OUR DEEPEST FEAR
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So how does a pilot, ballerina or sommelier feel right now?
Fear seems to be the immobiliser for many people who have been retrenched, especially if they were employed in an industry that has been decimated, like travel, entertainment or hospitality. The same emotion is experienced by those who have had their salaries reduced, their positions expanded (perhaps simultaneously) and by entrepreneurs about to take the plunge.
For those who do not easily embrace change, it is even more daunting to know that you must now pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again. Somewhere new. The resulting inertia makes it almost impossible for you to calmly and constructively restructure your CV, apply for jobs and adequately market yourself into a new position.
IF YOU CANNOT CHANGE SOMETHING, CHANGE YOUR MINDSET
It is often not the most intelligent or highly qualified person who gets the best job. It is the individual with adequate courage and self-belief – and contacts – and knowing how to leverage them. Marketing is a combination of art and science, but not an exact science, and it requires instinct and exposure. A true marketer knows how to look for the good in something and bring it out, to attract customers and mobilise them to make a purchase.
Re-designing your career requires a marketing plan. Let’s take a sommelier as an example. Their world has spun off its axis. These professionals understand science, they are passionate, eloquent, able to articulate and connect with a small audience, they can upsell. Their attributes could translate from the restaurant and wine industry into another, if they look at themselves with new eyes – and have the bravery to market themselves in a new landscape.
WHO WANTS YOU?
Out of chaos comes opportunity. But you need to determine where and how to look for the right opportunity.
Those who take themselves seriously have a personal business plan. No business is successful by accident; it has a plan. It has a balance sheet. So too should you – outlining your assets (your qualities and skills), liabilities (limitations), potential (what new business environment would embrace you?) and loans (who can help you?).
Allow me to assist you with building your business plan. For a decade, I had my own brand and career column in the Cape Times, and I could assist many aspirant individuals in re-innovating their careers. I’ve had the pleasure of crafting personal brand strategies for many ambitious women so that they could re-design their careers. Many women find it hard to focus on their attributes and to find the confidence to sell themselves – they start by listing their limitations!
YOUR PERSONAL BRAND PLAN
To celebrate Women’s Day I’m offering an updated RE-IMAGINE package at a reduced cost of R2500 for bookings made for August before 9 August. During a personal, two-hour consultation on Zoom we will, together, consider what industries are hiring, which platforms your personal assets are appropriate for, analyse your relevant career options, update your CV and write your marketing plan. The cost includes a copy of one of my best-selling business books, Raise your Profile.
For those who do not need assistance with career change, I wish you continued success. Allow me to share my favourite quote, words by Marianne Williamson that were used by Nelson Mandela in his inaugural speech:
“My deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. My deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous talented and fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. there is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us. It is in everyone. So we let our light shine, we give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
For information and appointments email info@jhpr.co.za.