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reasons you work: career evolution

December 28, 2015 by

Retirement here I come! Are you longing for the day when you don’t have to work anymore? When you can retire? This concept of retirement is changing dramatically. Previously, retirement usually occurred around 65 and most entered a life of rest and relaxation. That’s no longer the template.

Many people are working for pay way past 65. Either because they need funds to survive or because they have uncovered a reason to keep working. And most are doing some form of unpaid work. Whether it’s caregiving parents, partners or grandchildren, serving their communities or volunteering with non-profits.

Why do you work? Looking over your work cycle, note how the reasons you work change over time. You probably worked during high school and college. These were spending money jobs, money for books, tuition money or internships that introduced you to various fields. Some jobs were paid and others you did for experience or to give back. Maybe through volunteering you earned credits or good references or a place in heaven.

Remember your first real job after graduation? Were you working because you were driven or because it was expected? Were you hoping to live independently and become successful in a chosen field? Or were you testing the waters, making relationships, learning about yourself?

As you grow, so do your reasons for working. There is often the need not only to support yourself, but also a growing family. There is the societal pressure to accumulate material possessions and experiences, like cars, homes, vacations. But there is also the drive to move up the ladder. Take on more responsibility and leadership, and produce results while becoming an expert in your profession.

Samantha is in her 50’s and was just appointed full professor at the state university. She worked very hard to get there, teaching, doing research, chairing committees, earning grants. Samantha is often tired and overwhelmed with her work load. She always thought being a professor would be something she could do forever, slowing down gradually as she aged. And yet as she rises through the ranks, it seems people expect more from her. And the system she entered no longer looks the same. She is teaching less and grant writing more.

While Samantha questions what is ahead for her, she hardly dares to ask why she continues in her position. What does it provide her? Is she fulfilled?

Samantha’s friend Harry is retired and his life seems so simple to Samantha. He appears to have no pressures and his time is his own. Harry retired because he could afford it and was no longer finding work satisfaction. Harry thought he accomplished everything he desired, but now often finds himself adrift.

Harry is 70 and society accepts that he is retired. No one asks him why he isn’t working. In fact if he found a new career or started his own business, people might wonder why. Now if Samantha retired at 55, she might have to explain herself to family, friends, society.

As long as we believe there is a prescribed place you need to be based on your age, we will have people who defy those norms. As people age, most seek work that has meaning and purpose. Meaningful to you and meaningful to others.

How will you decide when to work and when to retire? How will you answer that question: What do you do? Who are you? How will you design what is best for you?

George is 85 and still works for pay part time. His sister is 88 and working also. This wasn’t the norm with their parents, but it is their way. If you ask them why they still work, they will tell you they enjoy it. It stimulates them. They are making a difference and choose to be involved. Who are we to say what’s best or right for someone else? How can we acknowledge all the various life designs that people create?

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”

Henry David Thoreau

You can benefit from these diverse role models as you chart your course. There is no script to follow. You have the freedom to make life fit your desires. A second, third, fourth act await you, if you wish. Your legacy will comprise all that you create and the lives you touch.

Why work:

List your current reasons for working
Make a work history time line
Identify your current legacies
Imagine how your future could be different
Take one step toward your vision

Happy drumming and hope to meet on the path!

Filed Under: Career Transitions, Life Design Tagged With: , , ,

beginning a new job: demonstrating your value, part 3

August 31, 2015 by

You were hired to produce results. As basic as that sounds, achieving results early in a new job can be a challenge. You may be entering a role that is familiar. Or perhaps, you are moving up to one of greater responsibility and authority, either within your organization or elsewhere.

This new role is one you sought out and thought about for a long time. Now that it’s yours, how will you demonstrate your value to your employer? You seek to be recognized for the good work you do. In order to insure success, here are some principles to keep in mind.

You aren’t in Kansas anymore. What worked in previous environments may or may not work here. To enter a new organization with a pre-conceived solution may set you up for failure. You can bring your previous skills, knowledge, values, and experience, but a solution is developed over time.

