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How does career coaching work?

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This blog post shares a detailed example of how career coaching works in practice.

This case study is one of Peter Wilford’s clients, Mark P.

Objective

  • To provide a tailored programme of 1:1 career and executive coaching for a senior employee in his 50’s who was leaving his employer after over 30 years’ service.
  • To explore alternative options including securing employment with another organisation, moving into consultancy or starting up a new business.
  • To build rapport with the client over a period of time and deliver a tailored programme of sessions.

Background

From my experience of working with many people facing similar situations, I was able to spend some initial time with Mark in a “Review and Explore (Taking Stock)” phase during which he completed several documents including a series of profiling tools (personality and psychometrics).

These allowed me to clarify in some detail specifically what he, uniquely, could bring to his next role or work.

From here we discussed the different work and job options open to him.

There were four alternatives and each one required a full analysis and discussion.

Four career options:

  1. Setting up his own business

2. Marketing himself as a specialist consultant

3. Developing a portfolio career

4. Targeting the not for profit / public sector or SME organisations in the private sector.

Each option and strategy needed careful thought and positioning. 

Mark was keen to keep all options open and I coached him in how to do so whilst not losing momentum.

I helped him understand what he would need to do to move forward in each of the agreed options.

How the programme evolved.

During our sessions, it became clear that Mark needed to draw up a formal marketing plan for each option, and a structure to help him keep on track. 

We agreed that we would need to test out the necessary marketing actions and approach required for each option to establish a priority order.

It was important that Mark was comfortable with and could own and drive forward this plan and the actions confidently in the months ahead.

My coaching also revolved around building Mark’s confidence and giving him the tools to use on his own both with, and without my support, once his coaching was complete and we stopped working together.

He needed to have a good CV, to develop a good ‘talk’ about his career and work, and to be able to position himself in the market professionally both on paper and face to face at interview. 

He had to believe in himself and his career strategy.

How did we achieve this?

  • By agreeing a plan of action at the end of each coaching session, by following up on agreed actions and by reviewing these and revising them both at the start of and during our next session.
  • By maintaining momentum so that Mark was able to see progress moving forward.
  • I needed to challenge Mark and he wanted to see me do so in order to build up his confidence in me as his coach.
  • By narrowing down the options as time progressed so that Mark was able to focus his attention on the options that were likely to reap the most benefit.
  • By helping Mark come to terms with his situation and to move forward confidently from employment to a new life and a fresh career, after being made redundant and 30 years working with one employer.

Building confidence and momentum

Mark favoured a structured approach and we needed to develop a good relationship so that he trusted me and knew that my advice and coaching would benefit him. 

We worked in a way that suited him, but I needed to take him out of his comfort zone on several occasions. 

He valued this and it helped to strengthen our working relationship. 

I ensured that Mark saw real progress through regular reviews and email / telephone conversations in between our sessions

Challenges that we faced

A challenging jobs market. Slowness in the job market.  I coached Mark to learn how to persevere and overcome the slowness of the market with confidence.

Networking. Mark was not a natural networker and had been cautious about the value of networking and using LinkedIn. 

Social media. Like many clients initially, social media was quite alien to him. We had a session on this so that he bought into its value as part of his marketing activity.

Developing progress on his career journey

Gaining quick momentum gave Mark greater confidence in his marketability and him as a person.

He started to see things in a different light to what he had experienced in corporate life.  

We measured success by delivery against actions and making progress towards the agreed plan.

We also measured it by the number of new conversations that he started to have, both through new network contacts and from more established routes.

I saw Mark’s confidence grow in how he viewed and progressed the option to set up his own business and develop a portfolio career as opposed to going into another PAYE role.

What were the results?

Mark has set up his own business and picked up some initial retained consultancy work and this has been very motivational for him. 

He now has a portfolio career in place.

It has also helped him to recognise that this was the best way forward for him and that he has an offering that people want to buy. 

Also that he is able to make the transition to self-employment and run his own business.

Mark has become confident in managing his career by himself with me as a mentor as well as a coach. 

