Career Coaching - Snowflake Style

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Most of us remember the visions we had in our heads as a child because this question was asked of us so frequently. I originally wanted to be a nurse, like my mother, until she boldly stated "you don't want to be a nurse". Upon further reflection, I looked to other people in my life to emulate, such as teachers. I knew I had to be something, so teaching seemed like a respectable answer. The odd thing is we spend so much time asking young children what they want to be when they grow up, but spend very little time as they grow older to explore career options.

I was fortunate enough to get an entry level job at a Fortune 500 company early in my adult life. I was hired because I could type fast, but my curiosity and love of learning brought me opportunities. I did become a teacher of sorts as a corporate trainer, then a manager who led an organization through organizational change. As a manager, the book that really changed my approach to leadership was "First Break All the Rules" by Marcus Buckingham (1999). The primary concept of the book was to stop trying to fix your employees so called "deficiencies" and rather focus on their strengths. Within that book was a strengths based interview I did with all of my employees to get them thinking about things they gravitated toward as well as things that repelled them. I did my best as a leader to distribute work in line with the strengths of my team.

What does this have to do with snowflakes? Each snowflake is unique and its shape evolves as it travels through the air. No two will ever be the same. The same is true with people. Each and every person has interests, strengths, skills and experiences that are unique to each and every person. It's no wonder the one size fits all approach to career development is not working and most of us do not know where to begin to find ourselves when it comes to the world of meaningful work.

If you are interested learning more about what makes you unique and how to translate that into a meaningful career, consider career coaching with Dolce Consulting!

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