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It's been a while, hasn't it? I've missed writing this newsletter but there's a good reason I've been quiet; I've been busy working on a book - more on that later... And with me starting to write the newsletter again, it's probably a good time to re-share with you my mission and why this missive is called The Career Activist. I'm a careers and executive coach and trainer who is obsessed with the idea of proactive career development, otherwise known as Career Activism. What the flump is Career Activism?If you're wondering what on earth I'm talking about, you're not alone. This term, for me, was born out of countless conversations with coaching clients who found themselves stuck, watching others zoom past them on the career ladder. I was noticing a trend amongst some of my coachees - they seemed stuck in 'career passivism' mode. Career passivists often rely on hard work alone, hoping someone will notice and reward them. They wait for opportunities to come knocking and whilst those opportunities have appeared and may again appear, they sometimes dry up around the mid career mark. Sound familiar? Action ArchitectsCareer activists, on the other hand, take charge. They: π Consistently work on self-development π Actively build their network π Seek out opportunities rather than waiting for them π Understand and leverage their unique value β β
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I help mid-career leaders break through frustration and stuckness by taking control of their career.
I spent a day this week teaching senior leaders from across the world about gravitas. The most common reaction from delegates at the start was, "I'm not sure this can be taught." But by the end of the day, most of them had changed their minds. Let me try to define it briefly, without going down a rabbit hole. The Cambridge Dictionary offers something that comes close-ish to the message we were trying to convey: seriousness and importance of manner, causing feelings of respect and trust in...
A client recently shared with me that she deliberately puts herself in energy-saving mode in January. We do it for our phones when we want to make sure they're running effectively and to save their battery for the important stuff. So doing it for our human selves makes perfect sense. Her deliberate approach gave me a bit of a tickle because my January was the opposite: relentless busyness forced me into low-power mode, focusing only on what was both urgent and important - coaching, workshops...
Networking is such a loaded word for so many people. When I mention it in the coaching room I so often see the subtle signs that someone is very uncomfortable with the idea of reaching out to people for a conversation. The grimace, the slight sideways shift of the eyes, or even an actual 'yuk' escapes the lips. I get it. From our side of the fence, reaching out to someone can feel a bit desperate or needy or it might feel like weβre inconveniencing someone or putting them in a position where...