This workshop is a very cost effective solution at a time when money is tight and you want or need to create a career change, but are worried about finances. I am doing the workshop with another career coach Lesley Reader, so you and the benefit of 50 years combined experience! Makes us sound like old fossils! The venue is Charlbury, Oxfordshire, so right in the middle of England and accessible to London, Reading, Slough, Oxford and the Cotswolds by train from London Paddington (70 mins). Cost is £99 + VAT. This workshop is ideal if:
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Future confirmed dates are:
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How are you feeling about the ‘R’ word? If you are over 40, then you’ll remember the late 80’s/early 90’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 and 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 to give my discoloured teeth a ‘face lift’ with porcelain veneers, so redundancy ironically helped put the smile back on my face!
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 a teacher influenced our thinking from their view of the world.
Companies often take a short-term view of saving costs, cutting headcount without considering the longer-term implications of losing people e.g. engagement and productivity of the survivors 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 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.
Going through a challenge makes you even more resourceful to deal with life - we need downs to realise that the ups are ups and appreciate the good times.
There is a talent shortage in the world and it is the no 1 issue preoccupying CEOs. A skills shortage is an opportunity for people being made redundant to skill-up in the areas where there is a shortage. Sheep shearing and being a trained ballet dancer may not be your thing, but jobs such as engineers, maths teachers and specialist nurses could be. Markets such as care homes, well being and security are growing for example.
The British are very modest and we all 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. The older we are and the more financial responsibilities and dependents we have, the harder and more risky a 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.
I am going to be doing a monthly Steer your career workshop locally with another career coach Lesley Reader, to help people review their career direction. Dates are Sat 15 November, Sat 6 December and Sat 10 January – please get in touch for details in Charlbury, Oxfordshire, 70 mins from Paddington on a fast train.
Rachel Brushfield career strategist at Energise
0845 22 55 010 www.liberateyourtalent.com rachel@liberateyourtalent.com
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People don’t make decisions or take actions because they are afraid of failure and/or don’t like change. They often edit what they really want to say and do; thoughts and actions that could be gems or lead to gems that would make all the difference to solve business problems.
Every decision/action has an upside and a downside, including big life changing ones. You never really know what will happen as a result, all you can do is do your best and prepare thoroughly in the time you have available with the resources that you have, considering all eventualities.
Most of my clients are at a major life-stage or decision point and really want to make a leap but are fearful of making the wrong decision and regretting the change. This is natural not weak.
If you are standing looking over a ravine that you want to cross, it is easy to look down, feel scared and do nothing, rather than look across to the other side and keep a clear head about how to get across. Climbing Everest is a lot easier with a Sherpa by your side.
Objective support through a big decision or a life transition makes change so much easier. Energise help people to think things through, push out their comfort zone at their own pace and act as a confidential sounding board they can trust. Together we explore the pros and cons of their choices, deal with fears and how to fill the gaps in knowledge or confidence so that they can make the change they want pain free as possible.
The most common big decisions are:
I’ll be unstoppable……… as soon as I get started.
People always do things for a reason, even if the reason isn’t logical or obvious. The reasons that people play safe are:
All perfectly understandable and common factors. Coaching helps address all of these.
It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do. Elbert Hubbard
There are lots of ‘yes buts’ about any decision. If everybody was motivated, decisive, doing work they loved and full of enterprise in open blame-free cultures, just imagine what the world would be like and how economies would benefit?!
So why take yourself out of your comfort zone?
Like anything in life, balance is key – achieving a happy medium between safety and risk is essential, personally and professionally. So wishing you safe risk - take that brave decision and get help and support to make it as safe as you need to. It’s unlikely that you’ll regret it – it’ll help you grow, whatever the outcome.
Are you authentic? Who do you trust? Do you trust yourself? Do you trust… your boss? Your Bank? Your pension provider?
Trust is under threat. It’s a declining market. With collapsing banks, we don’t know who to trust anymore.
It is really important in life and especially in your career to be authentic. What does that mean? To be true to yourself, what’s important to you and to honour your values.
What are values? The things that are important to you, the things you value – they vary for each individual, but they are things like loyalty, learning, honesty, success etc
Too many people and organisations say one thing and do another. This is out of integrity.
One of the best books I have read for ages is called ‘Enough’ by John Naish, who writes for Career Times. In a nutshell it’s about how we work hard to buy things that we don’t want or need, haven’t got space for and can’t afford and in the process kill the world. Does this make sense? Absolutely not. There’s enough to go round in the world, it’s just unevenly distributed and this inequality is driven by greed and fuelled by unethical values and capitalism.
