Photo courtesy of Wendy Cope and Flickr
“It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions.
Change is situational, transition is the psychological process people go through to come to terms with the new situation. Change is external, transition is internal.”
– William Bridges
The world is changing fast. We’re living through a time of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity; a time of massive transformation. And none of us is a stranger to transformation. We’ve all been through a variety of transitions in our lives: from childhood to adulthood; from student to wage-earner; from being single to being in a relationship. And while some of those transitions have had ‘external triggers’ (E.g. becoming old enough to go to school), some of them have an ‘internal trigger’. In this article, we’re going to be exploring those deeper currents of transition and transformation. Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 17 of my Sunday Times Bestseller, RESULTS: Think Less, Achieve More (©2016 Jamie Smart, published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd)
I’d been working as a programme manager, leading multi-million pound business transformation projects for five years. It was a good job but I felt stuck. Some of my friends had left their jobs to go self-employed or start their own businesses, but I was convinced that ‘doing my own thing’ wasn’t possible for me. I didn’t question why; it just seemed true. Everything changed one weekend in 1998 when I attended a work- shop to improve my influence skills. The trainer stood at the front of the room, relaxed and at ease, sharing engaging stories and insightful perspectives. Watching this skilled ‘transformation professional’, my first thought was, ‘I want to be able to do that’. I became completely absorbed in the learning experience, and at some point in the weekend, I had a profound and liberating insight:
You are the leader of your life, and you always have been. You can choose the results you want to create. And live into the choices you make.
I found a six-month contracting role that would give me the extra time and money I wanted to pursue my new-found dream of becoming a facilitator, speaker and coach, then I handed in my notice. I took every opportunity to develop my future skill set and practise it in my day job. I coached my colleagues, ran in-house project management workshops and offered to facilitate challenging meetings for the company directors. One month, I offered to deliver a presentation that needed to be given to 20 different audiences around the organization (despite being terrified of public speaking). By the time I got to the twentieth presentation, I’d lost my fear. I took every opportunity I could find to step out of my comfort zone, create value for the organization and grow. It turns out that paid employment can be a great ‘sandbox’ where you get rewarded for creating value while you learn and practise today the skills you’re going to need tomorrow.
After two years of this intensive ‘incubation’ process, I stopped contracting and started my first business. And that’s when I discovered why I’d spent all that time believing I couldn’t do my own thing; that my case was different. Here’s why…
The education system is preparing students for jobs that won’t exist in 10 years The education system was originally developed to deliver a numerate, literate and compliant workforce to the factories and offices of industry. Like cogs in a machine, students weren’t required to think for themselves; they were required to do as they were told. You can clearly see the ghosts of the factory in the traditional education system’s ‘production line’ approach, with rote learning, standardization and rows of desks. The world of learning gets divided into narrower and narrower subject areas, with no apparent connection to a coherent whole. We’re conditioned to believe that:
– There’s a ‘right way’ to do things.
– There’s an authority who knows what the correct answers are.
– We should defer to authority rather than take the lead.
– We should recite the correct answer rather than develop our own perspective.
This is fine when you’re preparing students for a world of work that is well understood and relatively stable. But it’s disastrous when you’re preparing them for a world that’s volatile, uncertain and ambiguous. Whether you work in a large organization or are founding a fast-moving startup; whether you’re a student or a sergeant… If you want to thrive in the VUCA world, you need to ignite your entrepreneurial instincts.
We’ll be exploring how you can ignite your entrepreneurial instincts in next week’s article. By the way, I’m researching something new, and I’m looking for the right group of people to take part in it. Here’s how you’ll know if you’re right for this experiment (and vice-versa):
– You are currently in full-time employment, but…
– You want to transition from your job to something more fulfilling and “on-purpose”
– You sense that it’ll probably take 1-2 years to complete the transition, but…
– Your goal hasn’t been getting much closer; it seems to stay the same distance away
– You want to make progress, but lack clarity about either the ‘what’ or the ‘how’
– You know that if you were clear on those, with a solid plan, you’d do what it takes to make it happen
– You’re coachable, and willing to stretch yourself
If that’s you, then email me at info@jamiesmart.com and write “that’s me”. Make sure to change the subject line to “Project Jupiter” before you hit . I’m going to be choosing people over the next few weeks.
Big love
Jamie
Jamie Smart
Sunday Times Bestselling Author, Speaker and Executive Coach
PLUS: Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you get the clarity and results that matter to you:
1. Hire me to speak at your event
If you want an entertaining and impactful keynote speech or breakout session for your conference, offsite or town hall meeting, email Nikki at info@jamiesmart.com and type “Keynote” in the subject line.
2. Apply for the 2017 intake of the Certified Clarity Coach Training Programme
If you want to be part of the class of 2017, this year’s intake of the Certified Clarity Coach Training Programme starts in September. You can find all the details and get your application in here: https://www.jamiesmart.com/clarity-coach-training-sh/
3. Join the Exponential Practice Professional Group
Join the Exponential Practice Professional Group and connect with the growing community of like-minded transformation professionals who are passionate about exponentially increasing their grounding, impact and their livelihood. You can join for free at www.JamieSmart.com/expo
4. Join the next intake of Project Glasswing
We’re putting together a new practice-building case study group at Coaching Package Power this month. Stay tuned for details… If you’d like to work with me and my team on growing your practice… email Nikki at info@jamiesmart.com and type “Project Glasswing” in the subject line.
PLUS: check these out :
Get your free Exponential Practice Scorecard book www.JamieSmart.com/scorecard/
Listen to the Results Mindset Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/resultspodcast
Listen to Your Exponential Practice Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/pod
Read the first 2 chapters of my Sunday Times Bestseller RESULTS: Think Less, Achieve More www.JamieSmart.com/instantresults