Summer Reading – Career change, on your own terms, before you need to ….

Why is it that the curious among us, buy the books but don’t always read them?

It seems that we are curious to learn more about a topic, but somewhere along the line the enthusiasm wears off.  I often have a stack of books all partially read but somehow don’t get back to them.  Since writing my new book Tame the Change Noise®, I wonder whether the loss of momentum happens when we forgot what we wanted to learn from the book in the first place.

Why is it that the curious among us, buy the books but don’t always read them?

Instead of expecting anyone reading my book to keep engagement from front to back, it was designed to be read sentence/paragraph/chapter or section at a time, think about it in your own context, and return straight away or after a while. The idea is that when you are contemplating your own career change and want to test your theories before reaching out to someone, it will not be a linear experience.  There may be a confirmation of being where you thought you were (on track, with corporate support, and mentorship) or you may need some time to process the gap between now and what you expected to see.

The framework of the book is to take note of what you do well and where you excel, check whether you are getting in your own way with your mindset, consider the impact of your environment and then take one small, specific, invisible to others move, sized for your career. 

Start with the strengths that have propelled your career so far and follow this process;

1. Navigate – Note your top 2 strengths that you rely on for your career success,

2. Evaluate – Can you articulate these strengths to someone who doesn’t know you? What happens when you overuse these strengths?  What is the impact of the answers on your career right now?

3. Focus – What is one thing you will focus on next? (Aligning your strengths to your next role? Watch out for overuse of a strength during critical times?) It is your choice.

The aim is to focus on one small move that improves or supports your career change. The assumption is that the Do-Nothing option has greater consequences in a complex working environment, so some forward action is needed. 

If you want to learn more about Tame the Change Noise® and the Navigate, Evaluate, Focus framework the website link is here.