06 February 2009 ~ 0 Comments

Getting the Necessary Support

Here we are at the end of this New Year career plan­ning series. The final res­o­lu­tion is: Get the Nec­es­sary Sup­port. Resolve that: “I rec­og­nize that res­o­lu­tions are easy to make, but even eas­ier to break. I’ll look for a career buddy and men­tor to help keep me focused. If I know that I need even more sup­port, I’ll con­sider invest­ing in some coach­ing to help me achieve my goals.”

A men­tor can help you reach your goals. They can help you find your niche and they can lend a guid­ing hand when you are mak­ing big deci­sions. Find­ing a men­tor is impor­tant for net­work­ing as well as they can help open doors for you.

You have to first have a plan on who you’re going to reach out to in terms of pos­si­ble men­tors, and and how you’re going to approach a pos­si­ble men­tor. You should make a list of ques­tions to ask a poten­tial men­tor in order to ensure you have the right fit. Allow them to ask you ques­tions as well, because the fit has to work both ways.

Deliver your pitch and then be patient enough to real­ize that there will be peo­ple that will not accept the request to be a men­tor. As you ask the per­son to men­tor you, be sure to explain to them why they were cho­sen. Be very care­ful, though, because it is appar­ent when you are try­ing to but­ter some­one up instead of being com­pletely gen­uine.

Hav­ing a career buddy can be a major boost to your career in terms of account­abil­ity and achiev­ing bal­ance.

You and your buddy can con­fide in each other and also sup­port each other dur­ing the chal­leng­ing times you’re likely to face. With no one but your­self to hold you account­able for your goals and plans, time can just slip away. It’s so easy to lose bal­ance between per­sonal needs and wants and your careers. Your buddy can keep you on point in this regard, and pro­tect against burnout once enthu­si­asm starts to wade.

Use your buddy as a sound­ing board for ideas and goals as well as frus­tra­tions. Keep each other bal­anced and on track, but know when it is appro­pri­ate to go solo.

A coach can play a crit­i­cal role in your career. For those of you who have career goals that you want to reach IMMEDIATELY…and are seri­ous about tak­ing ACTION and get­ting things ACCOMPLISHED, a career coach can help you achieve your pro­fes­sional goals, define the path that’s right for you and over­come the obsta­cles that pre­vent you from mov­ing for­ward. You will dis­cover how to elim­i­nate defeat­ing habits, develop con­fi­dence in your skills and abil­i­ties, and cre­ate an action plan to achieve your goals. A coach can help you find your own answers as well as give you the ben­e­fit of their advice and expe­ri­ence.

If you’re look­ing to hire a career coach, make sure you choose some­one who has the breadth of expe­ri­ence nec­es­sary to guide you down the right path, and be sure you feel com­fort­able talk­ing with them.

Well we’ve reached the end of the line with this final New Year career res­o­lu­tion. Over the past month and a half I have talked about five key career res­o­lu­tions you should embrace in order to jump start the new year: (1) Have a plan for my career, (2) Update my tools, (3) Develop myself pro­fes­sion­ally, (4) Build my net­work, and (5) Get the nec­es­sary sup­port. I also addressed each res­o­lu­tion in-depth to give you more insight into how to make your res­o­lu­tions a real­ity.

It’s now time to get real about your career! Rec­og­nize that your career is more than the sum of your gigs. Accept that you have to take respon­si­bil­ity for defin­ing your career goals and sup­port­ing objec­tives. Under­stand that you will have to iden­tify steps and activ­i­ties that will advance your career over time. This won’t hap­pen mag­i­cally if you don’t do any­thing. Sure, some peo­ple get lucky, but don’t rely on it. Don’t sit by the pool wait­ing for the phone to ring. It’s your career and you’re respon­si­ble.

Here’s to your suc­cess in 2009!

All the best,

Tanya Kersey
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