Managing Two Careers

Writing in the February issue of Psychology Today, Carlin Flora explores “slashers,” people who have two careers at the same time.  For some people, working two jobs is a great way to get through hard economic times.  For others, it’s a strategy to ease into a career change.  Others use their slash careers as a way to balance the job that pays the bills with the kind of career that feeds their passions.

What does it takes to have two careers?  Flora says that “hustler personalities” are best fit for this role, since it often involves marketing one’s skills.  She also says that good time management and organizational skills are need to balance both responsibilities.  The article profiles the following types of slashers: computer geek/comedian, corporate recruiter, water aerobics instructor, PR coordinator/horror writer, and investment banker/bird trainer.  These combinations tell us that people can balance the 9-5 with some other interest that will feed their minds and, in some cases, help fill the wallet.  Think about “slashing.”  It might be a new way to manage your career.

Sometimes, “Cheesy” Makes Sense

Writing in Huffington Post’s new feature, Small Business America, Amanda Peyton, cofounder of Message Party, discusses her career path and some missteps she has taken over the years.  She says that she found advice to “do what your passionate about” was “cheesy.”  However, she eventually found that advice hit the mark.

For Peyton, the right answer was to start her own company.  For most people, that option does not exist.  They will find jobs and works for the “boss.”  However, they can still pursue work that is meaningful, something that will make them get out of bed and go to work, not hit the snooze button and pull the covers over their head.  Everyone can be like an entrepreneur – take the risk needed to be happy – find the kind of work that is right for you.

Sabbath, May 23, 2010

[On Sundays, Career Calling looks at work and life beyond careers.]

Wonder Work

I was 13 years old on August 7, 1974 when something very strange happened in New York City.  A man named Philippe Petit ran a cable between the north and south tower of the World Trade Center.  110 stories above the ground, Petit danced, lay, and knelt on the wire.  At one point, he even looked down to see the crowd that gathered to look at him.  Petit’s 45 minute performance on the wire resulted from years of planning and practicing.

I recently watch a documentary, Man on Wire, that chronicles Petit’s effort.  Most of the film is about how Petit prepared as a wire walker and how he and his team planned every aspect of getting into the tower and rigging a cable.  It’s interesting that no law enforcement official (or anyone else) recognized Petit.  In 1971, he walked a wire between the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  Later, he pulled off a similar trick at Sydney Harbor Bridge near the famous Opera House.

Petit understood the consequences of his performance at the World Trade Center.  At one point in the firm he said, “If I die, what a beautiful death – to die in the exercise of your passion.”  His first thought on looking at the towers was “impossible.”  Challenge overcame fear.

The film depicts two teams sneaking into the tower with fake identities and ID cards. Petit and his friends knew they were committing a crime. They move equipment and evade guards as they make their way to the top of the building.  They make mistakes in transferring the cable between buildings and the walk is nearly spoiled.  Petit would not give up nor would he let his collaborators quit (except for one man who ran down 110 flights of stairs when his courage gave way).

What can we take from this story?  First, don’t try this at home!  More importantly, Petit was a model of preparation, confidence, daring, and concentration.  His friends said that his face turned into a mask when he was on the wire.  He was in the moment.  Most great work brings us to such moments of focus.  We lose our sense of time and the world outside of the task we are performing.  A police officer said Petit was not walking on the wire, but dancing.  Petit compared what he did not to a circus trick or magic (which he practices), but art and poetry. 

The police arrested Petit, but only charged him with a minor crime.  A judge ordered him to do a show for children in New York, the city where he now works as an artist-in-residence at the Church of Saint John the Divine.  I whole-heartedly recommend the movie Man on Wire.  It will take you back to an innocent time when adventurers like Petit could make jaws drop.  Now we live in an age of “reality” entertainment where Petit’s skill and effort give way to train wreck sensationalism.  Philippe Petit was a craftsman – may we remember his example in our life and work.

Happy Sabbath

Extras

Photos of the walk here and here

A funny interview of Petit by Steven Colbert

A radio report from the day of the walk

Betty White – Still Going Strong at 88

Tonight Betty White will host Saturday Night Live on NBC.  White is enjoying something of a comeback as an actress.  She appeared in a high profile Super Bowl commercial and will be featured in a new sitcom “Hot in Cleveland.”  Not bad for a woman who is 88 years old.

More and more people in their seventies and eighties (and a few in their nineties) are working as professionals and volunteers.  The old magic retirement age of 65 is becoming more of a time to transition or “rewire.”  Jeri Sadler/Rick Miners, authors of Don’t Retire, Rewire, would cheer Betty White’s resurgence.  Their book gives workers who are approaching retirement a range of options for staying active and vital.  What I especially like about this book is it focus on “drivers,” which the authors define as “personal motivators” that align our personal needs with work that will fulfill us.

