Careers

When in a professional crisis, it’s difficult to see the wood through the trees. Resolving this inflection point as a business leader can take a different set of skills not yet in your arsenal, explains Brian Fowler. An inflection point is a period when an organisation must respond to disruptive change in the business environment effectively or face deterioration but, in practice, it’s a rare but decisive moment that marks the start of significant change – often in crisis. These moments not only affect organisations and industries, but they also impact on careers, too. At an inflection point, we are in a situation where the expectations placed upon us have so fundamentally altered because of the changes in the profession or working environment that if we don’t adapt, ourselves or the business will fail. When managing senior appointments, I am in contact with executives facing career challenges every day. The different types of situation are so vast that I couldn’t outline them easily, but pending redundancy after being a part of an organisation’s long-term senior leadership team or an executive transitioning from the safe zone of their current position to a different organisational role are not uncommon. If it’s a job move, many recruiters will introduce you to great opportunities.  However, it’s important to remember that a recruitment consultant’s primary task is source a candidate for a particular job and requirement for their client. If you are at a career inflection point, not only do you need a job, but you need proper career advice.  Who can help? There is a saying “That for every will, there is a relative!” and, in business, for every problem, there is an advisor, both competent and incompetent. It’s human nature to start the discussion with people within your network, whom you feel could be a good advisor. Your family and friends know you, but do they understand your business strengths and achievements, and how you have coped and tackled challenges?  Soundboarding with your peers seems intuitive but is often detrimental. Similarly, there are brilliant people in academia, but they may not have been at the coal face of business. It would be best to talk to executives who have a successful business track record, and whose only objective is to support and advise you.  Finding the answers When a professional hits a career inflection point, feeling inadequate is not uncommon. As a business leader, you may find that the skills and training that have brought you to this point in your career may be insufficient to bring you into the next development phase. The approach you will want to take may be a continuation of how you have resolved usual day-to-day business issues in the past, but you must remember that you are at an inflection point, and possibly heading into unchartered territory. Professional support and guidance will pay dividends.  Working with an executive coach can be an eye-opening experience. Great coaches are masters at asking questions that help them understand exactly what you are grappling with, but more importantly, they will help you view your situation through a new lens. Coaches don’t have the answers, but their questions can guide towards the answer that will best suit you.  People experiencing a dramatic change, in work or life, tend to keep asking themselves the same questions over and over. These questions are within their comfort zone, but the inflection point problem needs a different approach. The executive needs to start asking a different set of questions to come up with a plan to resolve the situation. An executive coach is the person who can teach you what questions to ask. Interacting with a coach should not only help you develop tactics to overcome today’s issues but help you gain skills to overcome future challenges. You will need to come up with better answers when facing professional challenges, and those answers will come more easily if better questions inspire you.  Brian Fowler is the Founder and Managing Director of financial recruitment specialists, Accountancy Solutions.

Becoming a parent involves significant personal and professional change, but a little planning can go a long way.   Becoming a parent and taking time out of the workplace involves a significant, complex professional and personal transition, and often comes during a crucial time in your career trajectory. Take a moment to think about it. The psychological reorganisation required for healthy adaptation to parenthood is enormous – we have to learn to adapt to the physical, psychological, emotional and relationship changes that occur. It is one of the most challenging transitions that can occur in our lives. From a career perspective, employees in Ireland are lucky to have access to generous maternity leave with many women opting to take upwards of nine months’ leave. Increasingly, partners are also able to avail of a number of months’ leave. This is fantastic for adapting, and bonding with your new baby, but it involves the added transition of stepping away from work and back into it after a period of extended leave. If you have a baby on the way, the chances are that right now you are spending the vast majority of your week going to your place of work and hopefully doing a job you enjoy. This is about to change, suddenly and quite significantly. So much will happen in your life while you are away that the transition back to work will be a big one, despite what it might feel like now. Let us look at what you can do to make life easier on yourself and thrive through the changes ahead. Before leave Once baby is on the way, it can be so easy to be pulled into the craziness of preparing your home for a baby and gathering the baby ‘essentials’. It can often be a bit of a rush to get everything finished up in work, but it is well worth taking the time to put