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Five Tips to Makeover Your Career
I’ve been lucky in my career. In varying doses, it’s been challenging, boring, frustrating, disappointing, fun-filled and terrifying. I’ve had wonderfully supportive, decent and likeable colleagues and I’ve had bullying and difficult ones.
I’ve made a number of mistakes, one a high profile and careless one within my first year of employment in my first job. I’ve made some great decisions too, like when I decided to leave a terrific job because I really wanted to go to Australia.
I’ve taken jobs to keep a roof over my head – not glamourous or ‘career enhancing’ in the conventional way, certainly – but jobs that nevertheless made an important difference to the person I am today. I’ve left a job without another job to go to (because I was asked to do something I just couldn’t do) and sat in that scary place.
I’ve moved from being an expert in my field to a job where it felt like the 16 year old on the Youth Training programme was more competent than me. I’ve started from the bottom and worked my way up even though my pride was screaming at me most of the way to go back to where I was comfortable and expert.
In my last company, I had the accolade of rising higher than any other female before me in my area and the further accolade of being the only manager awarded for excellence in managing people. How? Because people matter to me and I won’t compromise it. What started out as a patronising ‘oh, Sue always sticks up for her people’ turned into a begrudging admiration that because I did I got loyalty and great teams of people who achieved great things. At the point where I was lined up for promotion to the top job I made the decision to set up on my own, because that was what I really wanted to do.
In my career I’ve had great times and horrible times. Fun times and frightening ones. And a fair few times when I’ve felt an idiot. Yep, I’ve been lucky in my career.
Just like YOU. Lucky? Yes, lucky. I've had ups and downs - things haven't been perfect or smooth, and that's quite okay. My career hasn't felt perfect all the time but it didn't matter. The same goes for you - it's still going to work if you keep motivated and active.
So go on, be lucky!'
Five Tips to Makeover Your Career
1. Learn the Power of Mistakes
Mistakes can be tremendously powerful if you learn from them. They are superb feedback mechanisms to show you what you can do and what you can do better. Use them well and they will shape your career in a positive way.
2. Keep an Eye on the Bigger Picture
Keep the bigger picture of enjoying your life always in view. Had I not moved to Australia maybe I’d never have developed my passion for customer service, a passion which dramatically affected my future career path.
3. Have Courage to Make Change
And don’t let pride get in the way and stop you. If you really need to start again with something to be happier – go do it. Let the Youth Trainee teach you if you need to learn what they have to say!
4. Keep True to You
Continuously measuring yourself by someone else’s standards will make you continually frustrated. Work out what’s important to you and hold tight to those values. Remember that fashions change. Look how much recognition is given to the importance of ‘people skills’ now, for instance. Fifteen years ago that wasn’t the case in most organisations.
5. Be your Own Boss
Whatever you are doing, remember that you are always your own boss. Whether you work for yourself, or work for ‘someone else’, in reality you always work for yourself. If you disagree with that, maybe you’ve given away your power…and I encourage you to take it back, right now!