Performing and making people happy drive Betty White.  Each of us needs to find and nurture our drivers in our professional, volunteer, and recreational activities.  Career satisfaction at any age is a matter of making good choices and staying committed to our goals.

What If You Had to Change Careers?

Let’s pretend that it’s 1990, and you run a successful business that sells and repairs typewriters.  Most businesses would still use your product, but many other would be moving on to the new technology: the PC.  By 2000, most of your customers would be gone.  It would be almost impossible to earn a living by fixing typewriters.  You would be forced to change careers.

Many people face a similar situation today.  The industries they worked in still exist, but offer fewer and fewer jobs.  The challenge for people who worked in those industries is to step back, evaluate their skills, and find a new career path.  This reality is harsh, but it also offers all of us a blueprint for getting out of a bad situation.

Imagine that you are in a shrinking or dying industry.  What would you do next?  What would you want to do if you could start over?  Write down your ideas and goals.  Take the next step and think about how you could change careers.  Start with employers in those industries.  What kind of experience and skills are they looking for? The next step is to examine your own career and find the skills and experiences that will let you move to a new career.  Write a new resume that positions you for a career change.  What’s left after that?  Start networking and applying for jobs.

Pursuing a career change does not mean that you cannot pursue work in your current field.  What it will do is give you even more opportunities to pursue a new job.  Approach career change as an opportunity, and make the most of it.

Work and Soul

Seth Godin is a cool cat, the kind you would think never gets angry.  However, his current post shows a distinct edge.  Seth talks about meeting a religious leader who says that some days a job is just a job.  Godin wants us to have something more.

Being the best is a theme throughout Seth Godin’s writing, especially in his invaluable book, The Dip.  Part of being the best is passion.  We need to work with passion, or we will end with nothing but a job that means nothing to us.  Find a job that makes you smile – that is success

To read Seth’s post Phoning It In, click here.

Sabbath, February 7, 2010

(On Sundays, Career Calling looks at intersections of work and life which are not necessarily related to jobs, layoffs, and unemployment statistics.)

Nice Work

Today is the Super Bowl, which has become an unofficial national holiday.  When you think about it, this game generates work.  Not just the passing and tackling on the field, but also in kitchens all across the country where people are preparing for parties.  Stores have to stock extra pallets of beer, pop, and snacks.  Some of the most interesting work on this day will be done by advertisers who are buying very expensive commercial time to put their products in front of the largest TV audience of the year.

Put all this aside, let’s talk about music.  When I was much younger, Super Bowl halftime shows were milk and cookies with sugary feature acts like Up with People.  Over the years, the halftime shows grew more elaborate and staged as mini-concerts.  This trend crashed with Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction.”  That’s when the NFL chose to be safe by booking rock bands that had passed the greatest test of acceptability – being played on classic rock radio stations.  The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, U2, and Tom Petty have all played during half time of the “big game.”

This year the act will be the Who.  I grew up a big fan of this band.  They were angry rebels.  Now, like the Stones, they are a nostalgia act.  Roger Daltrey might still sing, “I hope I die before I get old,” but he’s doing so as sixty-something rock star.  Pete Townshend’s hearing is so profoundly damaged that he can only play a few concerts each year.  They are old now, but we have to admire them for continuing to work, especially the effort they make for charity.

The same can be said for Mose Allison, who at age 82, still cheers the hearts of fans with his bluesy southern jazz.  Today, while most of America is being entertained by the Who, Colts, and Saints, Allison will be playing three sets at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago’s South Loop.  The Who covered Allison’s Young Man’s Blues on their classic album (what a CD was before everything went MP3), Live at Leeds.  Allison’s version was whimsical and poppy; the Who’s snarling and dangerous. 

On this Sunday, this Sabbath day, in Miami and Chicago, fans will be treated to the music of three men who could be retired (though I bet Mose has not banked as much as Roger and Pete).  Why do they go on?  They love their what they do.  A week ago, I wrote about the Dalai Lama who describes himself as “doing nothing.”  I’m sure great musicians feel the same way when they are on stage.  They are in the minute, loving what they do.  As the great jazz standard goes, “nice work if you can get it.”

To see a video of the Who singing Young Man’s Blues, click here.

To listen to an MP3 of Mose Allison singing  Young Man’s Blue, click here

To hear Billie Holiday sing Nice Work, click here.

Whether or not you enjoy the game or the music, enjoy this day!

Find the Place That’s Right for You

Seth Godin has a great post today on “Hunters and Farmers.”  I strongly recommend reading it, but here’s a brief summary:  We each have different skills, and to be successful in work and life we need to find ways to use our strengths.

Seth’s eventual point is to look at this issue from a marketer’s perspective.  It is equally true and important for employees and employers.  People who are put in the wrong time of work environment almost always fail.  For example, a good inside sales rep can sit in a dingy workspace and sell millions of dollars worth of product over the phone.  Put that same person in the field, and she becomes shy, stammering.  Each of us needs to think about the environment in which we work best.  If a hunter chooses to work on a farm, she will quickly become a very unhappy farmer.

