Imagine this scenario: you are fired from a job you love after 30 years. What do you say to yourself and to others? How do you deal with pain, discomfort and bumps in your ego?
Herminia Ibarra and Kent Lineback, in an article in the Harvard Business Review, wrote that at the start of a transition when the future is unclear, you will need to "create different stories for different possible individuals (and the various audiences that relate to those same) ". .
"You have long been a banker, human resources specialist, salesperson, electrician, lawyer," wrote Marci Alboher, career and employment development expert and vice president of Encore.org, in her book. The Encore Career. So expect to feel strange when you leave an identity behind and you no longer have an easy way to describe yourself.
Creating a story or revising the one you told can help you accept your transition from reinvention and see its best features. In transition, your story is your roadmap. It should define who you are and where you are going.
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What is a story?
In their Harvard Business Review article, Ibarra and Lineback spoke of a networking event for executives who were cut off from lucrative jobs. Unfortunately, most managers, sharing what they had done, simply recounted a long list of credentials and jobs. As a result, the public didn't care because they didn't know how to help.
Senior managers failed to distinguish facts from a story.
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"All good stories have such a fundamental and necessary characteristic that you often assume it," said Ibarra and Lineback. "This quality is consistency, and it is crucial for the life stories of the transition."
If a story is significant, the past is linked to the present and the present opens a window to the future.
Connect your dots
But some people do not connect the dots between their past, their present and their future. They will say, "I used to do this, and now I do."
Instead, they could explain how their skills will be transferred, so that they can add value to the new job.
After losing her job in marketing, a woman I know named Grace took time off to self-analyze. It was worth it at some point "aha". Training, mentoring and teaching have always been part of his career and are things he loves. But these were just minor notes, not the dominant soundtrack of his career.
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She asked herself, "Why shouldn't I figure out how to make this a bigger part of my job?" Learning. Adult education. I had bothered with this in my mind for the past few years, but now the pieces match. The story fits. And I thought, "Wow, I felt good. It makes sense. The pieces come together.
As you orient yourself, you can ask what classes or certificates to take to fill knowledge gaps and who to talk to to identify opportunities. Suddenly what appeared to be a closed world opened up.
Grace's story has evolved. Where he originally offered a buffet of his skills and asked for feedback from the people he was networked with, he now talks about his social science background, his understanding of people, his communication skills. and her joy at turning on "people light bulbs" makes her a good business educator.
As Grace's story became clearer, it was not yet over. I wanted to develop it so that people understand their desire to go in a new direction.
Then, he reviewed his resume, thinking about how he could improve his story. "Instead of just looking for a job, why not work?" she says to herself. Grace volunteered as director of education development for a non-profit organization, advocating for women over 50 in the workplace. "This is a project I could include in my portfolio and say," I made it from the nut soup. I made this plan. I created these educational opportunities. "
It is by forging that one becomes a blacksmith
Like any performance, a story improves the count. Don't expect to have a great story from the start. Ibarra and Lineback wrote: “Tell and tell your story; rework like a draft of an epic novel until the right version appears. "
"I tell people to put their stories into practice over the phone," said Sree Sreenivasan, visiting professor of digital innovation at Marshall R. Loeb at Stony Brook University School of Journalism and social media guru. "Why should people listen to you? If you can't tell your own story, how can I believe you would be good at telling my story and that of my business?"
The power of a professional history is reinforced by examples and evidence. Grace plans to create a resource kit to showcase her volunteer work. She recognized that she had to sing her own song louder.
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Don't be afraid to tell your own story with confidence and enthusiasm. Otherwise, you risk being misunderstood, or even misunderstood, by your story.
Checklist for storytelling
Here are the five keys to good storytelling:
- Initially, when what you want to do is unclear, create different stories for different audiences.
- Connect the dots that unite your past with your future aspirations.
- Create a logical but engaging story. Show passion.
- Improve your story by volunteering and creating a resource kit.
- Practice. Practice. Practice your story.
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