Timely Transitions: By Rebekah Clough

Transitions are hard. You expect one thing and get another. The difference between what you expect and what you get is typically called “DISAPPOINTMENT.” I’m learning to call it “JOY.”

My story…

As a college graduate, I planned a life-long career as a sign language interpreter. Most things were going as anticipated, until I burned out my arms by excessive use (think Carpal Tunnel pain throughout both arms). I experienced significant loss that I could no longer use my God-given ability. This loss impacted me physically, emotionally and mentally.

Since then, I’ve worked in a few different jobs, trying to find my next career. In the process, I’ve met some wonderful people, both colleagues and bosses. I’ve also discovered some skills that I would have never unearthed, had I remained as a sign language interpreter.

So, all of this has helped me reframe my thought process about job transitions. While they are challenging (and even frightening), they can be insightful and generate great personal satisfaction.

Steps:

1)   I have learned that life is a journey, not a destination. 

I love the quote, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain.” That has inspired me even in the darkest times of my career.

A few years ago, my husband and I were both laid off at the same time. We chose to see the time together as a gift, instead of just a set-back.

Nature is one of the best reminders for me of transitions. The changing seasons, realizing ALL seasons are needed for growth—not just Spring and Summer. I love this poem that emphasizes the value of each season. Every Season of My Soul. Also, a great resource for bringing healthy perspective to change is Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud.

2)   I have reached out to friends and family.

I have realized — and perhaps you will realize the same thing — that being vulnerable is hard, but necessary.  You may realize the folks that you thought would help you most, don’t even respond. But you may also find people – who you least expect – become your biggest cheerleaders. My recent coworkers have become my biggest advocates, and that has meant the world to me.

3)    I have learned the value to do one hard thing every day.

I often dread doing something hard, but find that not only am I energized by it, I feel better about myself, and humanity in general. Laying aside our insecurities is frightening. For some, picking up the phone to make a cold call, going to the dentist, confronting someone, wondering what others think, if you strike up a conversation in the elevator. What is your hard thing that you must “gather up your courage” to accomplish?

Recently I was an attendee in an auditorium during a Christmas program and realized there was a deaf person on the front row, obviously confused because there was no interpreter. I saw the need and was compelled to meet it. However, was I willing to gather my courage and stand up in the middle of the program, in front of everyone, and move to the front row to give this guy a gift?  I struggled with it, but did accept the challenge. What I found: great satisfaction seeing my interpreting come alive again, and even more satisfaction hearing this guy had attended this Christmas program for 10 years and had never understood the story. He was incredibly grateful. I knew I had connected with a person and done the right thing. That is very empowering.

Find some great people – anywhere – and also expand your network in the process. Pick just one hard thing each day, and you will find that your cumulative courage inspires you to be stronger each day.  

4. I have learned to take inventory of my skills.

I realized that I have multiple talents and skills. And I’m sure you do too. Look at the things you do that may not be “tangible” for your resume, as well as the things that are.

For example, I’m good at managing projects and making sure they are completed. That’s a tangible project management skill. But I’m also good at encouraging others to meet their goals. I’m sure some people would call that “coaching”, but I like to consider it being a good colleague.

I also found that I have some skills that I can develop for future jobs. For example, I’m good at budgets and cutting costs. So recently, I’ve taken accounting courses to get formal training.

Thus, look at your wide range of skills. Some can be listed on Linkedin or developed for your next career. Others can be skills that bring you great personal satisfaction. Either way, they help define you and what you can bring to your next company. Here is an assessment that I've found helpful because it evaluates four different areas: skills, interest, personality, and values. https://www.crossroadscareer.org/careerdirect/

As much as transitions are frightening, I’ve learned to manage them a lot better and understand that disappointment can really become joy. To do so, you and I must learn to reframe our thinking.….We don’t always get what we want. But the happiest folks are those who are happy with what they have. 

About The Author:

Rebekah Clough is new to blogging, but excited about trying new things. She likes productivity, people and spending time in a coffee shop, with a good cup of tea.  She has tremendous faith in people and God, and believes life is to be lived well.To learn more about Rebekah, click here

Lessons from the mountain #4: Problems can make you sore or make you soar.

Welcome to the final installment of my four part series, "Lessons from the Mountain". If this is your first time here, I welcome you to visit my previous posts. I have been highlighting the lessons that were learned through my mountaineering experience that seem to be applicable on the ground in the business world as well. Each week, I have highlighted a simple little truth that hopefully will allow you to maintain a positive perspective; regardless of what you are going through at work! 