To read Seth Godin’s post, click here.

Sabbath, December 5, 2009

(Sabbath is a Sunday feature that ponders how work shapes how we live.)

One of my favorite books about work is True Work by Michael Toms and Justine Willis Toms.  I’ve written about this book before, so what I will do today is list some key points and comment on them.

 [Quotation marks indicate ideas from True Work.  They are not always exact quotes.]

1.  “Meaning and being are more important than money and having.”  It is easy to agree with this principle, but difficult to live by it.  I just finished the Sunday paper (Chicago Sun-Times, of course).  Over half the paper was advertisements.  Later today, I’ll watch football and will again receive the same message: buy, buy, buy.  One great challenge the Toms put before their readers is how to live so we resist this message, however pervasive it may be.

2.  “Openness: Real change cannot happen without accepting new possibilities.  Welcome the unexpected.”  We want security, and the last year has been anything but secure.  The point here is that we are often given chances to make changes but we don’t take advantage because we don’t see them.  We look at the world through blinders that only let us see things as they are.  Another way the Toms make this point is to nurture “growing zones,” not comfort zones.  Try something new.

3.   “Bring your best energy to everything you do.”  When I was a kid, this principle was called hustle.  It was expected that an athlete would always give 100%.  Today we talk about “energy.”  We make excuses for others: “She had a bad day.”  Then we use those same excuses to absolve ourselves.  As the great psychologist Viktor Frankl taught, we cannot choose the circumstances of our life, but we can decide what attitude we face life with.  Whatever kind of work we are performing, we can choose to do the best job possible.  Energy is something we choose to bring to a project.  Good professionals demonstrate that quality every day.

4.  “Life is a ‘playground,’ not a ‘battleground.”  Too often we approach problems in a way that drives conflict.  The Toms’ alternative is to turn problems into productivity.  Find a solution that works for you, and approach problems as puzzles or games, rather than wars. 

5.  “Mistakes are our best teachers.”  From the time we were children, we have been taught not to make mistakes.  In fact, we have been evaluated and graded based on the model of 100%.  Unfortunately, life is not as simple as a history test.  We will make mistakes, and we need to see them as valuable teachers.  The Toms write, “Errors show us the way to go forward.  They tell us what we need to learn and show us what we need to study to attain our dream.”

6.  “Money is not an end in itself.  It is a tool.”  The best way to comment on this point is to cite another principle from the book: “True wealth is being satisfied by what you need.”  Consumer society has warped our sense of what we need, especially how much money we need to live the “right” kind of life.  Making choices is essential to having true wealth, true work, and happiness. 

The final word?  Commitment.  The Toms write, “You make a choice in every action you take.  Ask yourself, ‘Does this take me closer to my dream?’” If we want to find work that will make us happy, we need not only to have the vision, but also pursue that vision with commitment and purpose.  As the Toms’ principles indicate, the search for most of us will not be quick or easy.  However, it is possible to find true work.  The reward will be a value that cannot be measured by an accountant.  Happiness is intangible.

Practicing Success

The subject of my 100^th post is a man who is nearly 100 years old, the great basketball coach John Wooden.  Wooden established records that will never be broken.  In 10 of the last 12 years he coached, his UCLA teams won the NCAA title.  During one stretch, they won a remarkable 88 games.

In his 80s, long after retiring, Coach Wooden took on a new trade, author.  He has written books on his life, coaching, and a very important topic to job seekers and career managers:  success. 

The website TED features experts from many fields discussing their projects and passions.  Wooden is featured in a section on “inspiration” (click here for the video).  He often seems a throw back to the 19^th century, citing poets who haven’t been taught in schools since he was a child in the 1920s.  Even so, behind words that sometimes sound dated, there is a very relevant plan that anyone can use to be successful (or more successful).

In the 1930s, Wooden crafted a one sentence definition of success that he still advocates today:  “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable.”

This sentence is not nearly as simple as it seems.  Wooden is not just saying, “Do your best.”  We all tell ourselves we have done our best.  But how many of us have “peace of mind?”  How many of us feel a “self satisfaction” from our work?  Wooden offers us a road map through his “pyramid of success.”  Here we see how this great man defined and practiced a way of life that not only let him be a great coach, but a great thinker.  Wooden wrote his first book in 1997.  Over the last 12 years, he has produced 10 books, including this year’s Coach Wooden’s Game Plan for Success.  Not bad for someone in his nineties.

For John Wooden, success does not mean always winning.  It means preparing to play the right way:  having values, practicing skills, and – most importantly – pursing goals with faith and patience. 

We as job seekers and career managers can learn much from this man and his passion for success.  I’ll close with my favorite saying from Coach Wooden:  “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”