Kevin W. McCarthy

The Professor of On-Purpose

Career

Is Your Career In The Midst of A Tough Shift™? (part 3)

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(Be sure to read to the end to learn how we’re helping good, willing-to-learn people start their own business.)

With the continuing changes in the economy, there seems to be this “tough shift class” of Corporate America employees—talented, experienced people—who are in transition every few years. Generally speaking, I see them as what used to be middle management in sales and service positions. They’re the new migratory workforce. In the past, they may have migrated from branch to branch within a company and had continuity of employment. Today, however, they’re migrating from company to company. These fits and starts in and out of jobs wear on one’s confidence.

Here are 3 smart reasons to start your own business in the midst of your job search:

  1. You’ll be a better employee when you do get your next job. You’ll be able to Think Inc!—a concept from The On-Purpose Business Person whereby every person thinks like the president of his or her own company.
  2. You’ll do a better job search because you’ll better understand yourself and what matters most to you. You’ll improve your marketability and odds for landing in a better, more on-purpose place.
  3. Your business venture might work! Join the ranks of being an independent business person whose only boss looking at them is staring them in the mirror. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up on Shark Tank!

Prospects for this rising middle management migratory workforce are not necessarily improving. Technology is working against them. In the front end of the Knowledge Age, automation of systems and controls shrunk the middle management class. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) systems are replacing their decision making and oversight and decimating their numbers yet again.

Here’s how to find the job of your life.

Hedge your bets. 

Here’s the hard reality. Your working career is likely to be a series of tough shifts composed of company changes. Regardless of whether you’re looking for a corporate job or working in one now, you are in the midst of a tough shift or you will be soon!

The involuntary income gaps between “gigs” disrupt financial and retirement planning horizons. It can also wear on the soul.

Starting a business is the perfect hedge for job jumping.

When you get “re-organized out” of your old company you’ll immediately have something to look forward to investing more of your time into until you land again or your business replaces your income. It dampens the lows and lifts the spirits.

Pressure and risk are high when you’re in the midst of a tough shift. If your business isn’t ready to launch, then you have to keep looking for that job. However, if you’ve been working all along on your business and the career tough shift comes along then you’ve some involuntary freedom—Voila! What a perfect time to take your solo ownership opportunity to the next level.

Beat Your Drum

The continuing ups and downs of the economy and the growing ranks of the dis-incentivized non-working can be disheartening. Perhaps you fear falling into such government dependence. You have a choice and it can start today.

Let your life beat with the drum of being true to yourself by being on-purpose. The world will not necessarily or readily step to your new beat, so that’s why you want to ramp up your business adventure now.

You possess the power to transform your world and bring your dreams into being.

Are you asking yourself, “Am I ready for a tough shift … to a new job or business opportunity of my own?”

Everyone, yes everyone, needs to start a business at least once in their life. Aside from marriage, which I highly recommend, little else that you set out to do will challenge, educate, and mature you into a better person or even a better employee.

Starting a business is demanding.

It is also rewarding because you have the independence to pick and choose what you’ll do and whom you will serve as your clients or customers. Risks go with these rewards so be smart.

Chances are you’ve uttered the words more than a few times: “I should start a business.” So … what are you waiting for? Even if the business never opens its doors, the benefits of starting a business are far greater than you’ll ever know unless you’ve done it.

Need some help with starting your own business?

Consider On-Purpose Personal Leadership Coaching. Whether you are starting a business or wanting to improve a current one, this offering is a great way to get the help you need.

Selectively, my wife and I are also helping people to start businesses as independent health coaches. Email me with your interest and we’ll set up an interview. It is rewarding work on many levels.

Is Your Career In The Midst of A Tough Shift? (part 2)

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Career Advice?

Early in my career a well-intended business person told me, “Keep your personal life and your business life separated.” At the time, I remember questioning that advice. Perhaps if I had pursued a career in Corporate America that Industrial Age advice might have served me well.

I ignored that advice and followed my heart with the guidance of my head.

Today, I wholeheartedly believe just the opposite is not only true but the healthiest approach to living life and having well-being in your person, work, and relationships.

I’ve been a business owner for over 50 years.

It started with selling candy on the school bus. I tended to eat my profits. My older brother did collections and my parents’ dental plan covered the cavities. Heading down and staying on a path of independent business ownership eventually led me to be in the business of helping clients integrate their work and life to be on-purpose. For over 25 years, I’ve been sharing that message with anyone who would listen. Today, the world is ready and hearing this message.

But what if your life feels compartmentalized, scattered, and struggling with a Tough Shift? Now what? The disintegration of life and work may be an effective (and necessary) survival tool for working ill-fitted jobs, but is dying better than thriving?

Integration of life and work is where it’s at.

On-Purpose can help you to live into your greater calling and find your happiness.

Put on-purpose business principles and planning to use in your personal and work life. As a business advisor my focus is principally on company growth through improving the business acumen and leadership capacity of the people within a well-defined business strategy. We help our clients create On-Purpose Business Plans. You can do the same for your career by creating a life and career plan, especially leveraging ONPURPOSE.me, the online 2-word purpose statement discovery tool.

