What's really wrong with your career? - Andrew Bramley

When your career doesn’t work, it can make you irritable, tired and sick.

So, how will you know what to do next?

Will you start by hunting for something better? Walk out in a huff on a Friday afternoon and rev out of the carpark leaving a resignation letter behind? Only to find that on Tuesday your bond payment is due and wondering where you will find another job?

Being clear about what is not working is an important starting point before leaping into nothingness, or closing your business, or leaving the country and a good marriage and a good job, only to have your crisis elsewhere.

There does come a time to move on. But it’s also possible to change jobs a couple of times before you discover that your personal demons follow you wherever you go.

Working out what is not working will help you avoid impulsive decisions, some expensive trial- and-error moves, or making no choices at all…and dying slowly.

I have discovered over many years of consulting that there are four main problems people face in their work lives.

The first problem

The first problem is not their job, their organisation, their boss or even their career choice.

It’s themselves. Many people are doing their best, but they are getting in their own way.

Are you getting in your own way? It may not be your job, your gender, your qualifications or even your level of competence, but the behaviour choices you make.

The result is that you have difficulty leading yourself, other people and your business. And it’s seriously getting in the way of your progress and getting results.

You may be well established in your career but lack confidence, the ability to speak up, to manage your own choices or the ability to lead and empower other people. Perhaps you 'rub people up the wrong way' and can't work out why.

It may be that you remain passive and reactive in the workplace. Even you may be frustrated by your inability to take action and stand your ground! You feel that other people make decisions for you and you want your life back!

When you learn to manage your behaviour, your emotions and your thinking, you have control over the choices you make in your career, your business and your life.

Your first step is to do some work on yourself. Find a coach, join a good programme, join a business networking group, get your ego out of the way and ask for feedback from people who care about you.

When you make better behaviour choices, you empower yourself and other people to get things done. That way you and they make a more significant contribution.

Your career is driven by you, make sure that it’s you that’s doing the driving.

The second problem

The second problem many people face is not making choices at all.

They simply don’t know what they want and so they keep finding what they don’t want. And when asked what they want, they answer ‘I don’t know, but it’s not this!’.

You may have followed the next job, the next promotion or the next ‘flavour of the month’. You may have climbed whatever ladders were put in front of you without question. And that sometimes works. Or you now feel less than fulfilled, have stopped growing and feel disconnected from the work you do. You know that you could be doing more, if only you knew what that was.

When you begin to make choices that are good for you, you start growing, you feel more connected to other people and you begin to create success that is important for you and those you serve.

Maybe its time to make some better choices. Work out what you want, what you want to do and how you want to make a difference.

Choice is the most powerful gift we have in life. Make sure you are making those choices that are important to you.

Perhaps begin by asking yourself these three questions:

Where do I want to work? What do I want to do when I get there? What results to do I want to see that will make me feel fulfilled?

The third problem

The third problem is all too common; it’s talking, dreaming, strategizing, promising and threatening. But all without taking any action.

There are many people with good amounts of knowledge, know-how, ideas, dreams and passion who don't move forward.

They may be keen to take action, but don't know how or where to start. Can that be you?

Talk is cheap, they say. ‘If you can dream it, you can do it’ reads the bumper sticker on the car in front of you. Dreaming is essential, but if you never take action nothing can ever come of it.

Maybe just the thought of taking action is paralysing for you and the way ahead feels overwhelming. Or perhaps you are not sure what action to take next?

And so, you continue along the same path, hoping something will change. And it may change, but not in the way you want it to.

When you take action, you begin to create new opportunities, you feel more in control of your life and you begin to create the kind of success that matters to you.

Sometimes it takes only one small step to begin the journey, but you still must take it. I was once at a guesthouse and saw a blackboard in the kitchen that read ‘Move forwards or move backwards, but just move’.

Sometimes we need to start anywhere and be guided as we move forward.

What action to you need to take now?

The fourth problem

The fourth problem has already reached global proportions.

And that’s finding work.

For you that may mean finding any work. Or it may mean finding more work than you currently have. Or it may be your journey to finding the work you really want.

Whether you are a corporation, a team, a small business or an individual, you need to find people who need what you do AND are willing to PAY for it.

Many talented, well-qualified and competent people are not finding work where they can add their best value.

Job hunting is not reserved for those who are changing careers or out of a job, but for anyone who wants to market themselves within their existing organisation, extend their role, take on a more senior role or be part of a new project.

Your difficulty may be communicating what you do in a helpful way. What you do may be vague so that other people have difficulty understanding it. Even you may be unclear about what you have to offer.

You may be quite clear about what you want to offer but are having difficulty finding people who need what you do.

Finding work can be tough, demoralising and tiring. But once you learn to job hunt with focus and action, you are on your way to finding the work that allows you to make your best contribution.

My dear friend and mentor, the late Dick Bolles said often that the “The work you are looking for, is also looking for you”.

Job hunting is a job all of its own. In fact, it’s your new job until you get another one. Get a friend to support you. Get more than one job hunting method.  Get a great book like What Color is your parachute and do what it says.

What do you need to do next?

Finding you way

There is indeed work that is looking for you; there are places where you can do your best work.

You need to know what you want, explore alternatives actively, make job hunting a priority till you find what you are looking for.

My wish is that you find work that truly matters to you, where you can help make the world a better place, in your own way.

www.careerwarriors.co.za

?Andrew Bramley, All Rights Reserved. 2018