Often you lack extensive time to prove yourself. Michael D. Watkins talks of the “break even point, the time when you contribute as much value to the organization as you consume”. To create that value it helps to establish a 90 day work plan which includes priorities, goals, strategies, and deadlines. This is accomplished in collaboration with your supervisor and team. Regular feedback on your progress will keep you on track to become successful.

Maria recently was promoted to head the department where she has worked for 10 years. Maria holds many ideas of improvements that can benefit her former peers as well as streamline results. She is an expert in her previous role and respected in the company. However, Maria has never directed a unit nor partnered with management.

Maria’s 90 day plan needs to include her personal learning objectives as well as early wins that matter to the organization. Maria and her supervisor need to establish realistic expectations for her first 90 days. Maria will accelerate her transition by focusing on the company’s stated priorities versus her preferred ideas for change.

As time goes by, Maria realizes the view from the Manager’s office is different than where she stood before. She now has more information: input from other units, contact with clients, and competitors. Maria feels more invested in the organization’s success. While she hasn’t lost her former perspective, Maria is building on it to function effectively in her new position. She finds this both exciting and challenging.

While theses first 90 days in a new job are filled with learning, growing, producing, and building new relationships, they can be exhausting. The self care you were able to manifest before the transition helps some, but this care needs to continue in order to fuel your development.

How many times have you begun a new job only to say later, “What have I gotten myself into?” The pressure and uncertainty can become overwhelming. Therefore, another “must do” is creating a unique self care plan.

“We will be more successful in all our endeavors if we can let go of the habit of running all the time and take little pauses to relax and re-center ourselves. And we’ll also have a lot more joy in living.”

Thich Nhat Hahn

Stress is a huge factor in our work lives and even more during transitions. Having a plan to combat stress includes exercise, eating whole foods, adopting a support network, and having an outlet for fun. Pick an activity that brings you healthy joy with people you trust and care about. Some possibilities are: a hiking club, dancing, painting, or acting. We all require an outlet and social interaction outside of work to relieve pressure.

Maria is now three months into her new position. It’s been a tremendous learning experience and she’s fortunate to have a supportive boss as her mentor. People want Maria to succeed. Her perspective of “new eyes” is bringing innovative strategies to increase the company’s bottom line. There’s more growth to come, but Maria is off to a promising beginning.

Establish your 90 day plan:

Align it with the organization’s priorities
Develop necessary skills
Demonstrate early wins
Evaluate your progress
Practice self care

Enjoy your transition and see you on the path!

Filed Under: Career Transitions Tagged With: , , ,

pausa: using a break to transform your career

January 29, 2015 by

cala luna cave

For most of us, life moves very rapidly. We jump from responsibilities to activities to thoughts and worries. It’s like we are on an automatic walkway. If we slow down, we risk falling off and all the balls we are juggling will drop. The extreme dis-ease of busyness prevents us from finding greater clarity.

Sometimes it takes a planned immersion into a slower moving culture to have the space to reflect and explore where your career is headed. I love to escape the cold of winter and travel closer to the Equator where life seems sleepy and steamy. Usually vacations afford us that time to slow down and leave behind heavy obligations. Pair that opportunity with an unhurried, warm community and you have the “pausa” which gives a break and allows your creative juices to flow.

When is the last time you took a “break” from your career? A career transition point can occur by choice or involuntarily. It can become a huge change or a small re-direction. You can be let go or you can let yourself leave.

If you are pleased at work, you may not pause to consider why. If you are in discomfort, you may lack the stamina to create new solutions. Both scenarios require your attention.

Consider those people who design their own career transition points on a regular basis through sabbaticals or project work. They view their commitments as short term, temporary. As such, they are regularly considering their interests and needs. Sylvia uses her I.T. expertise to work when needed and takes off to travel the world when she has a sufficient nest egg. She is continually asking herself, “what do I want now, personally and professionally?” Loyalty and status are not values for Sylvia. Freedom and flexibility are.

Business owners tend to actively review and regularly design their next steps. They employ a structured break or retreat to insure they are heading in the desired direction. Matt takes time quarterly to view the trends in his sales volume. He compares these figures with his annual goals. Additionally, he takes a reading break to stay on top of advancements in his field and sets up focus groups to get client input. Sometimes he takes a short vacation to completely unplug.

