8 Opportunities for Fulfilment in the New World of Work
Constant Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity and Disruption in our world are making jobs, careers and industries more insecure.
The Future of Work and the fourth industrial revolution are here. Careers have changed and will continue to change rapidly and significantly.
The question is: Will you change with the times, or will you be forced to change because of them?
Will you let the future dictate you, or will you dictate your future?
Opportunities for Career Fulfillment
There are global trends influencing you and your career choices, but what you might not realise is where the opportunities lie for you and how to leverage them.
Acting on the following opportunities is your pathway to fulfillment:
1. Prepare yourself for industry disruption and reimagine your career to get ahead
‘My career path might not even exist. Industries are being disrupted. Profit and shareholder returns are harder to get. There is more restructuring, mass redundancies and disruptive change to come. Artificial intelligence, virtual reality and other trends are causing exponential shifts in the Future of Work. There is no job security, no stability and everyone is asked to do much more with less. White-collar and blue-collar workers are being replaced with ‘new-collar’ individuals. Constant career re-training is expected as well as the current ‘day job’ and learning is now expected to be lifelong, not a course or degree or two. What do I do?’
Sound familiar?
Whether it be a coronavirus crisis or global financial crisis, the year 2100 or 1920. The world is constantly changing. There will always be something outside of us that impacts our careers and lives. We can identify factors that are out of our control and prepare for them.
You can adapt, adjust and reset in order to keep moving forward and making your biggest impact.
In March 2018’s Australian Financial Review, IBM Chief Executive and Chairman Ginni Rometty alluded to the seismic shifts:
Something happens when both business and technology architecture change at the same time and you look back in time and it has the potential to change everything. If you can learn exponentially you become the disrupter, versus being disrupted.
2. Brand yourself and stand out authentically for greater impact
It’s competitive at the top, mid and lower levels for jobs. There are fewer positions at the senior levels of an organisation and more people wanting those positions. Many people say they do the same work and have the same ideas, but they do not get recognised.
Hence, you can’t sit back and wait to ‘get picked’.
Authentic self-promotion is key – and a huge opportunity for you.
3. Build your online profile, presence and impact for the new world
The online environment, technology and expectations are changing rapidly and often, so we need to work out how best to tell our story to best position ourselves to achieve our goals. Think about those out-of-date profiles that you cringe at online.
Don’t put this on your to-do-list for later, for when you have time (when is that going to be?).
There are high-value things you can do right now to increase your profile, presence and impact.
4. Take back control
Professionals want to reach great heights in their career and life. Some get to a stage where they feel their potential and value are not being realised. You can feel stuck, confused, frustrated and you want change. You want to do exciting things, but most don’t know how.
Whether you are skilled and passionate, want more and have more to give, or you are driven to leave a legacy, you can take back control and proactively move forward.
I get that there are pressures and commitments and, often, a lifestyle that you want to maintain. There can be high levels of financial pressure and you can be highly committed financially with mortgages, school fees, expectations when it comes to holidays and lifestyle, and the list goes on. The thing is, the multiple pressures on your time and energy keep adding up and there is a different kind of ‘cost’. That ‘cost’ can be less health, less fitness, less presence, less patience, less happiness… and less satisfaction.
You have to weigh up the cost of staying the same against the cost of opportunity. It’s a short-term investment for a long-term gain.
5. Create your Career Purpose to feel more fulfilled
Most professionals don’t know their purpose in their careers. You can get lost over time, the more experiences and challenges you have. Remember Jerry Maguire and his predicament – he found he was clearer earlier in life than he was mid-life. It’s not uncommon in career and life, where the answers aren’t as clear as they used to be.
Creating your Career Purpose now will give you more meaning and fulfillment later.
6. Choose unique career combinations that maximise you
The days of one job being your one focus are gone. You can have multiple! How great is that?
There’s part time, full time, flexi time, working from home, having your own business, having a side business, volunteering, freelancing, hybrid and portfolio career creation… and the options continue to grow for the new-world free agent. What may work for you today may be something you want to change tomorrow!
So, spend time working out your ideal career combination and maximise your potential. Then change the combination as you evolve.
7. Make a BIG difference to yourself and to others
Many crave career fulfillment. To be worthwhile. To be ‘seen’. To be heard. To be understood. To be respected. To be valued. To make a real difference.
Yet, the cost of ‘being strong’, working harder and longer, and ‘soldiering on’ the current path is too high. Clients say to me, ‘I want to make my biggest impact. I want to contribute and not regret I didn’t do everything I could.’ There is a way forward and light at the end of the tunnel.
You can do this!
8. Elevate yourself to doing your highest value work
Doing repetitive, less meaningful work is not helping you or your career or anybody else (contrary to what you may let yourself believe). Doing these tasks and forgoing more important priorities is actually hurting you and your career. What’s great is when you elevate yourself to addressing the more important and valuable priorities, you make more of an impact, and because the work is more purposeful for you and you are more inspired and passionate about it, you shine!
What is even better is you don’t need to be continually doing more hours (thank goodness, you say!) to get there. You can unlock the value of what already exists in you – what is crying out to be leveraged.
You need to step forward to prepare, position and authentically promote yourself and your impact now, so you are ready for whatever the future throws at you.
Don’t let the opportunities pass you by! Learn about the best way to navigate the future in my book: Futureproof You: 3 Keys to Reimagining Your Career and Amplifying Your Impact in the New World of Work
Confront Your Reality
Do a quick check-in. Are any of the following statements true for you?
I want a meaningful, impactful, fulfilling career.
There is more to my career, leadership and life.
I have more to give.
I am overwhelmed with expectations, roles, workload and/or options and I can’t see a clear path for what’s best anymore.
I don’t have a career or future plan.
I am not feeling my whole self at work.
I don’t want to sell myself or to be ‘cut down’.
I don’t know how to brand myself authentically to be more influential, impactful and valuable.
I don’t want to regret not making the impact I could have.
I am driven to achieve, contribute and be a role model.
I have a need to maintain my livelihood and lifestyle (and others); I want to maximise my value, worth and impact.
Something needs to change but I don’t know what or how.
Yes? Then it’s time to Futureproof You.
You can BE MORE.
You can MAKE MORE IMPACT IN YOUR CAREER.
You can be your AUTHENTIC, WHOLE SELF and BE VALUED MORE FOR IT.
You can ADAPT and MAXIMISE YOUR VALUE & FUTURE in an ever-changing world.
Learn how you can go about making a change in my book: Futureproof You: 3 Keys to Reimagining Your Career and Amplifying Your Impact in the New World of Work