One of the questions I occasionally field from readers has to do with breaking into a new career field. Say you hooked a job in insurance after graduating from college and after ten years you discover your heart is really in graphic design. Or you did the corporate climb thinking that the corner office was the end goal, but the past twenty years increasingly led you to the realization that making a difference through youth counseling was your true life’s purpose. Additionally, us folks in associations often wonder if we can make the jump from the small non-profit to corporate for-profit world.

Today’s career reality makes it both easier to make the leap to another profession and harder at the same time. How?

Easier…the demise of lifetime employment has opened up vast opportunities to rethink how we work. We understand that it is perfectly acceptable to seek work challenges with several different organizations throughout our professional lifetime. We are the directors of our own path and we’re not beholden to our companies to take care of us. As a proud Gen-Xer, it seems that my peers exemplify this shift in the work contract.

Now the harder…there are still hangups and beliefs that exist within us and organizations that maintain some of the old ways. We’re still caught in the mindset of the direct trajectory, that the ideal candidate will be the one who has made a logically relevant beeline in their career. Coming in  from a different path may not automatically disqualify, but it probably will get you placed in the hmmm, maybe grouping.

That’s not to say that it’s impossible, just harder. Those of us who are on a divergent trajectory and want to make the jump have to make a much clearer and compelling value proposition explaining what it is that we bring that makes us more attractive than the direct trajectory candidate. Bear in mind that the odds are always against you, but it will be the progressive organizations that will likely get you and what you bring to the table. (sidenote: this is based on my personal experience…if you work for a company that seeks out folks from a divergent trajectory, I’d love to chat with you and profile your company).

Two resources for those of you on the divergent trajectory:
From Louise Fletcher at Blue Sky Resumes…one of the resume models that has been recommended for jobseekers on a divergent trajectory is the functional resume. It’s structured around a candidate’s skills instead of their career chronology. The pros of this approach is that it focuses your experience on relatable skills that match the requirements of the position. Yet, Louise notes that "it’s a favorite tactic for covering up an undesirable background, lack
of experience, major gaps in employment, or any other problem" and immediately gets put to the "no" pile. I can vouch for her advice as it was the same given to me by several professional recruiters I met with when I was conducting my last job search. If you’re using a functional resume, consider a rewrite to a chronological version.

Via Louise, Anthony Meaney at Recruiting.com…the first part of the post is a critique of some job hunting advice, but scroll down for some solid suggestions. Some of the highlights include:

• Join the professional organizations of your target career (as an association professional, I can’t possibly tout this strategy enough)
• Create ways to meet the people in hiring positions (you’ll be surprised at who you’ll be able to meet when you join a professional association)
• Four steps for arranging an informational interview through a cold call

Putting yourself on a divergent trajectory can be a rollercoaster ride. If you’re ready for the thrills, excitement, and fear that go with the process, go for it. Heeding the call of your own soulful work is always worth it.

My friend Kevin Holland linked to a brilliant idea and one very appropriate for today: thank your first commenter. I remember my first comment and commenter so very well. It was Curt Rosengren and it was he who made a significant impact on whether this blog would keep going. Up to that point, I had very little traffic and no comments. While I knew I had much to give voice to, I just wasn’t sure if a blog was the right forum.

I still have those his comment but its no longer viewable in TypePad (when I was using Blogger, I managed comments and trackbacks using HaloScan):

Hi Christopher. Love the blog. Any possibility of upping the frequency of posts? This blog has some great potential. Keep up the great work!

So, thanks Curt for that little nudge. It made a world of difference.

And my warmest wishes to all of you. Even if you’re not from the U.S., I hope you know gratitude, solace, and love today.

I guess its a natural part of the creative process to be in the fog every once in a while. Or perhaps its just that I live in a frenetic city, read way too much for my own good, think about things far too deeply, and of course, struggle with some perfectionism tendencies.

