Episode 2: Career Reboot - Reinvent and Reengage

:: 00:08

Welcome to the Unlock Your Block podcast. Career Empowerment with me, Robin Cartwright. Join me as I empower you to shine in your career, to uplevel your life and to go after your dreams. Let's talk.

:: 00:24

Hi, welcome back to the Unlock Your Block podcast with me, Robin Cartwright. Thank you so much for joining me again today. Today, we're going to talk about reinventing and reengaging our careers. Not an easy thing to do, especially when we feel stuck or stagnant. And I've been there in that situation where I've just been stuck, and I've been bored and frustrated and not wanted to go to work. I didn't feel like I was learning or being challenged. I didn't feel like management was seeing me at the potential at the level that I wanted to be at. I wanted to grow my career. And I had to figure out how to get unlocked and how to re-engage myself, how to move forward. So that's what we're going to talk about today. So hopefully you can get some tools and tricks from here and use them at your convenience. And let's dive in.

:: 01:19

So, when we are in this situation, you're feeling like your job's not going anywhere, you're really stuck, and maybe management's not seeing you in the position or at the title that you feel, that you deserve, that you should be at. What we first have to look at is the why. Why are you there? Why are you stuck? Are you in a job where there isn't any growth? You know, sometimes we take roles where there really isn't any growth because it's a small company. In order to move up into that management role or that director role, somebody has to leave that job. So is that the situation? Is it the fact that maybe management doesn't even know that you're interested in that opportunity? Have you communicated to management? Have you talked to them? Have you told them that you want to move up? Or maybe it's a situation where you're at a director level and you want to move to more of an executor level, and you just haven't gone through the steps and nobody sees you in that light, there's not that opportunity there in your organization. So, you really have to dive in and first look at the why. Why are you sitting in this situation? Why are you in this dead-end job? Why is it stagnant? So really think about it.

:: 02:32

I like to ask my clients to journal. Journal and write it down. Talk about it with a friend, really kind of enlighten your mind. I like to sit and meditate and think about it. And then I like to journal. I like to go for walks. Sometimes that kind of breaks up all that goop in your brain so that you can figure it out. So first, dive in and figure out your why. And then the second thing that you really need to look at is a self-evaluation of where you're at. Know your strengths, know your weaknesses. Do you have shadows that you need to work through? And I call them shadow and shadow work. And that's just that yucky, mucky stuff that we have dealing with a lot of stuff that we don't want to face or aren't ready to deal with. So, do you have things that you need to work with?

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So, for example, I worked with a client, and she really wanted to move into management. She had the pedigree. She had everything on paper. She'd done the work. She had the experience. She led teams. But she just couldn't break into that management position. And when we dove into her shadow work, we figured out that her shadow problem and what she wasn't dealing with was this attitude of my way or the highway. So, we worked on that. We worked on getting her some management classes so that she could learn that managing individuals has a lot to do with different people. And therefore, you have to manage each individual differently. They're not you. And it doesn't matter as long as the job is getting done. Unless it's a particular job where they're doing something that they have to follow a process or order. Unless it's something like that where you have to follow the process. Just let him do the job. As long as it gets done, does it really matter how it gets done?

:: 04:21

So here's a good one for you. When I was first married, I used to get really upset with my husband when he did the dishwasher. He stacked the plates wrong. He put the silverware in wrong. He put the glasses in the wrong place. And I'd always go in and get all mad and freaked out and then rearrange it. And then it finally dawned on me, what am I doing? I'm complaining in this marriage that I'm doing all the work, yet he's trying to help, and I am correcting his help. So what does it really matter if the dishes aren't done the exact way I want them done? As long as they get done, I don't care. So early on in my marriage, I let him just go ahead and do it. And it was like this "Oh, huge relief. Oh, my gosh. Somebody else is doing the dishes." Same thing with the laundry. Just let somebody else do it. You do not have to control the outcome exactly the way it has to be as long as the job gets done. So keep that in mind. Really evaluate yourself. Know your strengths. Know your weaknesses. Sit back and listen. Was there something in a meeting that you had with management that you we're told why you couldn't move up. So really do some self-evaluation. I also like to ask my clients to talk to somebody else. Have them give you an evaluation of your strengths and your weaknesses. Know your strengths and whatever your weaknesses are, work on them, make them better, turn them around, let things go. So those are the first two.

:: 05:54

The next one that I'm going to talk to you about is really look at the opportunity. Is the opportunity the job that you want? Is it going to fit into your lifestyle? So sometimes we think, "Oh, I want that director role. I want that VP role." But then when we really dive into what is needed in that role, it's a lot of work. It's a lot of time. Maybe you're raising young kids. Maybe you're somebody who likes to travel and have fun. Really look at the role, understand what the demand is, and will it fit into your life right now? I also like to ask my clients to go and talk to somebody who's in that role. Know what's involved. Don't just assume. Go read the job description. Go talk to other people in that role. Really understand, does it fit your needs, your desire, your wants? Can you do the job? Does it work with your strengths? Because sometimes people take these opportunities, and then they find out it wasn't what they wanted at all. And they're absolutely miserable. So, I don't want you to be miserable. I really want you to take the time and evaluate the job. Is it really something that, one, will fit into your life right now, where you are? Or two, is it something that you really, truly want to do? Are you really inspired to doing that? So, look at your strengths and your weaknesses and figure out on those strengths, does it really fit in? Okay, because once you do that, then it's kind of you sit down and going, okay, I get it.