For those of you who are employees, often your career direction appears dictated by your organization and its leaders. You question what level of input you have as to your ongoing course. Your choices feel limited. But is that so?

As we mature in our career and life, we seek variety, change, and fulfillment. This desire propels us to become more proactive in our career path. Traditionally, annual reviews are a time for the employee to create growth goals and to express desires for the future. But who’s to say this is the only opportunity both for a review and a voice?

If you were to operate more as a free agent in your job, you would be alert to opportunities to improve performance and brainstorm ways to attract growth. As an employee it’s common to dream of how you would operate if you were the boss. But what stops you from advocating those ideas for everyone’s benefit?

Twenty years from now, you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do, than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines! Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, and discover.”
Mark Twain

Creating a Career “Pausa”

Schedule a break
Luxuriate in nothingness
Be in an unfamiliar space
Get curious around possibilities
Try on one new perspective

Relax and see you on the path!

Filed Under: Career Transitions Tagged With: , ,

meeting expectations: living up to your dreams

October 21, 2013 by

En vol au dessus des nuages

Frequently people tell me they regret they haven’t done more in their lives. They reference the career goals they set in their 20’s and beyond and come up missing. They compare themselves to others who have done more, those who are in a whirl of activity and are well known. In a way it feels like junior high school: comparisons with the popular kids, the In crowd.

Where do these expectations come from? How do they pop into our heads? It doesn’t take long to hold our families and teachers responsible for instilling early expectations. Maybe you had helicopter parents or instead ones who encouraged you to follow your own interests. We needed our parents and educators to introduce us to varied sports, skills, activities, ideas and then we grabbed the flag and took off in various directions. How did you imagine your future when you were 10, 15, 20? What were you headed for then? Some of us are in the ball park and others far afield. I never became that veterinarian or U.N. translator.

As we picked and chose among various interests, we learned what we were good at, what came naturally, and what intrigued us. Sometimes we tended to follow what our friends were doing. It felt good to be part of the pack. Sometimes we were the leader who showed others how it was done. Other times we marched alone to our own music.

After a while we settled on a career and built our lives around it. But soon that comparing comes up again, whether we are the employee or the boss. We tend to feel we can always do more and wonder how others seem to do it all. Perhaps we live with a vague disappointment in ourselves, a disappointment which impacts our hope and energy.

 As we age, our dreams change slightly or in a huge way. In addition to our paid work, our priorities grow to include family, friends, interests, and community. Our lives become more complex with competing demands.We wonder where we want to turn next. We may care about money, fame, leadership, creativity, significance, or being a pioneer. Again, are our criteria internally or externally driven? How do you recognize the factors that define your success?

What I have learned is that our priorities are driven by changing responsibilities. Consider your primary responsibility now. What was it 10 years ago? What will it be in another 10? Before and after children are launched, education achieved, and financial stability gained, we may focus primarily on our own satisfaction: what will light us up? If we are spending the majority of our waking hours at work, how do we want that experience to be?

Losing touch with dreams results in a vague confusion. Many people state they don’t know what they want. They have spent so much time doing what they “should”, they don’t know how to check in with themselves. That’s a time when we are vulnerable to comparisons. We look at others who seem on track and think that’s what we want to do or where we want to be. The danger is that we pick a direction or value that doesn’t fit and we end up dissatisfied.

That is where the difference between role models and people we envy is helpful. Role models serve as inspirations for purpose and mastery. Think about who in your community you admire. What is it about them that resonates with you? My grandfather comes to mind. He worked until he was about 85 and also created beauty by gardening in his backyard. And he always made time to do things with me. He had a balanced and well-lived life that kept him active and smiling.

“When you stop comparing what is right here and now with what you wish were, you can begin to enjoy what is”, Cheri Huber

If we are clear about what we value, we are less drawn to compare with others. Instead we ask, “am I living the life I choose?” As I navigate my encore career, I am mindful of hundreds of opportunities floating by my eyes like clouds. They change daily, monthly, yearly and present me with choices of how I want to be involved. I can reach up and grab any of those clouds and try them out, discard what doesn’t work, and keep what does.