The world’s gone mad! We have created an artificially constructed shallow world centred around money and greed and the bubble is bursting, People want meaning and purpose and money isn’t it. If it was, why are we filling ourselves with drugs, food and alcohol? Comfort eating for our uncomfortable feeling.
So what should you do in your life/career through these current mad and uncertain times?
Steer your own course and help other people. Know yourself, like yourself. This isn’t selfish. By fulfilling yourself, you have more to give other people.
Know your values. Trust brands that deserve it – authentic brands not lip service brands.
Be an authentic brand yourself, in your life and in your career. It’ll pay off in the long run. You’ll win through in the end.
Are you caught in the middle at work?
Are you 40-55 and feeling a bit stuck and frustrated? You wonder whether you are having a mid life crisis or are just getting old in a young industry. Ageism is supposed to be illegal, but let’s be honest, it still happens in reality.
Mid career can be a tough place. You feel that it’s too late to change career; you have a big mortgage and children to think about, not to mention a pension to save for in uncertain times. Your parents are getting older, and you feel responsible for everything. If you have kids, they are either costing you a lot of money or if they are older, there’s a high probability that they are going to ping back to stay with you, boomerang style, costing you money in years to come.
At your vintage, there have lots of young, cheaper and enthusiastic people working hard to impress and snapping at your heels. Above you there are better paid senior managers, sitting pretty, holding onto their jobs and secure positions, blocking your career progression, changing the goalposts and blaming you. They don’t want to retire yet or can’t afford to because of house prices falling or their pension shrinking.
You feel tired from spreading yourself thinly across work and home life, and work life balance seems an unachievable feat. Commuting is taking longer and feeling stressed is the norm.
Sound familiar?
Stuck in the middle is a challenging place to be
According to Mintel’s Alternative Futures for One Life report Feb 07, 87% of people aged between 25 and 54 are craving a better work life balance. Universum’s Jan 2008 survey showed that work life balance is the no 1 goal for 60% of senior staff and 43% of junior staff.
The prospect of chilling out and reaping the benefit of all your experience feels remote, especially with restructures, mergers, redundancies etc . 247’s 2008 survey indicated that 56% of employees had had their workload increased in the last 12 months.
So what do you do? Sit tight or make a brave what feels like leap into the dark and find something better. . It’s vital to have a plan of where you are heading, have a clear USP and keep your skills up to date.
What’s your experience?
More soon……..
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Holidays are a rare opportunity to take a step back, to get off the hamster wheel and think about what you want to change. On a sun lounger, you can feel all fired up with enthusiasm and feel clear about what you want to change and how to do it.
The most important thing is to think it through carefully. Life is never a cul de sac and there is never a right or wrong decision, just a different one.
The two most common blocks are fear of regretting a decision or making the wrong decision and loss of security and status. This is especially true to the older you get and the more responsibilities and commitments you have e.g. a mortgage and children. . Self awareness is vital in change as it helps you to ‘check in’ with yourself. Some of my clients have felt that they needed 2 years money in the bank to feel secure enough to make a change. Others need just weeks.
When I decided to specialise in talent management and career change. I feared that I limit myself, cutting off opportunities. I knew logically that have a specialism was the right thing to do and it felt right, but the niggle remained. I realised that some of my values, things that were important to me were holding back my business; newness, choice, variety, flexibility, eclectism. So in effect focusing my business might give me less satisfaction. I soon realised that I could still honour the values that I hold dear, but within the framework of my 2 chosen specialisms.
How are you feeling about the ‘R’ word? If you are over 40, then you’ll remember the recession of the late 80’s early 90’s when redundancy was commonplace.
Personal experience - I was made redundant in the late 80’s. It was the most stressful time of my life because I had a 100% 3.5 X my salary mortgage. It was stressful because I felt rejected, not good enough and especially because I wasn’t allowed to talk about it which I found challenging as ‘the right to choose’ and honesty are 2 of my values and I wasn’t being allowed to honour them.
It worked out well because I hadn’t been happy at my employer, it was a macho culture and I wanted to work on the consultancy side which I felt would be more me and with variety and diversity, focusing on the consumer.
It all worked out well as I got a job 20 miles away with small consultancy, which was perfect to cut my teeth. I also used my redundancy money to pay off my debts and improve my teeth as I could afford porcelain veneers!
If you are facing the prospect of redundancy, let me know if I can help. All the clients I have ever worked with who have been made redundant have always gone on to something better, work or an employer that was more them. It’s worth having a chat about your skills being redeployed in the business as this may not have been thought of.
I know some people who have made a successful career out of redundancy with lots of money in the bank. I’m a teeny bit jealous and I don’t do jealousy, just hard work!
