If you are like most people, you spend one third of your life at work, or half of your waking hours. For many, the work that you do plays a significant role in defining who you are. Not only your job title and status; but your colleagues and associations; your financial well-being; your level of satisfaction or of frustration; your very sense of self is largely determined by your career, or by your lack of one. That is why it is so crucial that your career fits who you are, and that it accurately reflects your most deeply held values.
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The importance of finding the right career
When your career is correctly aligned with your values and interests, everything flows well and fits perfectly. Instead of dreading the work day, you greet each day with energy and enthusiasm for the tasks at hand. In place of experiencing stress and frustration when faced with difficulties at work, you relish challenge, viewing obstacles as potential opportunities. Rather than watching the clock, your attention is focused on work that fully engages your intellect, your skills, and your passion. At the end of the work day you are not burnt out, but deeply satisfied with the day’s accomplishments and invigorated by its challenges.
If this does not describe your work day, then consider consulting with a career coach to get your career on the right track. Together with a career coach, you will examine your work within the larger context of your life, so that you can correctly match what
you do with who you are. Whether just starting a career, considering a dramatic change, honing skills to advance a stalled career, or returning to the workforce after a period of unemployment, a career coach will work with you to identify your fundamental goals, and to strategise what you need to do to achieve those goals.
What can career coaching do for you
Career coaching is a confidential, collaborative process that tailors your career path to your interests, talents, and long term goals. Coaching yields proven, measureable benefits to the quality of your work and the balance between your professional and personal life. The results you can expect to achieve from career coaching include the following:
Greater clarity of purpose
You will identify your core life values and analyse how your current position relates to those values. Together with your coach, you will explore your ideas about the perfect career, whether it is a refit of your current position, or a clean break into a different field. Working collaboratively, you and your coach will examine your career options in the context of your core values, your character, your talents, and your interests. You will make decisions about how to negotiate a balance between your career and your personal life; and how to close the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.
Identifying your strengths and recognising where you have areas that need improvement.
With your coach you will analyse your likes and dislikes, your talents and your passions. You will focus on which skills you need to sharpen. Together with your coach you will strategise how to amplify your strengths to position yourself for advancement, and how to efficiently upgrade your skills.
Development of an action plan to achieve your goals.
You will work with your coach to break your goals into manageable pieces that you can accomplish. Your coach will offer valuable and objective feedback on your progress, and will provide strategies for staying focused, motivated, current, and positive.
Increased empowerment over your career.
Gain control over the direction of your career as you correctly position yourself to achieve goals important to you, whether developing a professional network; acquiring new skills; or writing an outstanding CV that sets you apart from the crowd. Set a course of your own choosing and work toward it diligently, and you will find a new sense of purpose and ownership of your work and talents.
Utilisation of your full capacities.
Use both your intellect, or IQ, and your emotional intelligence, or EQ. The characteristics of EQ have proven to be a key component of leadership. This is notable because EQ can be developed and strengthened. People with high EQ are better able to fully utilise their full intellect and creativity, and are more likely to achieve a satisfying balance between work and personal life. With your coach you will assess and develop your EQ to enhance self-knowledge and self-control; to increase your ability to self-motivate; to persevere to the completion of your goals; to understand how to motivate others for improved management of office politics and stronger business relationships; and to maintain a positive and flexible attitude.
Objective, confidential support and feedback from your coach.
Your career coach will stay abreast of cutting edge developments in your field and will provide a knowledgeable ear for your difficulties, and a partnership for brainstorming solutions. Your coach has no conflict of interest, unlike office confidants, so she will provide feedback which focuses entirely on your career goals. Your coach is not constrained by the hesitancy an employee or spouse might feel, and will point out where you need to improve your performance. Your coach will support and encourage your progress, and will hold you accountable for staying on track until you achieve your desired outcome.
Working with a career coach is an essential first step toward positioning yourself exactly where you want to be. It is in your power to transform your career from being the means to a pay-cheque into a platform from which you create, solve, and contribute. Embrace a career that has meaning for you, in which the work that you do uses all of your talents and intelligence, and reflects your passions and deepest beliefs. By working with a career coach, you will take your career in a direction of your own choosing and create a purposeful, balanced and harmonious life.