Instead of comparing yourself to others:

Contemplate how satisfied you are
Appreciate your growth
Take note of your wins
Embrace your contributions
Remember your lessons learned
Be grateful for today
Make a plan that includes all that makes you come alive

Happy travels and see you on the path!

Filed Under: Career Transitions, Life Design, Self Knowledge Tagged With: , ,

staying relevant: broaden your value as you age

August 23, 2013 by

staiway in forest disappearing in strong fog

As we age, we wonder how we will continue to stay relevant. For some it is through career, for others through creation, and some through contribution. How does our age factor into our possibilities? We learn that engagement doesn’t stop at 65. Experts encourage us to continue working for numerous reasons: physical, mental, fiscal, and spiritual health. However, ageism stops some people along their journey. Sometimes the limiting beliefs are in our own heads and sometimes in the heads of the gatekeepers.

Let’s start with our own beliefs. I hear clients say they are too old to go “back to school”. They don’t want to invest in training for a new career or to upgrade existing skills. They doubt they will reap benefits from the expense of education. Or might they worry they are too old to learn?

Sometimes people at midlife wonder if they will be hired by employers often half their age. They may be reluctant to leave a job they have outgrown for fear they will not have a fighting chance at a new one. Or they fear spending precious savings on starting their own business, even though they possess great ideas, talents, and passion. However, the reality is that mature workers are taking up a larger piece of the labor force. By 2019 over 40% of Americans 55+ will be working and comprise 25% of total workers.

What is the truth about age discrimination? Because people are working longer due to longevity, need, or interest, we have more older people transitioning in the job market. The good news is that mature workers are needed due to fewer numbers available to replace them. The realistic news is that ongoing age discrimination exists. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, older workers stay unemployed longer and the unemployment rate for 55+ job seekers has more than doubled since late 2007.

Two experts in the mature employee field, Carleen MacKay and Brad Taft, offer guidance on finding and keeping work after 50. They debunk mature worker myths with statistics and common sense. See www.agelessinamerica.com for in depth information. Those of us involved in job search or wanting to avoid downsizing would do well to review the reported benefits of older, experienced workers and to find opportunities to share these benefits with those in hiring positions.

One way to stay relevant and competitive in your career field is to advance your skills. Additionally, it is vital to stay aware of trends both in your sector and globally. One example of changing trends is the switch from print newspapers and books to online reading. This revolution has impacted several careers and businesses. We find that some workers change with the tide and others flounder.

Changing along with society’s trends is practical for some people. One forward thinker is Alma who retired as a hospital psychologist at 65 due to an unsolicited alteration in her role. Alma still wanted to make a difference, so she studied geriatrics, passed new certifications, and began working in a new way. Alma is an example of being aware of our aging population’s needs and expanding skills to meet those needs. She now possesses numerous options as to where to work, how often, and in what capacity.

Samples of mature workers can be found among our friends and family or with the famous. Maya Angelou is at the top of her game at 85 with little signs of slowing down. Several politicians and their spouses have reinvented themselves once their terms ended: George H.W. Bush (89), Rosalyn Carter (86), Jimmy Carter (88), and Bill Clinton (67). All have followed their interests and created new ways to make contributions.

Who serves as your role model for staying relevant? I know an 85 year old social worker who has traveled many different paths during her valuable career. She continues to work, learn, and mentor others.

People in their 50’s and 60’s face multiple reasons to make career changes. The good news is that I see them getting interviews and offers and being recognized for their years of experience. Some find ways to become a free agent to add variety to their efforts. If you have  skills that are needed and current, you will find opportunities to use them whether as an employee, entrepreneur, or volunteer.

Starting now, you can set the stage for relevance by:

Facing your own limiting beliefs about aging
Combating the myths by educating others
Becoming active with your professional associations
Networking with workers of all ages in your field
Staying abreast of new skills and technology
Being involved professionally in social media
Keeping aware of changing global trends

Go after what you desire and see you on the path!

Filed Under: Career Transitions Tagged With: ,