Photo courtesy of Nick Webb and Flickr
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
– Barack Obama
This week is the final article in my series about transitioning from employment to doing work that’s more fulfilling and on-purpose for you (I find that most people who want to make this move don’t have a clear sense of exactly how they’re going to do it, and what it’s going to look like). We’ve been walking through the five main “transition strategies” involved in starting your own venture, and highlighting some of the key advantages and disadvantages of each. In this article, we’re going to be looking at how to choose the right strategy (or combination of strategies), as well as some of the areas you may want to develop as you move through your transition.
Choosing the right strategies for your transition
Over the past 5 weeks, we’ve explored the 5 transition strategies people use to move from full-time employment to doing something more on-purpose and fulfilling. Just as a reminder, the 5 strategies are:
– Parallel jump
– Incremental jump
– Negotiated transition
– Jump and hold your breath
– Go with the flow
While one of the above strategies may stand out for you, many people use a combination of the strategies, or shift from one to another as they progress. For instance, someone might decide to do an interim management role (strategy 2) while building up their new venture alongside it (strategy 1).
The key is to get a sense of which strategy / strategies make sense to you and for you. Making the move from full-time employment to something more fulfilling and on-purpose for you is a significant step. The process often takes two to three years, and is going to require you to evolve and grow in three different areas: personal, inter-personal and commercial. Here are some of the things you might want to consider in each of those three categories:
Grounding (your Personal Transformation)
Imagine you’re building a skyscraper; the higher you want the building to go, the deeper the foundation has to be. “Grounding” is about developing your foundations: the key qualities and internal resources you’re going to need in order to make a success of your new venture. Your grounding is what governs your ability to move forward in the face of uncertainty, and make a real difference in the world. Grounding also determines the impact you’re able to have on others, whether as a business leader, a coach, a parent, a partner or a friend. Some of the qualities you’re likely to need include:
– Leadership, with clarity of direction, purpose and motivation.
– Increased resilience, and the ability to bounce back from disappointments.
– The courage to take action, despite fear of criticism or failure.
– Taking responsibility for yourself, your situation and your future results.
– The willingness to experiment and try new things.
– The willingness to ‘step into the unknown’ and be guided by intuition and ‘gut-feel’.
Impact (your Interpersonal Transformation)
Your impact refers to the results you create and the difference you make. Impact is what people pay you for. It’s what you get paid for in your current job, and it’s what will generate your income in your new venture. And whatever impact you create, you do it in the context of relationships. Your interpersonal transformation will give you the confidence and ability to have a greater impact on others, secure in the knowledge that you have something of genuine value and relevance to contribute. Whether as a business leader, a transformation professional, a parent or a colleague, impact means the difference between making a difference and wasting your breath. Some of the qualities you’re likely to need include:
– Social intelligence, the ability to communicate effectively and build long-term relationships.
– Skills and abilities in the domain of whatever impact you want to have.
– Creativity and innovation to solve problems and results.
– The ability to influence people honestly and ethically, supporting them in making good decisions.
– The ability to have a transformational impact and facilitate ‘dream come true’ results for your clients.
Your Commercial Transformation
Your commercial transformation is about amplifying your impact, taking control of your livelihood, and moving into a world of abundance through connection, innovation and service. Regardless of the transition-strategies you choose, a service-orientation combined with new-economy savvy are essential for taking control of your commercial transformation and creating the livelihood you desire. Some of the qualities you’re likely to need include:
– Your entrepreneurial instincts (we all have these, but they may require some TLC).
– Commercial skills (E.g. understanding what’s involved in working for yourself or starting your own business).
– Making the emotional shift from relying on an employer to pay your bills, to taking personal responsibility for that.
– Evolving your relationship with money, and getting comfortable with charging, fees, pricing etc.
By the way, if you’re looking to transition, I’ve just finished shooting the video-segment for Project Jupiter, which is starting in a couple of weeks. The feedback from the people on the video-shoot was wonderful, so I’m really excited about it. Here’s how you’ll know if you’re right for my 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’ve been thinking about it for long enough, and you’re ready to do something about it NOW
If that’s you, send me an email at info@jamiesmart.com, create the subject line with “Project Jupiter” so I know what it’s in relation to and tell me a bit about yourself. I’ll be choosing people in the next week.
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, click here https://www.jamiesmart.com/book-jamie-to-speak-about/
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 Profitable Coaches Group
Join the Profitable Coaches 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 https://www.jamiesmart.com/profitable/
4. Join the next intake of Project Glasswing
We’re putting together a new practice-building case study group at Coaching Package Power. 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 Profitable Coaches Scorecard book www.JamieSmart.com/scorecar
Listen to the Results Mindset Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/resultspodcast
Listen to The Profitable Coaches Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/pcp
Read the first 2 chapters of my Sunday Times Bestseller RESULTS: Think Less, Achieve More www.JamieSmart.com/instantresults