Make Your Own Lane: You Have Many Skills. Yet, You Are Still Without Clients/ Work

I know that can be really confusing.

You know you have many skills. In fact you have those skills that are very much in demand today. You were good in your previous job due to those skills. You were promoted, appreciated, recognized for those very skills. Ideally, deep inside your heart you believe - you should be an asset for the company/ client who hires you.

Only after you speak to the interviewer (HR or business or prospect) you feel a sense of inadequacy.

You answered them well. You have a gut feeling you could not make it even before you get the actual rejection.

I faced a similar situation a few years back. I did not understand it back then

I was perfect for the role. I fit the bill. My interview went well. Yet I was not hired.

The only time I found the interviewer rubbing his chin was when I said apart from my primary role as a Transition Manager, I also facilitate leadership training when L&D team sends me an invitation. I tremendously enjoy that experience nurturing young leaders.

**My reason to add that bit of trivia was if sales team cannot win deals and I do not have client business in the pipeline to migrate to our premises, I am likely to tie up with your training team too. The subtle message was – Don’t you dare give me anything else (Just kidding!)**

The interviewer actually muttered – Transition and training are very different skill sets.

Now the following piece is for those who are reading this blog

I wrote books

I managed teams, operations and businesses

I invested in real estate after thorough research and negotiation

I sold electronic type writers, printers, photo copiers, dress material, books

All that I underlined here are skills.

Probable conclusions the interviewer must have made:

Jack of all trades, master of noneNot focusedNot passionate about transitionPossible threat who can quit anytimeShe just might permanently move to L&D

Your value in the job market is determined by the skills you have - provided you know how to highlight them keeping your target audience in view.

You have many skills and no income - That will be a thing of the past soon.

The good news is - that perception is changing and it is changing fast.

When mindsets, HR algorithms, distorted perspectives, prevailing trends can ruin your career - do not make that the reality of your life.

If you know how to trade your skills to multiple entities, where to trade them and most importantly, who would you trade your skills to - you will know your true worth.

Your multi-potentiality should be tapped

You have hybrid skill set

You are a whole brainer. Yes you can work on a Mathematics problems and your can write poetry. 

Image Credit: Canva Design

Styles of communication

There is a way the leaders (Interviewer) of the whole industry perceive a certain statement – their exposure, their environment and their education system builds that faith -That is not in your control.

What is in your control is how you communicate – as you pitch your multiple skills, just add the benefits - What is in for them.

I did not know it back then. Now I do.

It is a wide range of skills that get me repeat clients today - Research, Business planning, one on one coaching, website content development, virtual assistance with social media strategy - Each one of these are skills I offer as service. 

If there is a particular skill that a client wants and I do not have, I quickly check who in my virtual team can support me on that. 

(The virtual team is trained through a booklet and SKYPE session how to cater to global clients either independently on their own or by engaging with my projects. This arrangement will soon see day light as a soft ware)

Meanwhile, keep honing your skills. Join BECKON Learning Community for peer support.

Make Your Own Lane: Build Your Tribe

It is not just about Association or Networking any more.

In short,

Association – Who you hang out with to grow intellectually? Your source of information and wisdom

Networking – Who you hang out with to get business? Your source of leads

And your tribe – Well, that’s different.

The buzz words now are:

Build your tribe

Community is everything

Find “your” people

Get the team together

Why is your tribe important?

It gives instant access to community of peers and experts that enables you to fast track your business.

I was not able to pick up large assignments or multiple assignments due to bandwidth issue.

Anyone who has done projects for international clients based on individual capability can tell you how the difficulty level gradually increases if you are working on two different assignments with nearly same deadlines.

You have to stretch your mind to understand multiple client's needs, expectations, use different skills to execute and research several industries.

And when time is most critical as all client deliverables are time bound with your reputation at stake, you only wish you had a ready team, your own tribe

 

Image Credit: Canva Design

Who qualify to be your tribe?

People with common interests and values qualify to be your tribe provided you both have something to give and take to achieve your respective outcomes

Your viewers, readers, followers, prospects and customers can be part of your tribe who has a common ground with you and shared mindset

They ideally should be able to resonate with you, bond with you and trust you.

How to build your tribe?

I had two coaching sessions, almost back to back on Thursday.

You just have to remember the reasons for creating a strong tribe

When you invite people to have deeper experiences with you, you are ready to scale

How big should your tribe be?

You should be able manage the size of your tribe. Remember why they connected with you in the first place. So ideally delegation or any other alternative does not quite work here.

Being proactive 

Being productive 

Being purposeful

How does it help your business?

Your tribe is your think tank.

They are your ready source for feedback of your products and services

Common interests and goals is a highly rewarding starting point

Your intention and their desire is perfectly in sync - that saves bandwidth in explaining core themes

They are your support system in every meet-up or workshop.

They are your ready customers for an entrepreneurial guide, a retreat, or digital products etc.

By meeting at regular interval, we only strive to achieve defined goals and in the process, the tribe acquires a skill or two 

We have named our tribe BECKON Learning Community. That acknowledges the powerful existence of people who have an established need to learn

Connect here to join our tribe. 

