherwise have or not have in sufficient quantities. What does this mean for you? In simple terms obtain more knowledge, not just about what is required to perform for the company today but what is going to be required in the years to come.

The last piece I want to say is in respect to networking, both inter-company and outside of company. Having connections can be invaluable to providing value to the organisation you work for, in respect to possible sources of new employees, new sales channels and other information. Don't think by putting your head down within your cubicle and working the 15 hour, 6 day a week schedule will guarantee you the career of your dreams (doesn't sound like a great career anyhow). Rather get out and network with others in the industry(s) in which your organization deals. Establishing a positive relationship with management from another organization or your own will never hurt your career and in 9 times out of 10, be sure to enhance it.

Preparing for the day when you must become 'You' Ltd

A lot of talk and good talk has been in the media, over the past year in particular, in respect to 'the brand call you' and what this actually means for you. In today's society where trends in social and business networking are necessitating the need to communicate personal differentiation, it is very important to see yourself as a personal brand and more importantly what it takes for your brand to be perceived how you intend it to be. What you think and what others think can be completely separate things - this is one of the most important rules of knowing yourself.

However I see personal branding a little more than how you dress, how you speak etc. I see the whole concept more about 'You' Ltd, meaning you have to see yourself as a company in itself. In addition to branding, you need a strategy, goals, financial targets, development plans and processes that will permit you to succeed in achieving your goals. Society is moving away from relying on big business to provide jobs for life, guarantee your future or provide the personal and professional development you desire. Remember big business is also run by people who for most part will put themselves first. I am aware of large organizations that are planning today to contract out large sections of their workforce in order to better control cost, streamline the organization and be able to control the resources they utilize. That means if you are not prepared for the day when your company asks you to take redundancy then you will not be in a good place.

So what I wanted to do is provide a few key steps in getting you thinking about the day when you may have to take your skills and work as an independent.

1. Think about your overall strategy and what you want to achieve from your work. This includes personal development, lifestyle and financial needs and wants. Write yourself a business plan on 'You' Ltd. Undertake research on the market to see what careers may be in demand in the future and why - or go to someone who can assist in this area like a business and career consultancy. Dynamic Life Creations undertakes such research for a lot of its clients in this space.

2. Consider the competititive advantage do you bring to the market. What skills do you have that others do not. Which sectors and organizations would want your skills and what period of time are we talking.

3. Before the time comes perhaps consider networking with others who can provide complimentary skills that can contribute to you achieving your overall strategy.

4. Update your basic skills around goal setting and management, networking, financial management, marketing and the internet - these are skills you will need to ensure 'You' Ltd succeeds. Even if you won't be actively involved with everything, when running your own business you need an understanding of all facets of your organization in order to manage them.

5. Speak to others already running their own business. Events never happen until they do and not being prepared for a changing economy will be something you will have to deal with when the time comes.

How to ensure a satisfying career

Amongst us there are those who have completely fulfilling careers, both professionally and personally, those who have satisfactory careers and lastly those with careers that are disappointing from both a professional and personal level. The question that needs to be answered is how do you achieve option 1 rather than option 2 and definitely not option 3.

The start of the career path for each of us starts from a different place due to a number of factors; family wealth, educational background of parents, socioeconomic status etc but this does not guarantee you have a satisfying career. There are many people coming from a background of wealth and privilege who are underachieving, unmotivated and not satisfied with their career and career path. Likewise there are those from ordinary and disadvantaged backgrounds who would say they have fulfilling careers.

From what I have studied the responses given may or may not be based on expectations but we may have to consider that has some influence but it is also important to note that purely considering financial rewards does not result in a guaranteed positive response or likewise a negative response if the financial reward is low. It appears the key drivers to a satisfying career are; having control over the career path, having your personal goals satisfied, feeling useful, receiving meaningful benefits, and knowing why you are undertaking the career you are in. It is also known that if you consider your career satisfying your performance will be high and you should receive personal benefit. High performance will be achieved simply because you want to perform well and this will ensure your focus and dedication is strong.