Over the years, many a client has come to me seeking life and career advice.

Usually, the call comes when they’re in the midst of a tough shift—job loss or job dissatisfaction. Most of us struggle with time management, but that isn’t the underlying issue. We’re fighting financial worries, but that isn’t the true problem either. We’re trying to steady a shaken confidence, but that isn’t the problem.

The real problem is we haven’t identified what’s most important … really important–willing-to-pay-the-price-important.

  • We take on too much.
  • We spread ourselves thin.
  • We never develop our true strengths, passion, and purpose.

The idea of spreading our risks actually compounds it. Try excelling at something you’re not called to do. No amount of extra time, energy, and effort can produce a truly satisfying result. We’re simply off-purpose. What a waste!

If you find yourself in the midst of a tough shift, such as out of work, underemployed, on-the-fence about your future, or downright unhappy in your present job, then On-Purpose® is a fun, workable process designed to free you to be true to who you are.

Here are some suggested resources:

  1. Read The On-Purpose Person.
  2. Run Want Lists and Tournaments to get very clear about what’s most immediately important. Use The Discovery Guide free preview.

    6a00e551c6499c883401bb07bf7954970d-120wi.png.jpg
    Mary Tomlinson rocks as an On-Purpose Personal Leadership Coach
  3. Hire a coach to help you. There are plenty of talented, capable “life coaches” available. Mary Tomlinson is delightfully exceptional at walking clients through the entire On-Purpose personal planning process using On-Purpose Peace. We also have other recommendations to On-Purpose Pros as life and career coaches.
  4. Make appointments for your dream! If you don’t, no one else will. You’ll always be subject to fulfilling the dreams of others while your dream dissipates through the days spent instead of invested.

Go into this planning process with a focus on your life and you’ll come out with a life and career plan that informs your vocational aspirations.

Smooth out the tough shift and step your life into a higher gear—on-purpose!

Make Appointments for Your Dream

What Is In Your September Plan?

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(This video mentions the year 2010. No matter the year, having a September plan is good for your business.)

Summer is almost over.

Many of us are just returning from vacation and others are just getting ready to close out the summer by heading on vacation. We’re executing on our family and personal plans put in place some months ago. Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?

Northern hemisphere is highlighted in yellow a...Image via Wikipedia

September in the Northern Hemisphere provides a restart of sorts.

It isn’t like New Year’s Day, but in a sense it can function much like it because it gives us the opportunity to finish the year strong. September is a time to reboot the business.

From now until New Year’s Eve is a great stretch to really make strides in your career or business.

But you need a plan. So let’s talk about a September Plan.

With just a couple of weeks left in August, let’s get our heads ahead of the game and start making plans today for September through the remainder of the year.

  • What do you want to accomplish?
  • Who do you need to see?
  • What decision do you need to make?

Plan now and you’ll hit September in full stride and have the momentum to carry you through the fall and into the first days of winter.

How Do You Get the Job of Your Life?

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Note: This On-Purpose Minute first posted on Nov. 27, 2009, and remains relevant today to finding meaningful work.

This On-Purpose® Minute is geared toward helping you find meaningful work where you can be real, prosper, and make a difference regardless of your employment situation. For coaches, consultants, and solo owners — with some translation — what you learn here is also true for finding meaningful “client work.”

Recently, a corporate recruiter I met shared that for every job her company posts there are 300 applicants. In the face of such competition, how does one sparkle like a diamond?

It breaks my heart when I see job seekers playing the numbers game of firing out resumes and job posting on bulletin boards for any job opening there is. While I agree that any income is better than no income, they are playing a very low percentage game that far too often produces a less than desirable Business like tennisoutcome for everyone involved. It is a poor investment of their time.

In this On-Purpose Minute, this “backward” approach is illustrated with the tennis balls as 3–2–1. Conforming oneself to fit the job may be an applicant’s sincere and hopeful effort, but it is generally an un-strategic and unproductive activity.

Chasing a paycheck and benefits while ignoring who you are, sells everyone short—especially you. It is likely you’ll too soon find yourself on the job turnover cycle unhappy, defensive, and shrinking in your role. The effect is a depreciation of who you are and a growing loss of confidence.

Instead, the 1–2–3 strategic plan builds upon the On-Purpose® Approach by beginning with your purpose (who you are and becoming) and then adds searching for the best places or opportunities for expression. Rather than a job, you’re looking for a position. A position is a proper fit, a launching pad, and a meaningful place where you can make a difference.

Yes, in searching for a position, it is demanding to have to think through who you are and what truly matters. It is even more demanding to do the research on employers where you are a better fit. And just because you’ve found what appears to be a great fit doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get hired. Admittedly, because of our investment in researching the company and position, the rejection stings all the more.

Despite all these hurdles and emotional risks, you’ll gain a lot. You’ll learn more about yourself and how to market and position yourself for a higher probability of success. You are more likely to make a positive impression and build a relationship that just might open the door to your next opportunity. Of course, the ultimate reward is finding a position where you are valued and expanding into your promise and possibilities. The effect is an appreciation of who you are.

