Executive Mentoring Prepares You for the Future of Work
How has Work Changed?
The world of work has changed in the past decade, with change accelerating to a furious pace in the past four years. The Great Recession of 2008 created a seismic shift in how we work, how we search for work, and what we expect from work.
Going to work once meant a full-time job, health care, a retirement plan, centralized work places, climbing a career ladder, and an illusion of job security. On the downside, job security sometimes meant mind-numbing routine, little autonomy or creativity, unbearably long hours and accompanying levels of stress.
Today, many who are unemployed are seeking only to replace their previous job and are running into the brick wall of the current economy and the changing face of work. Still others who have survived lay-offs are feeling overworked, stressed, and hoping they are not caught in the next round of lay-offs.
Whether you are employed or unemployed, it pays to rethink your assumptions about work and take a proactive stance to planning your future.
Executive Mentoring Opens Doors to the Future
Facing the future of work means learning new career management skills, but you don’t have to go it alone. Many successful people have found that identifying a mentor has helped them adapt to rapid change and build new skills. The best mentors help us to question outmoded assumptions and push us to take on new challenges. Whether you work with a mentor on a formal or informal basis, look to align with someone who has mastered the art of self-marketing, and who embraces the use of social media in managing their career. If you are still employed, see if your company will pair you with a mentor or ask if they will provide corporate executive coaching.
Could Executive Mentoring Be a Key to Your Success?
If you see significant change on the horizon within your current company don’t wait for the turmoil to blow over. Chances are your competition is taking proactive steps to gain mastery of the new rules in the changing world of work. Whether you are looking to position yourself for more visibility and responsibility in your company, or you sense a restructure or lay-off is imminent, tap into your trusted executive mentors or hire someone for a few hours of career coaching.
Great stuff! There isn’t anyone who can’t benefit from getting more proactive in managing their careers. Having an objective, “fresh” pair of eyes take a look at what you’ve been doing is a good start. There was a time when I thought that my career would just “evolve.” Big mistake. If you don’t know where you want to go and don’t have a clear, workable plan to get there, you’re playing from behind. Actually, nowadays, you’re not just playing from behind, you’re probably playing from the sidelines.
Thanks for this excellent post, Kathleen.
I got complacent in my last role and did not realize how much so until I left the company. I agree 110% with the idea of finding a mentor within the company or outside the company to push you to look at things a different way and find new challenges within the company or consider other options, and to know what your ultimate goals are. This will push a person in the right direction to achieve his/her career goals.
Having recently gone through a coaching process with The Winsor Group, I obtained an objective viewpoint about my skill set and learned how to articulate my skills and what I desire in my next role. Before the coaching process, I previously was unable to effectively and concisely communicate what I wanted, and the feedback and “drill down” questions in this process were invaluable in getting my arms wrapped around how my skills and previous accomplishments would be applied in a new opportunity.
I am happy you are writing a blog and would love to read about how to maintain one’s “five-year pipeline” going as it relates to career progression and job security (if there is such a thing as security anymore).