So what this means is that you have to be clear on why you are undertaking your job and what you are gaining from both a personal and professional perspective, not just undertake a role for the sake of it and assume it will provide you with what you want. It is up to you to take the time to identify what aspects of a job are important to you, from a principle point of view, and ensure you align these with the career you undertake. The consequence of not doing this is dissatisfaction and lack of motivation, perhaps not initially but over time when you are not achieving what is important to you - however at that time it might be too late to change.

How to effectively shape your career

More and more questions continue to arise in respect to work-life balance and life purpose, the main challenge revolving around how to shape your career to achieve the first two whilst maintaining some level of financial sanity.

I wanted to focus on career shaping as the career represents more than simply a job where you earn money. A career today provides opportunity for personal growth, financial security and independence, giving back to society, life purpose and direction, self discovery and many others. However it is recognized that it is very difficult to shape a career to achieve all these things with the time we have and everyday pressures....it's not like we live forever. Therefore you must first be able to put a framework around your dreams, goals and purpose to fit what is either being demanded or will be demanded by society in the future.

The way I see it your career or purpose must supply a need or want within our society's economic, political, social or health environments ie. it doesn't matter how important you think something is if no one else WILL NEVER think the same. Of course you will still have to convince people at times that what you have to offer is valuable but the fact is that they will be or can be convinced. Even now all careers (prefer this word to 'jobs') provide a use to society, either directly through a self-owned business or to a larger organization - but you see what happens when this demand is no longer wanted. Either the business fails or the organization makes your position redundant. At that point you ask yourself "what is it I am actually providing to society..what purpose do I have?" Not a great question to be asking.

So it's a question of just being thoughtful in selecting your career path and the skills and knowledge you are acquiring. Never assume society will remain status quo and never assume your organization will always support you. Look at the shifting sphere of demand and supply in the economy and then look at your personal interests. What do you like, what would you like to achieve, what would it mean and would it motivate you to succeed? Not only do you have to look at what society wants you also have to understand yourself - personal motivations and principles by which you want to live is crucial. Remember your decision not only impacts you but also your family from the position of a role model.

Should companies be responsible for 'reskilling' employees?

When it comes to career management there are two kinds of organizations; those who provide training to their staff based on perceived organizational needs for particular roles and those firms which leave training and personal development completely up to their staff. Quite often though, even for the companies providing training and development, the focus is on the present needs rather than anticipated future requirements - both at organizational and individual levels. Therefore the entire aspect of personal and future development is not comprehensively forward looking.

So the day comes when the organizational identifies the fact that the role you are currently undertaking either is no longer necessary or that the skill and knowledge requirements are now different from what they used to be. For one reason or another, and quite strangely I believe, more and more often this is occurring with little or no advance warning. I get to thinking shouldn't the organization be in a better position to offer their staff advice in respect to the future of their role and the skills and knowledge they must obtain? If cannot do this then I get to thinking that organizations do not know their business well enough - but then who is in a position to assist you from a professional development point of view?

Any company should be up to date on what is happening in its industry and anticipate future market changes, demands and personnel needs. Resources must be allocated to this responsibility and the role of a 'futurist' or future strategy think-tank should be employed for this very purpose. Whilst individuals might think they know best in how to progress their personal development, professional development requires more of a holistic view of the market including the demand and supply of skills and knowledge, along with the setup and running of training programs themselves. In very much the same way universities take research on course and program content and development, companies must take on the same responsibility for their personnel simply because they are best placed to do so.

It is no excuse for any organisation to make redundant thousands of staff for the sake of shareholder value when they know their workers may not have the skills to transfer to supply shortages elsewhere in the economy. Resource reallocation of human assets, otherwise known as redundancy, can be good for society as it takes resources from areas where it is not needed to areas where it is. However companies need to assist, even cross industry, to make this happen otherwise the process becomes a huge negative on how we manage our resources and individuals' quality of life.

Is an intense and financially rewarding career misleading you?

