How to choose a career? How to reach dizzy heights in the chosen career?

 

Other day, I got a call from a Chartered Accountant (CA) Santhosh. He said he does not like the job of CA which he was practising for the last five years. He went through Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment and a marathon one on one coaching for 4 hours. His strengths are Adaptability, Positivity, Harmony, Relator and Woo.  He loved teaching. He studied B Com because most of his friends took B Com.  After the Strengths-Based coaching intervention he has commenced a CA coaching school and he is enjoying his new-found job.

Hemjit was then working in a real estate company. In 8 years of his work life he had seen the functioning of five companies operating in various fields. Hemjit did not like any of the five jobs. When he learnt about the Clifton StrengthsFinder, it took him almost a year to make up his mind to take the CSF Assessment. Once he took the assessment he discovered that his talents lie in Empathy, Ideation, Developer, Individualization and Learner.  Out of five, three are in Relationship Building two in the Strategic Thinking. From the conversation with him, it transpired that his ideation theme is the most dominant in him ie in the field of creativity. Now he is migrating to the job which will give him opportunity to be creative. He loved photography and now has shifted his career in the field of photography. The migration is gradual so that he continues economic stability.

·         Ideation talents are all about creativity.

• ·         Environments that reward your creativity and give you the time, space, and freedom to experiment and dream will bring out your best.
• ·         Select an organisation where leaders encourage and solicit your divergent thinking, stimulating them to consider some innovative approaches. You will be able to find new and better ways of doing things within the organisation, and you may be assistance in strategic planning exercises.
• ·         Consider career in which creativity seems to be important.

Ahil, a B Com graduate never liked the course of study that he was pursuing. It was his last semester of the Final Year. Somehow, he completed the course. He wanted to pursue his Post-Graduation in accordance with his talents/strengths. He went through Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment and when coached he discovered that his talents are Context, Learner, Intellection, Input and Connectedness. Out of five four of his talents lie in Strategic Thinking and one in Relationship building. During coaching conversation, we discovered that his Context, Leaner, Intellection and Input were dominant themes and he loved history and researching on past events. So far, his Post-Graduation studies he took admission to study Archaeology. He is very happy and doing well. One of the career planning guide given to Ahil was “Interview archaeologists, historians, museum curators, humanities professors, or antique appraisers about their talents and what they love about their work”.

Rajeev is working in the IT Industry for the last 16 years. He has moved forward in his career but he was not sure how to move ahead in the field of work of his choice. He was confused about the choice. He underwent the Strengths Coaching and discovered that his strengths are Ideation, Input, Context, Intellection and Adaptability. His four out of five themes lie in the Domain of Strategic Thinking and one in Relationship Building. After knowing his strengths, he is manoeuvring himself in the field of research and development in the same profession of IT.

Ronita was employed in the field of sales of home loan by a reputed bank. She had her targets to achieve which she never achieved. She was so much awed by the fear of going to office that he did not sleep well. Her health was deteriorating. She resigned after three months and was looking for direction. She underwent Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment and coaching and her strengths are Input, Adaptability, Restorative, Responsibility and Harmony.  After a detailed coaching, we realised that she is a voracious reader and a peaceful person, who likes harmony. Her Input, Adaptability and Harmony are the most dominant themes. She underwent some additional training in the subjects she liked and changed her line of profession commensurate with her strengths. The suitable description of a person of her talents described in first person and 10 sentences are:

1.       As an easy-going person, I go with the flow. I want to calm others whose tension limits their performance and enjoyment.

2.       I am aware of needs because I live in the present, and often have what I and others need because I gather useful resources.

3.       I foster collaboration when I help teams find useful resources and when I help them manage their emotional tension.

4.       If I had a rose garden, I would tend to rose conscientiously, and I would always take time to smell them as well.

5.       Others can count on me to build emotional environments that encourages cooperation and facilitate practical productivity.

6.       My service to others involves identifying real needs and a commitment to finding and sharing exactly what they need.

7.       I take time to smell the roses, but if I see bugs on the roses, I get the insecticide.

8.     Problems are normal in life, so I don’t get upset. My practical, even- keeled approach calms others and promotes peace.

9.       My ability to diagnose and solve problems is enhanced because I know how to acquire and use tangible resources that work.

10.   I am willing to sacrifice and serve so that something or someone broken can be made whole.

Keeping above in mind she has selected her second career and is quite happy about it.

There are numerous examples like that of Santhosh, Hemjit, Ahil, Rajeev and Ronita who have benefitted from the programme. I have more than 200 cases where the lives have changed for better.  Santhosh being a CA has changed within his technical capability to the more likeable department of teaching. Hemjit has totally changed his track from real estate to photography. Ahil has changed his course of study leading to a career in Archaeology from commerce. Mohanan has changed from an ordinary programmer to the world of research and development within the organisation and is doing well. Ronita has found a job which she likes, where she is fully engaged when compared with a dreaded sale presentative of a home finance.

In all above cases, Clifton StrengthsFinder and the Coach let the persons know their strengths and best direction of their profession. Neither the coach nor the StrengthsFinder Gallup Report mentioned about the suitability of a profession. We work on How to achieve the best career goals and not WHAT career.

Talents/Strengths that one discovers because of Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment, are neutral. These are applicable to all profession and walks of life. I have observed after coaching about 400 persons of age group 15 to 78, and from different walks of life, people do not know themselves. So, knowing oneself gives the most thrills to them. Later they build up on their strengths for team, leadership and for achieving their goals.

By Satyendra Kumar,  www.satyssparks.com