He has driven his own career being self-employed with myself as more of a ‘back stop’.  A career coach is like a pair of armbands, essential but then not needed anymore, as the client has learned to swim.

Phase two has worked well and he is now developing a successful business.

He is also developing, with a partner, an interesting and potentially lucrative project for regional businesses. 

He is working through the business plan and financials.  

He is also in contact with a multinational retailer who is interested in the programme.

Client testimonial

“Following my redundancy last year, Peter worked with me to assess my situation and help me consider the options open to me. Throughout this process he was unflagging in his enthusiasm, support, and encouragement. His approach was excellent – he listened sensitively to me as well as challenged and motivated me to make progress. He helped at a practical level too by, for example, drafting of a new C.V. for me. Peter’s professionalism backed up by his extensive knowledge, sources of information and a range of practical tools enabled me to explore options that I would never have thought of and ultimately helped me to decide on my new career path. Peter has been both a mentor and ‘critical friend’ and I have greatly valued his support. He was also fun to work with at a time that was fairly testing for me, which was a real bonus. I hope we can keep in touch!”   Mark W.

What next?

Why choose a portfolio career? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/why-portfolio-career/

Who is a portfolio career for? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/who-has-portfolio-careers/

What is a portfolio career? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/what-is-a-portfolio-career/

When is it time for a portfolio career?https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/when/

Curious about how career coaching could help you at your career crossroads?

Get in touch to arrange your free 20 minute meeting: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Energise future-proof your career summer school

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Energise Future-Proof Your Career Summer School.

6-week Summer School to create peace of mind in an uncertain world. Starts 12-1pm Tuesday 29 July 2020. Book now – limited places.

See EventBrite link for details:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-energise-future-proof-your-career-summer-school-2020-tickets-113878228848

Career Reinvention

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Many people at the moment, because of shrinking sectors are being forced to rethink their careers. They may have been with the same company or in the same profession for their whole lives, so this can feel very very daunting.

In times of economic growth, I help people change career direction because they want to, e.g. for better work life balance, to have more fulfilling work, or to turn an enjoyable hobby into paid work.

Experience of career reinvention

I also have alot of experience of helping people reinvent themselves, because they have to, i.e. redundancy. My company was one of the first to be awarded a contract to do ‘Steer your career’ workshops after the credit crunch in 2007/2008, so we have lots of experience to support people being made redundant at this time.

I have also done many career events and workshops for membership organisations including the Law Society, ICAEW and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) on portfolio careers, career reinvention, career strategy, personal branding to name a few.

Why I love career reinvention

I love career reinvention because it is helping people to see what they find it hard to see themselves as they are too close and seeing their confidence grow as they work out what they are going to do and how they are going to make it happen, with my support.

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Career coaching is both practical and creative. One of my favourite client briefs is starting with a ‘blank sheet of paper’ i.e. a client who doesn’t know what else they could do, but do know that they have to or want to reinvent themselves in their career.

I have reinvented my own career. See my LinkedIn profile for detail: Rachel Brushfield’s LinkedIn profile

One trick pony

Often my career coaching clients feel that they are ’one trick ponies’ having done the same thing for years, when actually they have hugely transferable skills and just need help to see this and to market themselves, as they feel rusty, not having updated their CV or had an interview in ages.

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Career transition client examples

My clients’ career reinvention transitions include:

  • An insurance broker becoming a teacher of children to learn the piano
  • A barrister becoming a company secretary
  • A direct marketing expert becoming a self employed photographer
  • A human rights lawyer retraining as a dance therapist
  • An education lawyer moving into music management
  • A project manager setting up a company doing cheese holidays in France

Common barriers to career reinvention

There are many barriers in people’s minds to career change, some actual and some perceived:

·       Fear of change/uncertainty

·       Resistance from partners, peers or parents

·       Worrying about money, making the wrong decision or taking a step down the ladder having worked so hard to progress up it

·       Not knowing what you don’t know

·       Being in the dark about how to find out about new options 

·       Believing they are ‘too old’ to change

·       Pleasing others e.g. parents living their lives through their children’s success instead of focusing on their happiness