Regret and realization are two words never used in the present tense, only the past, and this is unfortuate as we would be undoubtably better off if we could access them as a guide to the future. What I want to say is that only after a result has occurred that we do not want does the emotion of regret become realizable in our minds and then we start with the attempted emotional salvage, consisting of 'next time I'll do.." or "I should have or could have done....".

In my experience, based on my studies and work with clients, key drivers of regret always stem from (but not restricted to) a lack of purpose in what is being done (leading to low motivation), lack of clarity (meaning no vision of clear goals or objectives) and lack of refined knowledge and skill (that you are not so useful and have served little purpose to the community and society). No one wants to face the emotion of regret and it can manifest into a darker path if not addressed but the challenge is to be aware of the direction your life is taking and take the appropriate steps to make change where necessary.

Many clients come to me already mentally exhausted and emotionally weakened because they have just come to the conclusion that the direction they are taking in life is not want they want. I'm told because of the 12-16 hour days and large financial rewards that they never really had time in their 20's or even 30's to stop and assess where their life was heading and it's purpose. When they do stop and assess they don't always like what they find and even worse, where it is heading. As Maslow, an eminent psychologist hypothesized, it is every humans' goal to achieve a state of self-actualization and purpose, and this may appear at any time. What you want at 45 is different to that at 35 and definitely different to that at 25. Whilst you can change your mind in an instant, changing your life's direction can take considerably longer - thus need for pre planning and consideration.

Life management is about defining and managing your personal brand and identity in society - and on a continual basis as society evolves around us. Now whilst there is not yet any scientific approach to this process there are some obvious steps you can take; work with a life coach and psychologist to understand your values and motivations, identify your key interests and passions, know and understand your personality (refer to Myers Briggs) and from common sense point of view, dress and act as you would want to be perceived. Clean up your online profile and manage that the same as you would manage yourself in the real world. What this will provide you with is a basis for your being and create a framework of the principles within which you want to live your life.

The key point I want to make is that you need to be consciously aware of the path you are taking in life and the purpose you have. Hoping it will all turn out is simply giving up control of your existence to fate and losing control of your life is not an emotional state you want to experience

Would you use an 'expert' if they knew only a little more than you?

There are experts offering services in pretty much all areas of our lives and as non-experts we use them to achieve goals in particular areas of focus. There are experts in accounting, recruitment, investment, tax, personal development, relationships, law, health...the list goes on and on. Now the basis for being an expert is generally two things, either one or both; accumulation of knowledge based on study and application of skill due to experience.

Now you would expect an 'expert' to be much better and a whole lot more knowledgeable then you are in a particular area before agreeing to utilize their services. Why? Because they cost a lot and you need a quality result - otherwise why use them in the first place. However what I have determined recently however is that many people claiming to be 'experts' in particular fields have little expert knowledge and two cannot provide you with a result that you would expect. What they are good at is convincing you of their quality and that you are getting value for money. The problem is it is difficult to validate a result or outcome from their services unless compared against something else - and many of us do not have that luxury.

I see it as 90% self-marketing and 10% of actual useful knowledge transfer. Experts have recently appeared in investment, coaching, personal branding, personal development, career management and personal training to name a few....where society as a whole are not quite aware as to what constitutes a valid qualification. Would you believe there are many investment advisers who only sell and advise on the 10% of potential investment strategies that they know or life coaches who cannot manage their own lives and have absolutely no formal training in psychology or coaching techniques. What about a personal trainer with no formal knowledge of nutrition or physiology? What benefit would you receive from someone who 'tells you what they think' rather than 'what is proven'? I know people out in the market consulting on personal branding - inherently not a new term but the growing individualism of the economy has brought it to our attention. Some of the advice is practical, extremely worthwhile but mostly commonsense - it is not proven to produce a predefined result and there is no established framework to produce a 'particularly perceived' personal brand image. Further there is no formal knowledge required or certification - so how can you validate the result? The answer is you cannot. Perception and effective marketing is a huge part of being an expert in many new fields where you simply have to convince people how good you actually are.

