Career Coach

By Barbara Poole

It is an American success story with a twist: Buick, the stalwart, consummately plain family automobile, has reinvented itself as the sexy car of choice in China.

In a flash of brilliance, General Motors chose to recreate the image of the Buick in conjunction with the expansion of its manufacturing plant in Shanghai, China, and has established itself as the hot, new car to have in that corner of the world.

Buick? Just imagine the connotations that brand conjures up for the typical young person on this side of the ocean. Bland, boring, anything but the fabulous reputation it is enjoying in Asia.

If you asked the decision-makers at GM, they would surely tell you that they were in the right place at the right time with a great idea when they describe the resounding success they are experiencing in China.

Sure, it is a marketing scheme. But it is achieving amazing results because it is about reinvention, about an intentional choice to step aside from the status quo and forge a new identity.

And if a major automaker can pull it off, imagine the possibilities in the hands of an individual who decides it is time to reinvent his or her own career.

Our professional lives are mirrors of our personal lives. As we move through distinct phases of our private lives that involve different circumstances and involvements, so, too, do our careers sometimes need to be reinvented to suit our changing wants and needs.

Reinvention is big stuff. It is not about tweaking this or that, or finding a new job doing similar work for a different organization where the names and faces are new but not much else.

Before you decide to set sail for new lands, it is important to take inventory where you are.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What do I feel is missing? How important are those elements for me?

• Was this career ever fully satisfying for me? If so, what was different at that point in time?

• If I can recall a time when this career was totally fulfilling, would it be possible to change jobs or rearrange circumstances with the one I currently have to recapture that feeling?

• Could it be that I am bored, and I need to engineer some new challenges and learning opportunities into my current career?

• Has the industry or marketplace changed significantly enough so that the writing is on the wall that it is time to forge a new professional direction for myself?

• Is it possible that my interest and connection with this career has simply run its course and that the real solution is to identify a new undertaking that will allow my heart to sing?

If the answers to these questions are pointing you in the direction of reinvention, it is time to roll up your sleeves and get busy.

Given the sheer number of waking hours that most of us spend working, we deserve to enjoy that activity and feel that it is adding more to the quality of our lives than a paycheck.

This week focus on becoming a keen observer of the patterns in your current career. Notice specifically what you enjoy, what feels lackluster or routine, and what you downright dislike.

Keep a log of what you learn and consider what that information is telling you.

In the next issue of this column, I will take a look at some of the specific steps you can employ to begin the process of transitioning from one professional arena to another.

Barbara Poole is a leadership and career development coach with Success Builders Inc. E-mail her at CoachBarbara@SuccessBuildersInc.com.

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