5 ways you can take back responsibility and ownership for your career and future.

Leading on from Part 1 of this article where I touched on the radical shift in the landscape of our working lives, employment and the role of the organisation v the employee, here are five strategies you can implement today to take back responsibility and ownership for your career and future, feel empowered and more in control of the direction your career is taking and create a career that will suit your personal and professional aspirations:

1. EMPOWER YOURSELF

Make your personal development your priority by taking back the responsibility for it!

Imagine showing up at your next appraisal with a personal development plan and roadmap you have devised detailing where you want to be and by when, and you give your manager actions as to how they can empower you to get there? You would be able to express to them with clarity and confidence the types of projects and opportunities that best suit your aspirations, and the tools, skills and training you would like to support you in your development. How would you feel and more importantly what could you achieve?

2. UNDERSTAND YOURSELF

The key to success in your career, your life and your future lies in understanding and getting comfortable with who you are​, what drives and motivates you, what is important to you, and understanding what you actually want to spend your time doing. This insight and clarity is priceless and is the basis for growth and development (both personally and professionally), now and in the future. You should know yourself and your interests better than anyone else does and if you don’t take the time to find out. It’s the biggest advantage you can give yourself both in your life and career and the first step on the career development journey (Find our more here)

3. EDUCATE YOURSELF

We are living in an unprecedented time when information is literally at our finger-tips. There is not a single thing that we could possibly want to learn or find out about that we cannot have access to information about in seconds. This is extraordinary, is such a gift and a huge leveller. The days when education, information and access to specialist knowledge, training and expertise were a preserve of the privileged is gone! To be competitive and employable in an ever increasing technological and global world you need to keep up to speed, stay informed and educated. Don’t rely solely on your employer for training and development, understand your skills, the gaps and get out there, do the research and EDUCATE YOURSELF. There are a multitude of courses and development opportunities out there with price points to suit every budget and many incredible courses and training for free. So the next time you are lamenting your lack of skills and training, take some time to really think about and acknowledge the reasons you may not making progress and what is really stopping you from doing something about it.

4. BE PROACTIVE

If you are expecting your career to just manifest from nothing or you are waiting for ‘something’ to happen – that amazing opportunity to fall into your lap, to stumble on the right path for you, or for someone to knock on your door and hand you the gift of a beautifully crafted career or opportunity… be prepared to be waiting a long time and to remaining unmotivated, directionless and lost.

21st century careers and work are increasingly about being proactive. Proactive in managing your career focus and trajectory, proactive in educating yourself and proactive in seeking out and making opportunities. Look for opportunities in the workplace or elsewhere. As well as opening up access to information and knowledge, technological and social change have also provided an unprecedented number of ways to engage with the work of work. We have more flexibility, options and variety in the types of work and occupations than we have ever had even in this time change and economic uncertainty. You have more choices than you think and as Peter Druker, the American management consultant and author said “If you don’t manage your career someone else will”, to which I add “and probably not very well!”

5. INVEST IN YOURSELF

To succeed in the 21st century, careers and work are about:

• embracing change

• being proactive

• being resilient and

• having self-knowledge and self-awareness

To achieve the above requires Investment –

• Investment of effort - getting what you want and achieving what you want in your life will not happen on its own.

• Investment of time - by creating space in your life to enough to do the work.

• Investment in yourself - by prioritising yourself. I can’t say this enough…. To be there for everyone else you must first be there for yourself! Sort yourself out then start on everyone else!

• And finally, financial investment - what is your future and your development worth to you? Simply put if you are not prepared to invest in yourself why should anyone else?

© Patricia Ezechie Coaching and Consultancy 2017. All Rights Reserved.

For more information about Proactive Empowered Career Management (PECM) and the Creating the Career You Want Programme

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