Make Your Own Lane: Getting Paid To Read A Book To Execute An Assignment

I am an avid reader – a voracious reader. You may think of any other adjective to describe my reading habit. I can read through various channels – books, blogs, articles, magazines, written notes for seven hours at a stretch. And I will not complain.

I am not an addict. I am definitely not a book worm. Just that I prefer reading to anything else - Reading during transit, reading to prepare for an assignment, reading for self-development, reading for spiritual awareness, reading for skill enhancement, reading to make notes for future reference, reading to understand people, business, market and economies.

Seriously, a significant part of my waking hours is reading.

Here is the project brief of a recent assignment I did. I have a reason to share this experience here. 

Project Brief

The client was from Australia and wanted a presentation for his coaching business.

Background

I have done many of those decks based on adult learning theories to launch first time entrepreneurs coaching business and also for seasoned professionals.

I was ever ready to execute one more as coaching is part of our team’s portfolio too and therefore every line of research I do in this domain is a terrific learning experience. It immensely broadens my thinking horizon to fine tune and refine our offerings.

The twist is he wanted the presentation based on the principles of a particular book, which I had not read. I withdrew my quotation immediately.

He offered to pay for the book.

I categorically stated that I can prepare the deck with concepts and theories that I am already aware of, share a reading list and bibliography in case the presenter wants to deep dive. I assured that the content will suit his coaching requirement. He offered to send the e-book and shared a sample image which was the essence of the book.

I proposed a quote $70 just for reading the book and he was perfectly okay with that. As he had respect for my time, I decided to execute the assignment. I must admit, it was a wonderful book.

So here is a client ready to pay to do what I always do habitually, willingly – read a book.

Image Credit: Canva Design

Write to advocating.outcomes@gmail.com to evaluate your skill sets that can be offered as services in the global market.

Alternate Learning: Are You The Skill Coach or The Will Coach?

Today, I just abruptly discontinued coaching session with a BECKON Aspirant who is being trained to manage my professional social media first – Pages, blogs, tweets etc. and then for other clients. According to the aspirant, this is the scope of agreed skill coaching.

Post discontinuation, here is the impact analysis on BECKON Aspirant

Psychological Impact

The aspirant is under the impression that the coaching session ended due to performance issues (poor learning and grasping ability) however the reality is – this circumstance is being created deliberately for mental training (Will)

Financial Impact

No further fees have to be paid if the work in scope (Social Media pages) is managed with immediate effect to my entire satisfaction. This is one of the learning outcomes in the agenda

Learning Impact

On job training for a new “Skill” with ulterior motive to trigger “Will” to learn on their own when the situation arise.

Social Media Management

I have to read more blogs than necessary to choose the right ones for my followers or to increase my own understanding of the market

To make my bandwidth available for core functions I needed someone to manage few of the pages and blogs I maintain on a regular basis.

It is not about merely sharing links, it is about outcomes to be achieved and that is definitely not mere vanity metrics or branding. The bottom line is revenue, customer acquisition and growth.

The content has to be useful for me and my followers

I did consider Crowdfire for twitter account however the points listed below kind of diffused my enthusiasm

1] Post on our behalf

2] Followers are not always high quality and relevant to the industry in which we operate

3] I am not sure if they filter out spam or fake account.

4] I follow users that tweet information useful for our business and scope of work we are involved in.

5] It is beside the point which I may read immediately or when I have the time.

6] It is handy and finds new people to follow or un-follow inactive users however the relevance and usefulness are questionable.

7] It is simple, quick, and easy to understand. It is not smart or great for my needs and the motive seems vengeful (for the lack of exact word) which is quite unprofessional. I do not necessarily have to un-follow some just because they do not follow me. I am the loser then as their tweet quality may be far superior to mine. I would definitely want to follow them.

So the BECKON aspirant will be gradually made to understand the nuances and needs to manage my account – live, on the job and who is not quite aware of it yet.

Phase I:    Doing

Phase II:   Thinking

Phase III:  Consulting

Thinking is a natural process lead by repeated doing. The more you do the same thing mechanically, the more you will question why, when it turns mundane

Why social media management?

What business problems are being solved by our product or service?

What benefits have target audience realized?

Why follow few influential people and few average people?

What is end purpose?

While we let the BECKON aspirant here to dwell on outcome driven learning process and unexpected twists and turns, you can write to advocating.outcomes@gmail.com if you are ready to be a BECKON coach. 

We will be glad to know more about case studies with your learning intervention towards measurable outcomes.

Learning: Reading Is The Appetizer For The Main Course - Learning

Take One

Most of us remember that famous line:

Kungfu lives in everything we do

That’s a very important lesson from Mr Han to Sao Dre (Film Karate Kid 2010)

All rights reserved to rightful owner: YouTube

Take Two

Many of us need to remember this today

There is learning in everything we do

If you aren’t learning – You are enslaved by unproductive habits and thought patterns

Case Study:

Today morning, I was speaking to mother of a smart young boy studying in Class II. The kid must be 7 or 8 years old. She was worried about her son’s school environment and rationalizes that he will not be fully ready for his first board exam (Class X) if he continues in this school.