:: 07:33

The last thing you want to do is sit into a job and be miserable. Oh, no. And, you know, here's a clue. If you find that this is something that you really want to do, and after you talk to somebody, you just get all excited about it, then you know, it's the right job for you. If you sit there and say, not really sure about this, you might want to think again and maybe pivot and go in different routes. There's lots of opportunities out there. So, my husband, early on in his career, thought that he wanted to take this management role. It was an opportunity to move up in management. It wasn't a management; it was a director's role. And when he looked at the time that was involved in it, and we had a young son at the time, and he was going to be away from home a lot. Having to deal with an awful commute. He thought again about it and said, "You know, it's not worth it. I'm perfectly fine where I'm at right now. I love being able to be home with my young son and enjoying my time." So, he decided not to do it. But again, I talked to him about it and I had him evaluate it. Is it really something you want to do? Really understand the job thoroughly. Don't just jump in, folks. Take the moment. Understand your strengths and weaknesses and evaluate the job.

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So that's the next step. If you've done all of that and you know for sure this is it, I'm ready, then we got to deal with the fears. Yeah, the fears. You heard me, the fears, because we all have fears about moving into the unknown, moving into something that is new and it's scary. Even if we've done all the research and we think that this is definitely what we want to do, we still get scared, scared of the unknown, scared will I fail? All these fears that we put in our head, we get there, and you don't need to be there. You need to deal with those. So, take a deep breath. You've done the work. You've planned it out. You've figured it out that you want to do. You've talked to everybody. You've evaluated the job. You know this is what you want to do. Take a deep breath and move past the fear. As I always say, put on your big girl panties and move past the fear. Because if you don't take one step towards whatever it is you want to do, you're never going to get there. And if not now, then when? That's my bigger question. If you're not going to do it now, you'll say, "OK, I'll do it in five years." Really? Are you going to do it in five years?

:: 10:15

Now, if the timing's not right for you and you think you need to go back and do some training and do some classes and kind of like my husband's situation, it wasn't the right time for him to take that role. That's fine. Don't take it then. And then he prepared and took classes and worked on things until he was ready to take on that role when our child was a little bigger and he had the opportunity and was able to take on more hours at work to do it. So, you have to make sure that it's right for you. And then you have to move past those fears. And if you don't take one little step towards it, that fear is going to gobble you up. So, take a deep breath, pull up your big girl panties, and take that one step. And that one step might just be you talking to your manager and telling him, this is what I want. This is where I want to be. It's okay to do that. The one step might be just getting your resume together, putting it together and going out there and start networking to try to find that next opportunity. That one step might be going out and getting on a board and learning to be part of a board and getting your name out there and act as if you are this person that you want to be. You want to aspire to be there, act as if you are there. So, it might just be that.

:: 11:37

So here we go. We've got, you're going to figure out the why. Then we've got your self-evaluation of who you are. Can this really fit? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Then you're going to dive into doing some work on those shadows. Will you need to do some work? You're also going to figure out the priorities. Is this going to work for me right now? Can I do this job right now? Is this truly what I'm aspiring to be? Or do I need to pivot and do something a little different?

:: 12:11

And then you're going to deal with those fears by taking one step towards. Make yourself a list. Every week you take one step towards or every day you take one step towards it. When I wanted to go out and be a coach, I just did it. Pulled up my big girl panties and I took one step towards being a coach. Learning something new. Learning how to get myself out there. Learning how to do the internet. Learning the social media. One step. That's all you've got to do.

:: 12:41

Then the next is once you've dealt with all of that, the last one you have to do is get yourself in power. Put your plan together. Be around people that pick you up and make you feel good, that are positive. You want to move into leadership. Being a positive person is a leader because people do not want to follow people that aren't positive. They want to follow people that are inspiring, and they can look up to and motivate them and make them feel good. So, you want to feel good. And if you're not feeling good, and if you're not a positive person, you need to figure out how to get that glass half full, not half empty, half full. Change that attitude. Try this one on size. When you're in a parking lot and you venture into the parking lot, say to yourself, I'm going to find a perfect parking spot. I'm going to find a perfect parking spot and see what happens. Eventually, you'll find that perfect parking spot and you can then keep positive. So, every time something negative happens in your life, turn it around into a positive. If you want to be that leader and you're aspiring to be there, positivity.

:: 13:58

I hope this helps you today and keep an eye out. I do workshops on this. I actually have a two-day master class where we dive into all of these things much more in depth. But in this podcast, I ran through it short, kind of gave you a few tips, but I'm really hoping this helps you out. Stay tuned for my next podcast. Love chatting with y'all and go out there and shine in your career.