Lesson #4: 

All struggles are only problems if you allow them to be. You can view struggles as reasons that you may not be successful or they can be opportunities for personal growth and the catalysts for developing the tools that will guarantee success. I cannot yet quantify all the different areas I developed and how much I grew during the year of training and throughout the actual climb, but I can tell you that I am a different man. I have grown mentally, emotionally, physically and intellectually through the process.

So it is with your struggle at work. All struggles are opportunities for growth. I don't know who said it first, and if you know, tell me so I can give credit where credit is due, but it has been said, "You never find the best version of yourself inside your comfort zone". I can personally attest that I have found the best version of myself, and it was somewhere up on that mountain during the hardest of struggles. 

I encourage each one of you to continue to push forward, embrace the awkwardness of personal growth, and look forward to the better version of yourself that you will find on the other side of whatever struggle you are working through today, this week, this month, and this year. You will like the results; I know I do. 

Keep climbing and check in again next week as I start a new series!

John

About the author:

My name is John Constantine and I am a sales and marketing executive living in suburban Atlanta. Throughout my career, I have been able to drive growth repeatedly in a variety of capacities. As a sales leader, I have built, expanded, and improved high performing teams to promote expansion and profitability. As a marketing executive, I have led teams in the creation and launching of new brands and products. I have managed inbound lead generation campaigns and created online and print branding standards that stand out from the pack and engage employees to take pride in their organization. As an executive of strategic initiatives and a field operations leader, I have implemented programs and processes that have differentiated my organizations and provided predictable revenue forecasting to the C-suite; all the while increasing productivity and accountability of the front-line team members in the organization. 

 To learn more, go to http://www.johnaconstantine.com/

Lessons From The Mountain #3: A Mountain Lesson on Work Life Balance

Over the last few weeks, I have been highlighting the lessons that have been learned through my mountaineering experience that are applicable on the ground in the business world. Each week, I have discussed a simple little truth that hopefully allows you to maintain a positive perspective; regardless of what you are going through at work. I hope you enjoy week three. Feel free to comment and share. 

Lesson #3: 

Save some for the return. While on the mountain, it is so easy to set your sights on the top and convince yourself that the summit is your goal. But what any seasoned mountaineer will tell you is that the summit is only halfway. Your goal is always making it back down and making it home. In every case of climbing, the return trip is the hardest and most demanding but the most overlooked. You have expelled your energy on the way to the top and now, with your energy depleted, you run the risk of a misstep, a simple error or a fall that could cause serious injury; possibly death. You need unbelievable focus despite what you have just achieved. This is often the part of the climb that is overlooked while driving forward, step after step towards the top.

It struck me as I was making my way down Mt Rainier this year that this is a great analogy for the balance between my home life, and my professional life. For way too many years, I focused almost exclusively on the "summit" of my career, be that a title, a project, or a dollar figure. And the return trip, my time at home, was neglected. I hadn't left enough in the tank for the ones that loved me. For those of us that are naturally prone to "workaholism", this can be easy to do and, if we are honest with ourselves, this is a common pitfall of all of us. 

All too often, we get tunnel vision around our careers, and we forget that we are to be just as focused on the return; our personal life. Emails creep into dinner. Conference calls interrupt our kids' soccer and baseball games and and our thoughts are filled with the dealings of our profession while they should be focused on the beautiful (or handsome) person we are walking through life with. We have distractions and those distractions erode into the focus that we should be giving to those that we love. As in mountaineering, this lack of focus and weariness is where the injuries can and do most often occur. 

This is not to say that our professional goals should be decreased and our drive should disappear. In fact, for those of you that are christian, it is written in Colossians 3: 23, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men." It is a biblical principle that we are to be motivated, and driven, and that we should seek excellence in all that we do. We should still drive for the top, but we need to learn to train ourselves to achieve our own professional summit while leaving enough for the personal trip home. The return trip should not take away from our drive towards the summit. You just need to prepare adequately for the round trip; the full package.

Here are a couple quick ways that you can save some in the tank for those you love. 

1. Quiet your world for 5 minutes before walking through the door. Give yourself 5 minutes of time with no traffic, no calls, no email, no distractions to think about the things that you are most looking forward to as you walk through the front door, our out of your home office. Communicate what you are most looking forward to, to your family. "Tonight, I can't wait to....  .... with y'all!"

2. Invest and train in your personal health. If you are going to operate at your best in all you do, you can't do it without proper training. Exercise is not just about looking better in your suit. It will calm your mind, increase your stamina and allow more focus into your life. Summits can never be reached without proper training. 