If you must play this numbers game, don’t do it exclusively. Know who you are and target your search to your heart’s desire, your head’s understanding and vision, and your skill set.

Need some help sorting it all out? Check out MyWork-ONPURPOSE.com.

Here are some tips for positioning yourself for your next best employment situation:

  1. Know your 2-word purpose. Go to www.ONPURPOSE.me and in just a few minutes you’ll know your life purpose.
  2. To find the “job” of your life, your first job is your life. Be a personal leader of your life. Take responsibility for your attitude, appearance, and presentation. Have you written your personal purpose, vision, mission, and values? Given age appropriateness, do you really know who you are?
  3. Think in terms of how best you can help the employer accomplish their goals. For example, figure out ways that you can help your potential employer to: make or save money, grow sales, create a better working environment, improve customer service, or innovate.
  4. Use the Think Inc! mindset (read The On-Purpose Business Person). In other words, approach the open position as if it was a business, not a job. And you are the president of the business. For example, if you were applying to be a receptionist for a company, pretend that you are a “receptionist consultant” who comes in and looks for ways to improve the performance of the job so the company and people around you are benefited.
  5. Add value to the relationship. If in your research, you’ve found a potential employer that offers acceptable pay and benefits, then take the focus off of what you can get from the job and immediately look for ways where you can make a difference on the job. Oddly, this means you’re going into the process asking most of the questions instead of answering them. Uncover where you fit and can contribute.
  6. Have your LinkedIn profile up to date and written in such a way that it is a marketing piece, not a resume. Have a friend who actually hires lots of people review it and take their candid feedback about what works and doesn’t.
  7. When you find a target employer, research them. Go online and read their strategic statements of purpose, vision, mission, and/or values. Dig into their culture. Scan the Annual Report. Understand their strategic initiatives. Find the names of people who work in areas of your interest paying particular attention to VPs and Directors. Research their industry. Understand trends, jargon, terms, and what the hot topics are. Be knowledgeable, but don’t try to fake expertise or pretend you know more than you do.
  8. Leverage your social media connections like LinkedIn to find people who work in your target company. Don’t call or connect with them about needing a job. Instead, pick up the phone and say something like, “Can you offer me some insight about your company?” Listen for them to say yes or ask how. Then say, “I’m considering coming to work for your company. I want to know what kind of place it is to work for before I go any further with my position search.” Have a couple of company-specific questions to ask and then listen. For example, “Your annual report says you’re expanding your XYZ product lines into the ABC market. If you’re free to discuss it, what are the opportunities and challenges associated with this strategic move?” Another question: “Your online career center says your company offers ample training and upward mobility; please share with me, what has been your experience?” Create a sincere relationship, not a ploy to ask for a job. In fact, don’t ask for a job. Respectfully and politely ask for insight, guidance. If you make a great impression, you might have an internal champion. Close the call by asking for permission to call back again if you have more questions.
  9. Be bold, not brazen. Once you’ve determined through your research that you can truly add value to the company, then go in with confidence versus your hat in your hand desperate and begging for a job. Confidence matters. In your preparation, you’ve figured out how you can make a difference in their area of interest. Therefore, ask hard questions to confirm or adjust your understanding of your positioning.
  10. Express your sincere interest in the position backed up with genuine reasons why you fit their culture and strategy plus how you can contribute. For the receptionist example, “I’m very interested in the receptionist position because I can already see ways that I can organize and streamline the flow of people and information that comes in and out of the company front door. Meeting new people is something I love to do and just sitting in the lobby I could see the interesting mix of people who come to the business.”
  11. Have fun. Researching and learning about companies via their public and private personas is interesting. Remember there are no perfect companies so you’ll learn the good and the bad. Your knowledge is power.

So let me know how your “job search” goes.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

Your Work View

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Today is Labor Day in the USA.  Ironically, it is a day when many of us have the day off from work and the kids are out of school.  According to Wikipedia, Labor Day began as "a street parade to exhibit to the public ‘the strength and esprit de
corps of the trade and labor organizations,’ followed by a festival for
the workers and their families."

Let’s take the occasion, however, to look at the very nature of our labor and its meaning.  The concept of work is vitally misunderstood in many corners of the economy and culture.

For those of us who view work as an expression of one’s calling and difference making, work conjures positive feelings and robust expression of who we are.  For many others the concept of work elicits harsh bondage and dependence on the whim of their boss.  Still, there are some who would wash away all work and settle for a life of recreation and parties.  So what view of work works?

[Read more…] about Your Work View

Dr. Wayne Andersen

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What a wonderful experience to speak at the Take Shape For Life National Convention.   Here I am pictured with Dr. Wayne Andersen, co-founder of the this amazing division of Medifast, Inc.

In addition to giving the Saturday morning keynote address to the 800 plus in attendance, I signed books for another two and half hours.  It is always such an honor and privilege to sign books at events.  Many people are a bit embarrassed to ask for a signature.   With me, please don’t be.   Think of it this way, what if someone were to walk up to you and ask for your autograph… you would be flattered.  I am too.

One of the true joys….

[Read more…] about Dr. Wayne Andersen