Have you ever had a customer service experience where you could tell the person was just trying to get your task done and move on quickly to meet their quota? They were not at all interested in you or how the experience would impact you. You were a number to them; not human.
Sometimes when I talk with senior level execs about what’s next in their career, I can tell they are un-intentionally treating themselves as numbers – not human beings. They are thinking about how easily they can update their resume and LinkedIn profile, how many calls they can make to generate an offer, and how quickly they can get their butt in a “next” job seat to reduce the number of days not contributing to their 401(k).
Whoa. Hang on.
Yes, all these steps are required (updating the resume/LI profile; talking with people; getting an offer), but all for what?
You’re not in your 20s anymore. You have DECADES of experience and so much WISDOM gained from trillions of inter-personal transactions. You’re looking beyond the numbers and formulas and spreadsheets and financial return. It’s about people at this stage, and the ripple effects from the impact you can make. All of this adds up to the legacy you will leave behind. Not just for your family, but for your work and community, as well.
So, instead of un-intentionally treating yourself as a number, as you move through the process of exploring what you want to be when you grow up, pause and reflect on these two questions:
What is the impact I want to make the second half (or final third or final quarter) of my career?
What is the legacy I wish to leave behind?
Allow your insights from these questions to inform how you move forward in your life and career, with full appreciation for you as a human being – really a spiritual being in a material world.
And when you’re ready to listen to those voices in your head that have been telling you you’ve got to make a change, let’s talk.
Here’s to your Reinvention,
Erin Owen, MBA, PCC, JCTC
Executive Career Reinvention
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinowen/
To start your Executive Career ReinventionTM program, apply for an initial call with me here.
Let’s talk! https://calendly.com/erin_owen/30min
Missed any past email newsletters? Kate recently updated our newsletter archive. And while they don’t go back the full 16 years I’ve been coaching, they do go back almost a decade to 2011. What? I know, I can’t believe it either. Check it out!
Where’s Erin?
Working with private clients in the Executive Career ReinventionTM program, providing executive coaching to mid-level and senior-level executives who work for for-profit, NGO, academic, and private organizations, coaching women leaders at the University of Cincinnati, and also coaching MBA and Exec MBA students at Wharton.
Before I head back to Cancun for vacation mid-month, I’ll also be speaking again at The Wharton School of Business. This time to a busy bunch of Exec MBA students about how they can Access a Higher Gear using strategies I’ve taught for years – including some from my book Refuel Recharge Re-energize: Your Guide to Taking Back Control of Your Time and Energy. Never read it? Paperback and Kindle versions available on (you guessed it) Amazon.