Right now, I feel like my head is swimming in ideas. It’s also a bit overloaded with issues from my paying work – though these mainly integrate with my ideas on work and play.

And since I’m blessed to be a part of a great community of readers and fellow bloggers, I have some questions. Feel free to post comments below or trackback a blog post here.

When you read, how do you distill the main points and "aha moments" of different books together? I’m trying to mindmap each book, but I can’t figure out how to integrate the different maps. Maybe one mindmap including all books (though this is going to get unwieldy after several books)?

When you feel overwhelmed by too many thoughts and ideas, how do you deal with getting clarity? Do you relax? Do you have some kind of creative process? Do you do something else entirely?

I’m eagerly anticipating the responses.

Well, at least for my own organization. In my association experience, it tends to depend on your budget cycle. And there lies one of the great problems with the whole performance review: money and performance are tightly linked. So, what’s wrong with that? Everything.

I could go on and on about this, but greater and more experienced minds have already offered some brilliant writings on this issue…

Lisa Haneberg at Management Craft has long made some compelling cases against the use of reviews:
Scrap Performance Appraisals – Parts  1  2  3  4  5
And another post for good measure…

More recently, Don Blohowiak at Leadership Now has a chilling post on how some companies game the whole 360 evaluation process.

Both Lisa’s and Don’s posts offer more links and opportunities to tumble down the blogosphere rabbit hole.

Currently, I’m working to overhaul how my organization thinks about evaluations. From dialogues I’ve had with the CEO and the staff,  I think one central question lies with the actual purpose of a performance evaluation. Like so much in the workplace that mirrors our elementary school classroom beginnings, we need a report card. We want to see if we got that much sought after ‘A’ in math or teamwork. We need the strokes from our teacher/supervisor. We want to tack it to the fridge at home. We need someone else telling us we should be proud of the work that we’re doing.

Okay, so what happens when we take responsibility for our own development? Instead of complying with what the organization unilaterally says we should be valuing about our work, let’s try building the performance agreement together. Let’s develop a process that builds on the best of the organization and the employee. Let’s make this a frequent event (at least once every three months) that generates excitement rather than devolves into groans of apathy and frustration.

And to a certain Fortune 500 executive, if you think your employees are just there for the money and they don’t want to develop their skills and make something of their life, perhaps this is a good time to shut up and start listening.

Are making a difference and happiness linked? Curt Rosengren points to recent research supporting the connection.

Lately, I’ve been having watercooler chats with my staff, trying to get a better grasp of what we can do together to create the kind of workplace that inspires and excites folks. Working in non-profits, you come to understand that you make less money doing this type of work than if you did similar work in the for-profit sector (though, there are notable exceptions). You can’t rely on the paycheck to bring you complete satisfaction. So, why is it that us association professionals choose this field?

I think I can say that it is the feeling that you’re contributing to something greater than yourself. For me and the rest of my colleagues here, we’re working to make a difference in the world by supporting the field of alternative dispute resolution (which happens to include mediators). In a society where its become commonplace to take all of your problems to court and try to achieve some kind of victory in a zero-sum game, it’s incredibly gratifying to know that there’s a group of individuals out there who work to resolve conflicts in ways that benefit all parties.

Yet regardless of the type of association you work within (and trust me, there is practically an association for anything), and you make the work your profession, there’s a certain amount of love you bring to it. For instance, take the main points that Curt pulls from the USA Today article:

• You need to know your work is making a difference, and for whom…
• Personal contact with beneficiaries seems to make people happier and boost performance…
• There’s a high degree of motivation to help others…

The results we receive when our work and our souls are aligned offer far more than the numbers printed on a paycheck.

Anita Sharpe at the Worthwhile blog offered a simple question that’s sure to elicit some diverse and dynamic discussion: What’s the #1 job of a leader? According to Boeing, it’s Appreciation.

Here’s the comment I left:

Hmmm…interesting. I’ll both agree and disagree with that.