·       Lack of time

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·       Not wanting to let go of a benefit of the current job e.g. being admired at parties for being a Doctor

11 Tips to reinvent your career

1.  Research employment growth areas; sectors and jobs

2.  Think about when you have felt most alive and fulfilled in your work and how you can have more of this

3.  Source examples of achievements and initiatives from outside your career to demonstrate your marketability

4.  Think your career change through thoroughly and create a long term vision with small short term steps

5.  Make time regularly to make your change happen

6.  Research your options and ensure they will give you what’s important to you e.g. security, learning or challenge

7.  Consider retraining and acquiring new skills to become more marketable

8.  Analyse what makes you distinctive to other people in your field – that unique combination of your skills, qualities and life and work experiences – this is your unique ‘brand’

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9.  Speak to people already doing what you want to do to get inside knowledge

10.               Be creative about how you can get experience to prove your capability and demonstrate the transferability of your skills in a new area e.g. do voluntary work, help out a friend’s business etc 

11. Enlist the support of an experienced career coach

Get in touch

Client testimonials

“Energise helped me focus on my strengths at a very negative time for me, during redundancy. I found the whole process very rewarding.”

“Coaching has given me extra confidence. The process was very rewarding. The CV now looks punchier, and I feel ME again.”

“Coaching with Energise has given me choices, freedom and liberation.”

“Coaching gave me an objective, practical and understanding sounding board when I needed to get my life back in gear again. It really is a personal service that works around who you really are and what you really want to do. “

“Coaching gave me a positive attitude, confidence and insight. It has been instrumental in my success and by setting targets and deadlines it has speeded up the whole process of finding another job.”

More client testimonials

Redundancy – problem or new opportunity?

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How are you feeling about the ‘R’ word?

If you are over 40, then you will remember the late 1980’s/early 1990’s when redundancy and negative equity were commonplace.

I was made redundant in the late 80’s. It was very stressful at the time, but a problem became an opportunity as it was the beginning of my career going in a direction that was more true to me.

I used my redundancy money to pay off my debts and give my discoloured teeth ‘a face lift’ with some porcelain veneer crowns, so redundancy ironically helped put the smile back on my face!!!

The positive aspects of redundancy

All the clients I have ever worked with who have been made redundant have gone on to something better. Did you know that only 20% of people actually enjoy their work?

Often we fall into a job almost by accident, choose a career because our parents did it or thought it a ‘proper’ profession e.g. law or accountancy, or perhaps a teacher influenced our choices. 

Companies can take a short-term view of saving costs, cutting headcount without considering the longer-term implications of losing people or having a talent shortage post recession. 

If redundancy is a possibility for you, it’s worth having a chat with your employer about your skills being redeployed in the business differently, reducing your hours, or having a sabbatical.

Redundancy = new beginning

Redundancy can be a push to make a positive change, even if it feels out of your hands and more like an unwelcome shove that makes you angry and steals your confidence. A redundancy lump sum is often used to start a business or fund a training course to increase marketability.

Examine skill shortages = opportunity to retrain/up-skill

A skills shortage is an opportunity for people being made redundant to skill-up in the areas where there is a shortage. Sheep shearing or being a trained ballet dancer may not be your thing, but jobs such as an engineer, maths teacher or specialist nurses could be. Markets such as care homes, tech, big data and cyber security are growing for example.

Part of my role as a career strategist and coach is keeping up to date with changing trends – in demand skills and new emerging careers.

Get comfortable and competent marketing yourself

The British are very modest and people get so close to ourselves that we find it hard to see what makes us unique and marketable and how we can use these transferable skills in a different way. I can help.

The older we are and the more financial responsibilities and dependants we have, the harder and more risky the change feels.

A career crossroads is a positive opportunity to take a step back and look at who you are, what you want and how to get it.

We help our clients to achieve an uplifting breakthrough at major career crossroads such as redundancy, and have been doing career strategy coaching for over two decades.

How can we help you or someone you know at risk of redundancy?