I do digress and in no way mean to slight any of the many experts in the above industries as I am friends with many, respect for many more and am involved myself. What I do want to focus on is the fact that so-called experts perhaps know only a little if nothing more than the rest of us. It might mean reading a book or magazine article to know someone more than the person next to you. If you want to manage your career for example get want some advice and direction go to someone with recognized knowledge and experience - and ask for evidence of this. But also research what qualifications and experience this person has. The internet has laid rise to a huge number of 'self proclaimed' experts and in our quest for success and wealth, we're tending to grab at anything and dilute the 'expert' brand. This may indirectly lead to the death of education as who needs formal qualifications if your word is accepted by the rest of society? It may also lead to a society that does not develop as quickly or in the direction that is best.

Workplace reality...merging and creation of career paths. Where are you placed?

Part of managing your career effectively is to be aware of current and future workplace and career trends. This includes; knowing the people resource direction your organization and similar organizations are heading, the demand for skills and knowledge going forward, potential new career paths being created and careers that will no longer be required. Managing your career path with the assumption that the status quo will continue is one sure way to waking up one day finding your skills and knowledge are no longer needed in the new economy. So what does this mean for you?

Well to begin with you have to recognize how 'in demand' your current skill and knowledge set is and ascertain whether the future trend is up or down. My clients speak to me quite regularly about the research I undertake on future career and business trends to gauge whether they are increasing their 'economic value' by remaining in their current career. If you prefer to undertake your own research then read magazines relating to business, economics, human resources, entrepreneurs etc and don't just read the words....have a think about what these articles are inferring about the direction our society is taking. Ensure your personal brand reflects in part what society will be demanding in the future.

You should also look at your current employing organization and those of your friends and family. Look at the roles on offer and have a think about whether your role and others will be required within the next five years? Organizations undoubtably aim for continual performance improvement and this means merging, outsourcing or automating roles where possible. This is not a bad thing as our society only develops through continual reallocation of resources - and this includes people. However it will spell disaster if you think you can perform the same role forever - even if you are upper management. I have one friend who is performing three roles within her organization - one because of a maternity and one because someone has not been replaced, in addition to her own. Don't think for a second that if she performs well that her firm will hire the two staff that were there only a month ago.

Once you have a better idea of where you are, immediately start to plan for the future transition that must happen, whether that be a career change, adjustment or move from big business to your own or vice versa. Speak to a career management and business coach about opportunities and next steps - begin to understand your true motivations and values so someone with a background in performance psychology would be an advantage. Look at the potential future roles you might want to work in and identify the skills and knowledge required - this may require going back to school for a couple of years but do that knowing that in two years you will be well-placed to take advantage of market demand.

Achievement of goals part 1 - work smarter not harder

Achieving goals consists of a number of factors; defining the goal, allocating the time, working hard consistently, having a vision and purpose etc. But the one thing I see that consistently prevents individuals and organizations from achieving goals is the fact that the actions undertaken are not aligned to the achievement of the goal itself. No matter how hard you work or how much you plan or how much you visualize the goal, you will not get to your objective if your actions are not appropriate.

This is where business psychology needs to catch up with sports psychology and sports science around performance and goals if it's going to truly assist entrepreneurs and organizations and individuals achieve business and career goals. The science behind sport is quite clear depending on the sport you are undertaking and what you want to achieve and when. Training schedules are arranged, diets and nutrition laid out in detail, rest periods/tapering etc. The psychology around sports is also quite clear. However in business and career management there are many organizations and individuals who I see with great goals, lots of dedication but really do not know how to decide what actions to take or validate their decision.

So how do I suggest goals to be achieved more effectively? Well for one focus on working smarter not harder. Working harder and making more effort does not achieve anything if you're headed in the wrong direction. Based on this you need to continually assess whether your actions are actually the right ones - therefore have mini goals that can provide you with some feedback at regular stages as to whether you're on the right path. If you're not achieving the mini goals then there is no basis for thinking you'll achieve the main objective. It's also important that the reward for achieving the goals is there and tangible..otherwise motivation will fade.