3. Talk openly at home when you have a heads up that work will increase for a time and that times of stress will be coming. Explain why you need to take this extra work on and align personal goals through this season with professional ones. Often, we know in advance that a season of extra work is coming, but we fail to communicate that at home in advance. We see that budget season is upon us. Or that a new client will be coming on board, or that someone key is off work and we all need to step in to assist in the extra work created. Get your spouse involved in the process and communicate those times in advance and together as a team you can manage through the rough times. 

4. Practice your profession. Just as I was the weirdo jogging up and down the hills of my neighborhood with my pack on while training for the mountain, so you should be practicing your profession. Not great at reading a P&L, ask for help. Don't have the product knowledge you feel you should? Take someone out for coffee that knows. Don't know how to manage an Excel file properly? Take a class. The list of opportunities for training and improvement are everywhere and an increase in knowledge will decrease the emotional energy you expel on stress of the unknown leaving more for those that are at home. The longer you operate as if you are not living up to your true potential, both at home, and at the office, the more emotionally drained you will be. 

As you go through your day today, remember, the time you spend at your desk, on the phone, in the board room or with your customers, is just half the journey. You need to have balance in your life. If you use up all your energy during your day gig on your way to the summit, you will have nothing left in the tank for those that you share life with at home. What are some best practices you have learned to keep some energy in the tank for your return trip?

Keep climbing and check in next week as we end this series with the importance of a positive perspective. 

John

About the author:

My name is John Constantine and I am a sales and marketing executive living in suburban Atlanta. Throughout my career, I have been able to drive growth repeatedly in a variety of capacities. As a sales leader, I have built, expanded, and improved high performing teams to promote expansion and profitability. As a marketing executive, I have led teams in the creation and launching of new brands and products. I have managed inbound lead generation campaigns and created online and print branding standards that stand out from the pack and engage employees to take pride in their organization. As an executive of strategic initiatives and a field operations leader, I have implemented programs and processes that have differentiated my organizations and provided predictable revenue forecasting to the C-suite; all the while increasing productivity and accountability of the front-line team members in the organization. 

 To learn more, go to http://www.johnaconstantine.com/

Lessons From the Mountain #2: The Person With the Heavy Pack

Over the next several weeks, I will be highlighting the lessons that I have learned through my mountaineering experience that are applicable on the ground in the business world. Each week, I will highlight a simple little truth that will hopefully help you maintain a positive perspective, regardless of what you are going through at work! 

As I have developed and grown in my career over the years, I have learned that problems come and go, but a positive perspective can always stay consistent. Whether you are developing and building a new sales team, managing a sales team through seasons of decreased spending, building a marketing team, a re-brand or working to improve efficiencies with new processes and initiatives, the struggles change; but the thought processes and perspective used to work through any issues stay the same. 

As many of you know, I recently summited Mt Rainier Washington state with a team of amazing guys, and through that experience, I have come up with suggestions to overcoming problems in the corporate world. 

Lesson #2

It is never too early to prepare. Climbing Mt Rainier was not a two day journey. It was a journey that started over a year in advance. Gear was purchased, physical training plans were developed and implemented, and mental preparedness was enhanced. Each month, we saw ourselves get stronger and more confident. We grew as a team through the training process and we learned how to use the tools that were needed. When I say training, I don't just mean running a few miles or doing some lifting. It was our goal to go above and beyond what we knew we would face. Knowing that we would be carrying up to 50 lbs. of gear up the mountain, Despite the looks from my neighbors, I would hike through my neighborhood for hours with 75 lbs. of rice in my backpack, so as to make the 50 lb. bag feel light. We were going to have two days of intense climbing for close to 14 miles. So over the weekend, I would jog up and down hills for a total of 20+ miles over the two days. It wasn't going to be enough to just train and prepare for the exact weight and distance that we knew was coming; it was essential to be well prepared for even heavier and longer trials.

For you in your pursuits, you can be sure that some obstacles are going to come; a team member that is playing a critical role will leave, a budget item will not be approved that you believe is a necessary component.

There are several ways and circumstances that can and will derail a project. In each of these situations, with proper planning, the most painful part, the unexpected, can be avoided. If it can't be avoided, you will be prepared to work through it. Cross train your team. Hold meetings where staff can talk about their projects amongst each other. Perform activities that gel your group into a team with a common goal. Finally, work with others (staff, peers, mentors) to brainstorm and map out a "Plan B" for all budget items and potential hurdles. By thinking through as many potential outcomes as possible, and training "above and beyond" you will meet trials with more than enough stamina, and be glad that you invested the time to prepare for the unknown.

Keep climbing and check back in next week as we discuss saving some for the way down. 

John