Podcast Summary
Exploring different career paths: It's okay to switch careers and explore new opportunities that align with your strengths, values, preferred skills, and personality.
Our careers don't have to follow a linear path. On today's episode of Young and Profiting Podcast, we had the pleasure of speaking with Kristen Sherry, a career coach, international speaker, bestselling author, and founder of UMAP. Kristen shared her personal story of wanting to be a police officer, then a doctor, and eventually a career coach. Despite having a degree in neuroscience, she discovered that being a neurologist wasn't for her. Instead, she found her passion in helping people identify their unique contributions in the workplace through her UMAP career profile. This experience, along with her work in IT and learning and development, led her to become a career coach. The key takeaway from this conversation is that it's okay to explore different career paths and switch gears when necessary. Our past experiences and education can still be valuable in new roles, and it's important to listen to our gut instincts when considering a career change. If you're feeling unhappy or unfulfilled in your current job, take a cue from Kristen and consider exploring new opportunities that align with your strengths, values, preferred skills, and personality.
Recognize your unique value and build fulfilling relationships: Self-awareness is key to identifying your strengths, values, skills, and personality for a fulfilling career. UMAP's self-discovery framework can help you identify your 4 pillars of career fit, leading to a more satisfying and rewarding professional journey.
Understanding yourself and finding a career that aligns with your unique strengths, values, skills, and personality is crucial for career fulfillment. Self-awareness is essential to recognizing your own value and effectively building relationships in the business world. On the other hand, violations of values in the workplace can lead to significant dissatisfaction, causing stress and lack of fulfillment for many Americans. With the current job market disruptions, it's an excellent opportunity to reassess your career path and explore how UMAP's self-discovery framework can help you identify your 4 pillars of career fit, ultimately leading to a more satisfying and rewarding professional journey.
Impact of Work Experience on Well-being: Effective managers, loving work, and good work environments contribute to job satisfaction. Ineffective managers and stress lead to turnover and health issues.
The quality of our work experience significantly impacts our overall well-being, with up to 90% of general practitioner office visits being for stress-related illnesses. Loving what we do and having good managers are crucial for job satisfaction. Poor managers are the leading reason for job dissatisfaction and turnover, with lack of trust and insecurity about team members' talents being major issues. Effective managers, on the other hand, create motivation, assert themselves respectfully, and sustain team members' motivation. Sadly, many managers are not adequately prepared for their roles, with only 1 in 3 receiving proper training or mentorship. This lack of investment in management development can lead to ineffective management and a negative work environment. To improve your work experience, evaluate your current job situation, consider seeking resources like Kristen's worksheets, and advocate for better management practices and training.
Transitioning from individual contributor to manager: Recognize and leverage unique strengths for success as a manager, prioritize, build trust, and communicate effectively.
Being thrown into a managerial role without prior experience can be a humbling experience. It requires a shift from individual contributor mindset to a focus on team communication, trust-building, and admitting when you don't know the answer. Trust is an outcome, not something you can pursue directly. Natural leaders, like the speaker, may excel due to strengths such as focus, achiever, maximizer, futuristic, and significance. These strengths enable prioritization, energy and drive, excellence, vision, and a desire to do work that matters. Recognizing and leveraging your unique strengths can help you succeed as a manager.
Bringing Entrepreneurial Visions to Life with Shopify: Shopify empowers entrepreneurs to focus on business growth with its all-in-one e-commerce solution, featuring easy setup, AI tools, and excellent customer support. Remember, understanding strengths and weaknesses is key to effective communication and building strong relationships.
Having a clear vision and the determination to make it a reality are essential for entrepreneurs. Shopify, as a global commerce platform, can help bring that vision to life by providing an all-in-one e-commerce solution for businesses at any stage, from starting a side hustle to scaling a successful enterprise. With features like easy setup, AI tools, and excellent customer support, Shopify enables entrepreneurs to focus on growing their business without worrying about the technicalities. However, it's important to remember that our strengths can also be our weaknesses, and understanding both the positives and the barriers associated with them is crucial for effective communication and building strong relationships. Seeking feedback from others can help us identify these aspects and balance our strengths for optimal success.
Identifying Burnout Skills: Recognize the difference between strengths and skills, pay attention to how tasks make you feel, and avoid overusing burnout skills to maintain energy and productivity.
It's essential to recognize the difference between skills and strengths and understand how they impact our work and well-being. Strengths are natural talents that influence how we prefer to work, while skills are learned abilities. While it's important to focus on developing our strengths, it's equally important to identify and minimize the use of burnout skills, which are tasks we're good at but find draining and unenjoyable. These skills can lead to exhaustion and hinder productivity. To identify burnout skills, pay attention to how you feel after engaging in specific tasks. If you feel drained and unenergized, that task may be a burnout skill. To avoid falling into the trap of overusing burnout skills, consider delegating them to others or finding ways to make them more enjoyable. Remember, recognizing and addressing these differences can lead to a more balanced and fulfilling work life.