Companies can take a short term view of redundancy, cutting costs for quick savings, without considering the longer-term implications of losing people or the knock on effect of people they want to keep leaving.
I often find that people who are made redundant weren’t happy anyway, because they had outgrown their job or their values didn’t match that of their employers. Redundancy can be a push to make a change, even if it feels out of your hands and more like an unwelcome shove that makes you angry and steals your confidence. .
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A short post today - it's my birthday so I am having the day off! You'll be glad to hear that I do what I advocate to others - good work life balance!
Back soon! Have a good day yourself.
How are you feeling today?
Apparently today is the day most in the whole year when people feel down. Credit card bills from Christmas spending land on the doormat, the days are short and dark, and it all feels a bit grim.
I don’t know about you, but it’s the little things in life that make me feel happy. January hasn’t started well for me with an infection from root canal treatment and a broken boiler since 23 Dec.
It’s easy to rush about when you feel down to distract yourself from the negative feelings, after all, no one teaches you how to deal with sadness or anger when you’re growing up.
I caught myself rushing about, and noticing this sat down on the sofa with a cup of delicious freshly brewed stovetop coffee, with no radio or TV on to distract me. It had been raining all day and suddenly the sun burst through the clouds, shining brightly, and glowing in the sky. My real fire crackled in the background and the sun lit up my living room and the beautiful view beyond, and I felt unexpectedly and extraordinarily happy. Physically I had a warm glow in the centre of my stomach, it was quite weird.
And in that moment, and happiness is in small moments, I thought, Rach – you can choose to be miserable about your boiler and your mouth pain, or you can choose not to be, now what’s it to be?
Isn’t is wonderful to know that we can always choose how to react to something and that happiness is always there in little moments, like watching a sunset or noticing a child laugh? We simply need to slow down from our busy lives to soak up the pleasure that’s there waiting to be found all around us.
What’s your experience of what you do when things feel bad or negative? Any tips or stories to share?
It can be a shock to come back to work after the summer holidays, can’t it? You have a dose of the post holiday blues and you can’t quite put your finger on the exact cause. Lack of sunshine this summer could be a factor or returning to hundreds of e mails can quickly negate any beneficial effect of your holiday. So how do you know if that ‘out of sorts’ feeling is temporary like a stone in the shoe, or if it’s a message to make that change you dreamt about while on holiday a reality? Sometimes dissatisfaction with a different area of your life can be the cause, but you put it down to work. Other times, you can feel that your career prospects are shrinking, your job isn’t satisfying, or feel old in a young industry and not quite sure what to do about it. It may be that you have changed, with different things important to you, compared to in the past, and there’s a mismatch between your own values and that of your employer. The older we get and the more financial responsibilities or dependants we have, the more making a change can feel daunting, so we take the easy option and stay stuck and feel unfulfilled. Isn’t life too short? Change can seem scary, which is why it’s so important to think it through carefully, minimise the risk and manage your fear. If you’ve always done the same job or worked for the same company, it’s hard to see by yourself what else you could do. The British are also far too modest and often business professionals working in the marketing and communications industry are great at supporting and promoting brands and products, but find it hard to apply the same principles to their own brand, as they are too close to themselves. What’s your experience? This is the first Energise Life Sage blog – what topics would you like to have featured? Have a great week and I look forward to hearing from you.
It can be a shock to come back to work after the summer holidays, can’t it?
You have a dose of the post holiday blues and you can’t quite put your finger on the exact cause. Lack of sunshine this summer could be a factor or returning to hundreds of e mails can quickly negate any beneficial effect of your holiday.
So how do you know if that ‘out of sorts’ feeling is temporary like a stone in the shoe, or if it’s a message to make that change you dreamt about while on holiday a reality?
Sometimes dissatisfaction with a different area of your life can be the cause, but you put it down to work. Other times, you can feel that your career prospects are shrinking, your job isn’t satisfying, or feel old in a young industry and not quite sure what to do about it.
It may be that you have changed, with different things important to you, compared to in the past, and there’s a mismatch between your own values and that of your employer. The older we get and the more financial responsibilities or dependants we have, the more making a change can feel daunting, so we take the easy option and stay stuck and feel unfulfilled. Isn’t life too short?
Change can seem scary, which is why it’s so important to think it through carefully, minimise the risk and manage your fear. If you’ve always done the same job or worked for the same company, it’s hard to see by yourself what else you could do. The British are also far too modest and often business professionals working in the marketing and communications industry are great at supporting and promoting brands and products, but find it hard to apply the same principles to their own brand, as they are too close to themselves.
This is the first Energise Life Sage blog – what topics would you like to have featured?
Have a great week and I look forward to hearing from you.
Rachel Brushfield
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Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 13 Nov 2008
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