I’ll agree with the importance of showing appreciation to those
around you. And add that “showing” isn’t enough. A leader must
elaborate on what they appreciate while at the same time making it
about the other person. Instead of saying, “You did a great job on that
project,” say, “Here’s what I liked about what you did” The latter is
specific and allows for the other person to make their own meaning from
the appreciative feedback.

Now, for a disagreement…I think the #1 job of a leader is to connect
the thoughts and actions of others to a larger goal. You can show
appreciation all day, but does it move others in a new direction? Or
does it merely reflect where they are right now? The great leaders of
people take reality, stretch it to create a dynamic future, then make
it seem both challenging and possible to attain. Appreciation will be
simply one of the tools to get there.

A couple of months ago, I wrote a post called Fight or Flight about A.G. Lafley’s experience with trying to figure out when to leave a company. In a recent post called How To Know When To Change Jobs, Steven Kempton offers a complementary point of focus:

Quite often a change does help but it can be temporary. They change
jobs and feel happy for a little while and then use the same underlying
excuse to start looking again. However I do think there is one way to
cut out this nonsense. BE CLEAR ON YOUR PURPOSE

He follows with six questions to help us determine if it’s the right time to fly toward greener pastures. They’re particularly good because they take into account that truly soulful work has meaning. And the current challenges we might experience could be formative to our character rather than degenerative.

If you’re thinking that it’s time to leave your job, step back and get tough on yourself. Ask some hard questions. The answers might not always be pretty, but they could actually lead to a more transformative future.

The reason I went on my trip to New England last week was to spend a day with a great chapter of my association and attend their annual conference. What I expected to do was talk with its leaders and members and share what we can do to further improve our organizational relationship. What I didn’t expect was to walk away with some pretty profound experiences.

In the past few months, I’ve come to learn about mediation as a practice and a profession. I’ve also gained a great deal of respect for those who mediate disputes (prior to landing at my current gig, I tried to mediate a staff conflict and discovered how difficult it is to do well). In a culture that seems to idolize the act of litigation, mediation is just a better way.

During the conference, I was able to attend a few sessions. One of the coolest was a workshop focused on helping practitioners use blogging as a marketing tool. It was led by three prominent bloggers in the field (which you really need to visit and read):

• Dina Beach Lynch – Mediation Mensch
• Diane Levin – Online Guide to Mediation
• Bob Ambrogi – Lawsites

An added bonus was that Tammy Lenski, author of Strategic Conversations, was there, too. To be honest, it was the first time that I’ve managed to find myself in a room with more than two bloggers in it (including myself) so this workshop experience was particularly neat.

Folks like them and other legal bloggers like Arnie Herz at Legal Sanity give the world of law a truly good name.

Oh the saga that is the life of Terrell Owens. For those who don’t follow football, he’s the fellow that seems to find fresh and unique ways to piss off teammates and coaches regardless of which team he’s on. He’s the guy who takes self-centeredness to new heights. While many athletes can be considered prima donnas, he finds himself in a class all to himself (well, he might share a cab with Keyshawn Johnson and Randy Moss).

Here’s the problem: if he was just a loud mouthed, obnoxious jerk who couldn’t catch a pass, that would be one thing. But he’s a talented wide receiver who can make plays for your team. The question is…would you want him on your favorite team?

To perhaps bring it closer to home, would you want someone like him on your workteam? Imagine an individual with a volatile personality, but an incredible talent for selling that could take your company to the next level. You would have a dynamic all-star, but someone who might disrupt the team’s culture. Would the gamble be worth it?

I’ve written before about my aversion to those who admonish us to "think outside the box." Now, I have a brilliant Thatcherite retort:

If you still say ‘Think Outside the Box’ you don’t.

Thanks, Adrian for pointing me to the results of Nick Usbourne’s brilliant contest to protest business jargon BS. Tomorrow morning, I’ll be the one saying to my colleagues:

Shift my paradigm before I have had my morning coffee and I will core your competencies.