Individuals and organizations have a lot to learn about goal setting - in an organization the difficulty is that the positions responsible to help achieve organizational goals are often held by those who do not know the science or art of achieving goals to begin with. In part 2 I'll look at individual goal setting and part 3 organizational goal setting

What do you know or have that others will buy from you?

If the answer makes you think for too long, you have no answer or you come up with some reasoning including the words 'consulting, strategy, development...etc' then keep reading. What we need to understand is that the level of education and savy is such in the market today amongst the masses that the fancy titles and concepts that were difficult to understand and taught at only the top business schools in the past are no longer impressive. Every fourth rate school teaches the same concepts and with such a high percentage of the western world going to college the coverage of these concepts is extremely wide.

Am I recommending not going to school and to become an inventor, internet entrepreneur, celebrity cook, athlete etc instead? Perhaps so, but actually it doesn't matter what path you take as long as you do two things. One is to work hard and the second is to be very clear on what you are offering and why. The work hard is the easy bit, even the bit on being clear on what you are offering...the hard bit is to confirm the 'why'. 'Why' are you producing a product, delivering a service, studying something at school etc.

Liking what you do it extremely important (and I will get to the fact that there are different levels of 'liking or loving' your job) but more important you have to recognize a demand for your skill or knowledge. If no one is in the market for what you have to offer then what you have will go to waste. I'm not talking about the challenge of being able to 'brand' or 'market' your offering so people are interested...I am talking about no interest no matter what you do because it doesn't hit the right demographic, is out of sync with social trends etc.

So what you need to do, to ensure a meaningful career either as an employee or business person is to clarify what you have to offer, how you're going to offer it and why it will be bought. If you cannot do this now take the actions you need to in order to do so. Last word regarding liking your job...it's not always about pure enjoyment, but can be satisfaction gained from making a difference, achieving what only few can...don't confuse liking or loving the job along the same lines as loving your family or liking a gift. Make the meaning of the word whatever you need it to be to suit you.

Is the foundation of your career skill and knowledge or process driven

Every career is not created equal when it comes to looking at future progression, opportunities and rewards. At the most basic level the career is influenced by the same forces as pretty much everything else in society, that being demand versus supply. Ensuring demand or supply for knowledge or a skill is not something we can truly control as individuals because the forces surrounding that are larger than all of us. However we can help ourselves by identifying the careers that are and predicted to be in demand today and in the future and then suppliment our current skills and knowledge to be able to supply that demand to the market.

We can say there are skilled and non-skilled jobs, jobs that require specialist knowledge transfer and those that require none. In general that is how society views the careers available to the market today. In actual fact all careers require some level of skill and some level of knowledge that must be transferred when performing a task. However when I allude to 'process' in the title of this blog I am making a distinction between careers where there is some kind of barrier to entry and those where there is very minimal. For example, working hard labour as a seasonal fruit picker (though still physically challenging) is easy to commence as opposed as working as a top laywer or doctor where many years of study are required. It is these kinds of jobs, that though not guaranteed, can morph into another career using the same underlying skills and where the skills and knowledge are still in demand by society. Fruit pickers on the other hand, once replaced my machines or cheaper labour, cannot take their skills to another industry.

I am not saying that jobs will not come and go, career becoming something different from initial intentions. The point to be made is that survival in this society is not from assuming you can perform the same job forever. Here I will make a distinction between job and career; job is an actual undertaking of a task in the present, a career is utilising a core set of skills and knowledge for different but inter-related objectives over the course of your life. Transferrable skills and knowledge, and ensuring that these are up to date with demand, is key to survival. Undertaking a process driven job and assuming the company will take care of you is something we all know very well is not going to happen.

I want to conclude that process driven jobs are not just those in manual environments - many desk jobs are also process driven with little skill or knowledge required, rather just some training and practice. The secret is to recognize what kind of job you have in respect to the foundation underlying its demand, and make a conscious decision to take on additional skills or knowledge to protect yourself and to give yourself more options in the future.