A Hole in Your Career?

Have you ever done a good job but no-one told you so at the time?

Sometimes our work is good but no-one tells us and that can leave a hole.

Is a hole a good place for more digging?

Here’s one example: Two colleagues worked in the same office for years. Marley helped Scrooge all of the time: Scrooge never thanked him once. Years later when Marley was leaving the company, Scrooge quietly cornered him and said, “It was a pleasure working with you. I’ll never forget how much you helped me. It won't be the same without you.”

Although it changed Marley’s view of Scrooge forever that moment filled a big hole in Marley’s career understanding as well. He always knew that he had done good work for Scrooge but he never completely believed it until he got Scrooge's feedback.

Marley also learned something important about the holes in his career. He now understood that they wouldn't go away if he ignored them. From then on Marley challenged himself to act differently whenever he found a hole. First, he resolved to climb in and dig around. Second, he would start to fill it in. Never again would Marley ignore or walk away from a hole in his career.

[Thought - see more at Saundra's Flickr Photostream here]

Your Experience:

✪ What’s the longest you have waited for positive feedback?

✪ When you got it, what did it challenge or confirm?

✪ How did you feel or act differently after getting it?

My Experience:

Marley taught me to be a lot braver about my career. That doesn't mean I now act carelessly. If anything, Marley's experience showed me how to act positively whatever the situation, however big the hole! My only regret is I never met and talked with Marley years ago.

Our Experience:

✪ Where are the holes in our careers?

Comment here and let's see what else we can find!

All the best for now,

Paul

Listening to career feedback

Listening to feedback is important but how we react to feedback has the greater impact on our career & job search success.

Sometimes we get feedback that stops us in our tracks. After an unsuccessful job application or interview for example. In an appraisal with our boss or maybe even in a frank conversation with a friend. But what do you do with this information once you have heard it?

Do you need to change something? Should you act differently from now on? How do you know the opinion is valid? What evidence should you rely on to support or refute it?

[London Underground know we're not listening so they write on the ground too.]

'Best-in-class' career management requires that we listen to opinion & feedback regardless of its source but that we also apply questions like these before deciding what to do next:

✪ Has someone told me this before?

✪ How does this new information sit with someone whose judgement I trust? (a career partner for example)

✪ What does this feedback ask me to do differently?

✪ What facts agree/disagree with this opinion?

(e.g. in my career values, talents & goals)

✪ If I act on this feedback, what improvements might be made?

Listening to opinion and feedback - or perspective as last week's blog post described it - is essential to our career success. Feedback confirms what we know about ourselves because it is proof that other people see it too. It also helps us to understand the things we are less aware of about ourselves and keep improving as a result.

From a career management point of view, gathering external perspectives never really stops but choosing how we apply the learning that feedback offers, is where the real gains are made.

What is the most helpful feedback you have had in your career?

Your emails & comments are welcomed as ever!

All the best for now,

Paul