Get in touch https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/portfolio/connect/

What’s your career insurance?

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It is vital in uncertain times to have career ‘insurance’ – a plan ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ for your career. 

Do you?

Not having an insurance policy for your career is like driving a car in winter with only one headlight, a 10 year old map, a nearly empty tank of petrol with no spare petrol can in the boot and with one wing mirror hanging off.

You wouldn’t, would you?

Why then, do most people do the equivalent with their career?

You only have to look at what has happened during the coronavirus period to see the danger of how fast a sector can change.

So – what’s your career plan ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’? 

Reasons for neglecting this vital area include:

·        Fear: Of feeling regret and disappointment

·        Time poor: Let other’s needs take precedence

·        Overwhelm: Don’t know where to start

·        Empty toolbox: Don’t have the tools and frameworks

·        Short termism: Focus on the here and now

·        Life stage: Feel no point with other life priorities

·        Habit: Fell into a career and leave it to chance

·        Resigned: Don’t feel deserve anything better/different

·        Unaware: Never done any personal development

·        Blinkered: In the dark about the fast changing world of work 

Do you relate to any of these? What additional factors would you add?

Inspiring quote

“The best way to create the future is to invent it.” Alan Kay.

Self-reflective question:

What 1 action can I take straight away that would most help my future career security & prospects?”  

7 tips for your career reassurance

1.  Support: enlist an experienced career coach

2.  Headspace: book a career retreat/away day

3.  Think: replace mindless time frittering e.g. FaceBook

4.  Focus: write your ideal role/career description & plan ‘A’, ‘B’ & ‘C’

5.  Habit: make ‘dead’ time fruitful e.g. a commute to create options

6.  Prioritise: ring fence a monthly time slot & budget

7.  Informed: look inwards (self-awareness) & outwards (trends)

What tips would you add?

Get in touch https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/portfolio/connect/

Are you ready for career change?

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Some of our clients have been unhappy at work for up to 10 years before they contact us and in some cases, have are ill having resisting the change that they need to make – they are so ready for change.

The outcome for some of our other clients is that they choose to stay put rather than change career, and improve what they can influence where they are.

In a challenging jobs market with increasing uncertainty, taking responsibility for your career is not something you can afford to ignore.

Self reflective questions   

What’s stopping me from making the change I seek from work a reality? 

What’s the question I most need to ask myself?

4 tips to check if you are ready for career change 

  1. Identify your personal values so you know if there’s a mismatch between you and your organisation.
  2. Keep a diary of how you feel about work for 2 months and notice the patterns and factors that affect your highs and lows. Review what’s frustrating you and what you can influence.
  3. Do a satisfaction audit of the different aspects of your role. What does it tell you?  
  4.  Are there opportunities to progress in the way you want at work? Explore job redesign as an option with the changing needs of the organisation.

Get in touch https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/portfolio/connect/

Pondering Becoming Self-employed? Part 1

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Just before Christmas, I gave a talk to a group of people who are part of the government’s Enterprise initiative about ‘becoming self-employed.’

It reminded me that the only thing I missed about employment apart from the regular salary 14 years ago was having an IT helpline to mop up my IT incompetence.  

Giving the talk got me thinking afresh about self-employment and what advice to give people now. My marketing training was in the dark ages, otherwise known as the 1980’s so I thought I would ask via LinkedIn what members of the Chartered Institute of Marketing thought. The question I posed was:

“What advice would you give about marketing to someone becoming self-employed for the first time?”

In case you are thinking of jumping into the world of self-employment or perhaps being pushed, as after all, it is a young industry, here are their tips:

“Make sure you offer something that is different and be prepared to change and update what you offer as your market whatever you choose will evolve.”

“Draw up a business plan and keep within a budget.  Network and build up your contacts carefully, targeting your chosen market carefully.”

“Business is about making money and protecting margin. Get your pricing, costings and overheads right, choose the customers you want in the location you want them, don’t be frightened to lose them and keep your promises. And most important – get some of your own money behind you to weather the downtimes.”