Understanding personal values to combat burnout: Identify your values through introspection and communicate them to your manager to create a more fulfilling work experience.
Recognizing signs of exhaustion and understanding personal values can help individuals manage burnout skills, even when they cannot influence how they spend their day. Values, defined as what is most important to an individual, can be identified by reflecting on fulfilling experiences and questioning the underlying reasons. These values serve as a personal "why." For those in unfulfilling jobs, it's essential to communicate with managers about desired skills utilization and potential project collaborations. By focusing on motivated skills and delegating tasks that drain energy, individuals can create a more balanced work experience.
Exploring career growth opportunities beyond traditional roles: Expand your skills and leadership abilities through employee resource groups, mentors, networking, and increased visibility. Prioritize values for informed decisions and career satisfaction. Understand work preferences for role alignment and job satisfaction.
There are various ways to utilize your skills and leadership abilities in a corporate setting beyond your traditional role. Participating in employee resource groups, seeking out mentors, expanding your network, and increasing visibility are all essential components to career growth and advancement. Prioritizing your values is crucial for making informed decisions and serving as a compass for your professional journey. The personality traits that influence our work preferences and career choices are another essential aspect of career satisfaction. By understanding these preferences and aligning them with our roles, we can increase job satisfaction and overall career fulfillment.
Discovering career interests through values: Align career with values and interests, take a free test to identify work environments that resonate, and consider entrepreneurship for autonomy and making a difference.
Our career interests and values play a significant role in shaping our professional paths. The speaker shared how her values and interests, specifically in creating a difference and having autonomy, led her to transition from a corporate job to entrepreneurship. To discover one's interests, the speaker recommended taking a free test available online or in her book. The test, which takes only 5 to 7 minutes, shows pictures of different work environments and asks individuals to identify which ones seem the most interesting. The bottom two results are also informative as they reveal complementary strengths. The speaker's experience highlights the importance of aligning one's career with their values and interests, even if it means taking a less traditional path.
Transferable skills enable successful career transitions: 85% of skills are transferable across jobs and industries, focusing on skills instead of industry or role can lead to successful career transitions
Skills are transferable and can be stacked from one job to another, leading to successful career transitions. The speaker, who transitioned from a career in Learning and Development (L&D) to coaching and writing books, emphasized the importance of recognizing this. According to Korn Ferry International research, there is an 85% skill similarity across various jobs and industries. The speaker gave an example of how people might not be able to identify that a lead software developer was responsible for managing projects, delegating work, training new hires, and meeting with clients based on the description alone. People often sabotage their career transitions by focusing too much on their industry and role rather than the skills they possess. The speaker's experience of creating a certification program and writing books demonstrates the value of transferring skills and adapting to new opportunities.
Think Beyond Limiting Labels: Expand your perspective on skills and experiences, focus on strengths, and assess your situation before considering a career move.
It's essential to broaden the way we think about our skills and experiences when considering career transitions or applying for jobs in different industries. Our competencies are often more portable than we realize, and using limiting terms like "patient" or "customer service representative" may unnecessarily narrow our job prospects. Instead, focusing on our strengths, talents, and success stories can help us identify opportunities where we can make a significant impact. Moreover, before making a career move, it's crucial to assess our current situation and determine whether it's worth trying to improve or if a change is necessary. We may be able to address our dissatisfaction by communicating our concerns to our managers or seeking out new opportunities within our organization. By taking a thoughtful and introspective approach, we can increase our chances of finding a fulfilling role that aligns with our skills and values.
Identify root causes of dissatisfaction before making a move: Focus on unique skills and passions, build a repeatable process, and be selective to avoid replicating unwanted aspects of day jobs in side hustles or entrepreneurial ventures.
Self-awareness is crucial when considering a career change or starting a side hustle. It's essential to identify the root causes of dissatisfaction in your current situation before making a move. Many people make the mistake of replicating unwanted aspects of their day jobs in their side hustles or entrepreneurial ventures. To avoid this, focus on your unique skills and passions, and build a repeatable process before investing heavily in unnecessary expenses like websites or logos. Additionally, be selective about the business you take on and don't be afraid to turn away opportunities that don't align with your goals. Remember, the purpose of a side hustle is to do something you love, not just to make money.
Find work that aligns with your interests for increased revenue and better opportunities: Self-awareness and staying true to yourself can lead to increased revenue, better job opportunities, and standing out in interviews
Focusing on what you love and are good at can lead to increased revenue and better job opportunities. The speaker shared her experience of doubling her revenue by turning down work that didn't align with her interests. She also emphasized the importance of knowing yourself and your unique value proposition in job interviews. Instead of just reciting your resume, connect your strengths and experiences to the job description and tell compelling stories. Additionally, be aware of your values and personality, as these can set you apart from other candidates. The speaker's secret to profiting in life is self-awareness and staying true to yourself. Connect with her on LinkedIn or visit her website myumap.com for more information.
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