a plan in place for looking after yourself, helping your employer to help you, and managing your career in the run-up to your maternity or paternity leave. Make a plan with your manager Many employers can be reticent about getting in touch while you are on family leave. This is often well-intended but can leave you feeling a bit lost. The best way to counter this is to sit down with your manager before you go on leave and agree a communication plan. This can be as basic as agreeing that you will text them when baby comes, that you want to be notified of any major changes in your absence, and planning to meet for a coffee a few months before your return – whatever feels right and works for you both. Get in touch with human resources On a similar note, if you want to be kept in the loop about company goings-on, internal vacancies and so forth, get in touch with human resources (HR). Although some companies are fantastic at this, others can tend to forget about you altogether! So, make a point of contacting them (or raising the same points with your manager if your company has no dedicated HR function) and asking them to stay in touch.  Work and performance summary I highly recommend pulling together a brief summary of what you have been working on and your achievements in the run-up to your leave. You absolutely will forget! This can be very useful in getting your head back into the game when you return and act as a little confidence boost when looking back at your achievements. Invest in your well-being Make a commitment to prioritise your own well-being, as well as that of your family. Be kind to yourself and remember that there will be many changes ahead; and if things don’t go to plan, tomorrow is a new day. Ask your company to invest in your attendance at a workshop for planning your return to work or for some personalised one-to-one coaching. This is extremely beneficial in helping you get into a positive head-space and assisting with planning when the time comes. And of course, if you are back on top form quickly on your return, this will benefit your employer so it is a ‘win-win’ scenario. Planning your return Link in with work before you return  Keeping in touch with key contacts in work can be very beneficial while you are on leave. In the weeks before you return, arrange a coffee or call with your boss, work friends or network to get the lay of the land and reassure yourself that the landscape has not changed as drastically as you might imagine. Consider what supports would be helpful for you as you return and discuss these with your manager. Know your worth As you start to plan your return, take time to reflect on your worth. List the skills and experience you have gained through your career and also, during your time away from work. If you have trouble doing this, or feel you are losing your confidence, enlist someone who can help you. If you are taking an extended career break, it is important that you maintain professional development through volunteering, reading, attending relevant events and keeping up with industry developments. Make a plan with your partner to manage the household The chances are that you will be doing most of the household ‘stuff’ while on leave. While this makes sense when one partner is at home, this isn’t sustainable when both partners are working. Don’t expect your partner to just know this; it is hard to know what needs to be done when you are not the person doing it. Take time to sit down in advance and agree how you are going to manage the various tasks and downsize or outsource what needs to be done. Plan to get up and out in the morning This depends on your work and childcare circumstances (for example, if you all need to leave together in the morning, if your baby needs breakfast before you leave etc.) Take time to plan everything that needs to happen to get you out of the house, and find a system that works best for you. Most parents I have worked with find it beneficial to get as much done the night before as possible. As you settle back in Things will invariably change for you in the months and years ahead. Your priorities may change, perhaps temporarily and perhaps for the long-term. The sleepless nights don’t go away just because you are back at work and little ones often get sick at the worst possible time. Parenting through the early years can be tough, but they are fleeting in the grand scheme of things. Keep open lines of communication at work and note these wise words from Alan Sroufe: “The best thing parents can do is guard against their own stress levels”. TOP TIPS FOR MANAGING THE TRANSITION TO PARENTHOOD The prospect of parenthood beings with it many competing demands which, when taken as a whole, can be overwhelming. To avoid the common but counterproductive practice of retreating into panic mode, follow Claire’s four simple steps below... Plan, plan, plan Before leave, think about what will make you feel confident and supported as you return to work. Think about what will help you when you have a new-born baby at home and what will make your life as easy as possible. Communication is key If you don’t tell people at work and at home what is going on for you and what support you need, they will not be able to help you. It is so important to do this, even if this means pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. Prioritise your well-being Ensuring that you are healthy and well, both physically and mentally, is what will ultimately help you weather any tough times and manage the changes ahead. Know your worth Take stock of your skills, experience and achievements before your leave and as you plan your return. And yes, anticipating the ever-changing needs of your new mini-stakeholder is a skill! Claire Flannery is a business psychologist and executive coach at Strength Within, and mum to two small boys.