Getting Back on Track
I’m often asked what I read. One of the things I read is the Motivational Manager. They once reprinted an old treatise written by Harry Joiner at ecommercerecruiter.com called – “Before you apply for your next job”.
The title of the Motivational Manager article is simply “Disengage autopilot and take control of your career”. I think it’s really important for advisors to hear this.
Listen to this audio podcast or read the transcript below to learn how to get back on track with your career.
It goes on to say that Harry Joiner was an executive recruiter. He meets about a hundred and fifty candidates a week and 90% of those professionals share the same failing – they’re clueless.
He said that most are well educated, and some may even be considered accomplished.
But they have a blind spot where their long-term career vision should be.
They either don’t know or can’t articulate what they truly want to achieve in their careers.
So they have no idea how their current position or the job they desire will support their goals. If they don’t know where they want to go, they can’t identify what’s keeping them from getting there, or motivate themselves to do anything about it. Isn’t that incredible?
I find a lot of advisors in our business have a hard time telling me what they do. I ask “what’s your elevator speech? What do you do for a living?” They really can’t articulate even what it is they do!
This article goes on to ask: “Do you struggle with the same vision problems that plague Joiner’s clients?”
Maybe it’s time you started directing your careers instead of just going along for the ride.
To get started, try these exercises to retake control of your career.
#1. Remember your glory days.
Think about your career to this point. What have you done in the past when you were most satisfied with your career? What did you love about that situation or those situations? What were your key responsibilities? What were you doing? What, if any, contributions did you make to your organization or to society, while working in these positions? What, if anything, could have made these situations even more satisfying?
#2. Know your bliss.
Describe your ideal career path. When you get where you want to be, what are the ideal characteristics that really share with what made you happiest in the past? Do more of what made you happy. You get where you are totally happy doing what you do. You might find these are missing in your present situation.
#3. Take stock.
Consider where you are right now. What are your top three career goals from this point forward? Do you have what you need to get where you want to go? Do you have the skills? Do you have the resources, the training, the organizational support to achieve those goals?
List any obstacles that may thwart your plans. How do you plan to overcome these obstacles?
Finally, will achieving these goals take you closer to your ideal? If not, you should rethink your goals, your ideal, or both.
Second thing that same publication pointed out:
If you’ve got a problem, look for the golden egg.
There’s no attribution on this idea, but it is from Motivational Manager. If you’ve got a problem, look for the golden egg. As you know, I’ve always maintained that you decide to be optimistic or not, it’s your choice.
This little paragraph says, the next time you are looking at a particularly tricky problem, try turning it around. It’s called the golden egg technique. Change your point of view so if the situation is no longer a problem, it becomes an opportunity.
For example, let’s suppose your competitor is doing better than you are. Look at what’s working for your competitor. Then adapt what you’re doing to reflect what he or she is doing right, and take the opportunity to improve upon what you’re doing so you’re not just copying someone else’s success but you’re doing it better.
Two great ideas from Motivational Manager and ecommercerecruiter.com. Good luck, good selling.
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It is physically impossible to with 150 people per week. He may review 150 resumes. That is like saying that he works 25 hours per day. Stop the exaggerations.