“Think niches. Think networks. Think partners. Think elevator pitch. Think about what the customers’ hurts/needs and wants are and how you can engage with the customers. Get some good books written by small business people for small business people.”

“Be concise and give a prospect a real reason to choose you.”

“Be prepared for the quiet periods and have a plan to identify opportunities in a downturn. It’s great to get a regular salary however when you are self employed income can be very irregular. Also, use your contacts to identify opportunities and network where your customers are likely to be.  Have plans for worse the case scenarios.”

“Take your time. You don’t have to do everything straight away. It’s better to do it right than just to do it.”

“Have a plan in mind and listing it down on a paper is very important. You should be very clear about your Target Segment, narrow it as much as you can. Also, one more important step in marketing is to know the Opportunities and possible Threats. And not to forget depending on your business prepare the Marketing Plan!!”

“Prepare a simple marketing plan and revisit/update often. Do a SWOT on yourself, your business and your main competitors. Take a section of the plan at a time to work on, develop and understand more fully. Know your competition and identify how you stand out from them. Learn the marketing basics from webinars and meetings. Consider carefully your communications options and don’t rush into any major spend. Test and measure.”

“Build profitable relationships in the sector where you are a real “expert”.  Hopefully you have some work/clients coming with you but you should also build your base. And don’t do work for free in the hope that one day it’ll come right – we all do it and it’ll suck up your time.”

“Rehearse an Elevator Test to ensure that you dont miss any points when talking to prospects. Use your track record/expertise to give credibility to your pitch. Attend any events where your target is likely to be – expect to build relationships first before a sale.”

“You are the whole company; you are the personal assistant, the secretary,the financial accountant, the driver, the messenge, .but best of all you are also the shareholder,all profits and proceeds come to you..Never ever ever underestimate the power of marketing.”

Source = Chartered Institute of Marketing LinkedIn group December 2011

If you are pondering becoming self-employed, you might find:

1) Our bulletins useful:

http://www.liberateyourtalent.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=106

2) These client examples inspiring to make that leap, even in a downturn.

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106786138562.html

Wishing you a successful 2012 personally and professionally.

Rachel

The Beauty Of Deadlines

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The 6 week timeframe to sort out the debt crisis has got me thinking about deadlines. They can be a pain but they are also very useful to focus the mind.  Work deadlines under pressure imposed by someone else can get you enraged, renewal deadlines like car insurance or the end of a fixed mortgage force you to think about it/explore other options rather than ignore or forget about the issue. Forced deadlines like redundancy or early retirement give you short or long timescales to get your act together and plan.

Without deadlines procrastination can be king and “I didn’t get around to it” Queen.

For many people being made redundant, while not nice, can be a push to do something different rather than drift/cruise at work. I have found that people who hate their career can take years, even decades to take action. That is a lot of time being fed up of work and having a sinking feeling on Monday mornings. The reason? No deadline and it feeling like a huge overwhelming decision. 

I find that the tipping point to people finally deciding to come to me about career change is often a birth, death, birthday or sometimes the straw that broke the camel’s back – e.g. a colleague getting a promotion or the umpteenth time they have worked late and their boss taken the credit.

What deadline could you set for yourself in 6 weeks time to achieve something important but not urgent?  E mail me and I will hold you accountable – click on the link. 

http://careerstrategies.co.uk/careercoaching/what-next/

 

 

 

 

 

Variety is the spice of life

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Metro newspaper today in London featured research showing that over half of women are bored. Bored with too much housework and their work being the same.

I refuse to iron – it’s against my principles and love linen as I can get away with it! Variety is one of my values and I feel ‘out of sorts’ if I don’t have enough variety, both socially and in my work. All my clients are different – the themes are similar e.g. fears about change, lack of confidence, challenging relationships, lack of time, and I learn so much from my clients. Often it’s like a mirror – they reflect the issues that I am facing!

What is an important value for you?

Knowing your values helps you to make more conscious choices about decisions and what you say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to. They also help to make sense of difficult emotions, because when our values aren’t honoured, we feel frustrated, sad etc. But that’s a topic for another day!