Several years ago , if you had walked up to me and
asked, what do you do and what would you like to do
in few years, I would have had an easy set of answers.
I would have said, well, I'm a manager of course.
In a few years, I want to be a bigger manager!!
Looking back, I was quite serious. My self-image and
entire world was rolled up into a title. After much
internal work and self reflection, several years
later, I have a much different answer. Well, I'm a dad,
husband, coach, author, speaker, teacher, community
volunteer, doctoral student, aspiring philanthropist,
(My wife laughs at this), and the list goes on.
You see, this list is one that can't be taken away,
unlike a job title. You can take away the job title
though. How empowering it was to in fact think about
what I do in terms of skills or activities. Aligning
these skills or activities under one's most important
values is indeed the nesting effect. I won't cover this
process in this article but it is one that is equally
powerful.
Employability In Your Future
As companies grow bigger and sometimes more complex,
I believe defining what one does in terms of their
specific skill set will be of use both to the
company as well as to the indificual. This applies
to those who work for themselves as well.
I imagine (just my view) that the company of the
future will peer into giant databases and look for
employees with specific skills, not job titles.
Projects and activities will start and stop and they
will require employees with various skill sets. To
strengthen employability, I have outlined a few practical
ideas for looking at yourself as a person with a portfolio
that includes your specific set of skills and services
that you are able to provide.
I think you will find that this method of thinking and
defining might open up new paths of opportunity for you.
Only you can answer:
Who are you as a person? (I am a person that is .....
What are your values? (My key values are......
What are your beliefs? (I believe that .......
What are your capabilities? ( I am good at.......
What are your behaviors? ( I generally act.............
You might note, that as you change a belief about yourself,
it affects your capabilities, your values and your purpose
just to name a few. Take someone who believes that they are
not good at speaking in public. This might affect their
capability to speak and might effect their williness to
volunteer (Behavior) .
If this person acted in a way that made them feel
confident about speaking, it might indeed effect their
capabilities and their beliefs about speaking.
One might also evaluate how their values and purpose are
effected as well?
Make a list of all the things you are good at?
How would you explain what you do to someone without
mentioning your job title? At least do this exercise as
it is thought provoking.
Balance
Ah, the B word. Have you found that too much of anything
can cause burnout? Once you have answered these questions
for yourself, and are thinking of your life and services
you offer as a portfolio, try the following: Take a given
month, and allocate by percentage where you spend your
time with what I call the ten slices of life.
Ten slices of life:
- Hobby work (What you like to do with your free time)
- Family work (Time with family)
- Leisure work(Vacation, travel, relaxing)
- Homework (Duties at home)
- Wage work (Primary job)
- Study work ( Education)
- Fee work( What can you sell)
- Community work( Volunteer)
- Health work (Include sleep and other activities to keep your
body in shape)
- Mind work (Activities to feed, grow and stimulate your brain)
* Now, draw yourself a chart showing by the current month where
you spend your time.
* Draw a new chart reflecting where you want your allocation to
be in five years.
Make this fun.
Do this once every six months and evaluate.
Has your purpose changed?
How about your values?
What about your beliefs, capabilities and behaviors?
Have you added or deleted anything from your portfolio of
services?
How does your ten slices of life graph look?
Are you in balance?
Lastly, every six months, answer this question.
If you had to describe your calling card without
mentioning a job title, what would it say ?
Too timely? This process can take about 2-3 hours every
six months with perhaps a one day startup somewhere off
on your own.
The investment can last a lifetime.
What would you like your license plate to say to state
the purpose of your life?
The next time someone asks you what you do, try telling
them without giving a job title. You'll be surprised what
you experience. Scary at first, sure.
Do you own your own employability?
You can!!
Craig Nathanson
The Vocational Coach T
''Guiding you to discover and live your vocational passion''
Workshops, Publications, Retreats and Private Coaching
Phone 925-736-3952 Fax 925-736-5758
craig@thevocationalcoach.com
http://www.thevocationalcoach.com
Assess your vocational passion; Buy now at:
http://www.thevocationalcoach.com/images/vpassionhow-how%20do%20you%20rae.htm