My question

Why don’t I see your son playing with the rest of the kids?

Her response:

I used to take him to the ground to play - now I don’t

My question

When is the last time you read a book?

Her response:

My son keeps me so busy. I do not find time to read books.

I had to tell this upfront –

It shows that you have not read anything for years.

It is her limited knowledge and understanding about education that is being imposed on that little boy.

The boy sings well, recites so well and I eagerly wait for his program in the local cultural functions every year, when I am in Kolkata

During my walk, every evening I see him making all kind of automobile noises standing near the window and if I happen to look at his direction, he will quickly wave at me. Can you imagine the sight?

You can spot a non-reader within 30 seconds.

1] They tend to talk about people/ things

2] Their list of excuses is never ending

3] They always have someone or something to blame

They can be eloquent, qualified, rich, dignified, hard-working, ambitious, provider for the family – all kinds - however a non-reader takes a very long time to activate their 4^th intelligence.

How do you spot a reader in 30 seconds?

1] They talk about ideas

2] Mental growth matters

3] They learn to know or know to learn

Even if a person is illiterate and does not know to recognize alphabets – they will display these traits to reflect their craving for ideas, learning and mental growth.

According to me, it is the mother who needs coaching/ counseling

1] Being driven by goals is great. Planning is good.

Why should that apply only for the child and not for herself?

Why does she not set any goal for herself or any plans for her own growth?

2] She spoke about discipline multiple times

Why not set an example for the kid to follow - Healthy life style; morning walks, meditation, community initiative, part time work, side hustle from home or visiting elders (She has not visited her parents in 6 months who are just 40 kms away)

If one can relate to this, they should ideally introspect, reflect and assess if they are victims of age old habitual thinking patterns, unproductive habits that is affecting their choices and decision making.

Finding an excuse not to learn or do something new is a state of mind, crippled by one's one limiting thinking

Read to unlock that potential 

Write to advocating.outcomes@gmail.com if you need to discuss options for a learning road map

Make Your Own Lane: Staying Relevant To Evolving Business Needs

Yesterday I received a call from an ex colleague. I retired from Corporate almost fours years back and since that time, she is one person who kept in touch with me on a regular basis. Immediately after I quit, she moved out too.

The Difference

I retired from Corporate. She quit to join another company

The Exits

In these four years, there were so many people we both knew from the same company who moved to greener pastures (or yellower). Some joined back after a brief stint in entrepreneurship (Organic Farming), some moved out to become independent professionals (Wealth Management), others joined the startup 

ecosystem (Teaching or Coaching).

I mention yellower because none of them really got there where they hoped to reach. There is still a lot of time to achieve what they have set out to. However I see the unspoken issue - failure to add skills. They went for their share in the world with the same corporate skills - people management, process management etc.

Self Management is the need of the hour

Yesterday’s call was not about those who moved out. It was about another common colleague who is still in that firm and has the axe hanging on her head.

The trigger for this blog is not the one who is dealing with the axe or their kind. It is not about the job market or the need to establish alternate incomes for your financial well-being.  

It is about who understands the need to up skill, to stay relevant and remain competent in the global workforce. 

The smarter ones by now have already joined courses, engaged in in-house training or aligned to expert coaching to add skills and suit themselves to evolving business needs - inside and outside their current firms

The one who called was far too happy with domain expertise only, absolutely clueless about the startup ecosystem, social media power, the growing need to brand people for who they are and not just what they do, digitally dormant with skill set that is easily replaceable by a fresh graduate. It is they who need the wake-up call 

Learn Skills to Stay Relevant

What is the point in getting a degree in Interior Designing if you have to pick up calls in a call center?

Does it make sense to complete PMP certification, if you are on the verge of opening a digital marketing agency?

Why would you go for that course in Digital Marketing, if you had to work as HR Business partner in BPO environment?

Many are still in their make believe cocoon. Scratch the surface and this is what they have in their minds. Some of this was part of our discussion - her rationale mostly.

Robots are not so easily affordable, so we are still a few decades away from Robots being main stream

Jobs are safe. There are no threats. Just media hype

There are still openings in IT. Having openings in company’s website and closing open positions is really not the same thing.

My role cannot be automated

My contribution and learning has significant impact here – What are you learning? What you think you are learning is actually gathering required knowledge to deliver your job and meet key result areas. It has nothing to do with the world outside.

My salary is too less as per industry standards. My boss is the one who is in the firing line for the kind of package he draws

While the boss is thinking – If I can show cost cut by reducing head count, that should go well for the next few quarters

Image Credit: Canva Design

Get Real!!

To travel well and have a fruitful journey, you need to be appropriately equipped - Create that mental space to accommodate new memories and new learning.

Skill enhancement is to stay relevant in your work journey – You cannot run the show forever with an older version of available resources. Human resources do need recharge, refill and re-skill to be a capable global workforce.

Write to advocating.outcomes@gmail.com to know more about your skill gaps.