[acb-hsp] FW: Denise Bissonnette's True Livelihood Newsletter from Diversity World
Andy Baracco
wq6r at socal.rr.com
Thu Mar 4 02:43:29 GMT 2010
This is a wonderful newsletter.
Andy
Subject: Denise Bissonnette's True Livelihood Newsletter from Diversity World
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This newsletter is intended to support the work of people who are
engaged in developing the careers, vocations, livelihoods, jobs
and/or work of other individuals. It is our belief that everyone's
work life can and should be molded and crafted to be the expression
of our finest gifts and a source of great joy. Towards this end, we
hope that the content of these newsletters will support you with both
practical tools and inspirational ideas.
Hello Andrew.
Welcome to our FEBRUARY 2010 edition!
Please pass this on to interested friends and colleagues!
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Image removed by sender. Denise BissonnetteTraveling Tips for the
Winding Road of a Job Search - Part IV:
Shifting Perspectives with Changes in the Work World
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
The following message from a reader prompted the writing of what is
now Part Four in a series of suggestions and perspectives on
"Traveling the Winding Road of a Job Search":
Dear Denise, I found your last issue on "The Top Ten Ideas for a
Strategic Job Search" very insightful and, as such, shared it with
co-workers as well as the students in my Employment Prep class. Some
were instantly enthused by your innovative ideas and keen to put them
into practice, while others seemed skeptical and perhaps even
challenged by them. I think that a lot of people (both staff and
clientele) are stuck in conventional ways of viewing
employment. They see the employer as the "all-powerful", they see
"getting a steady job" as the only employment option, and they
consider "applying for advertised openings" as the be-all and end-all
of a job search. I think most people are still basing their
attitudes and methods on the world of work as we knew it growing up,
rather than the one that has emerged in the last few decades. Have
you addressed those issues in one of your newsletters? Please keep
your ideas and inspiration coming!
- Vocational Counselor and Employment Prep Instructor, South Bend, Indiana
While I have not addressed these issues in a newsletter, I have
written about changes in the work world in prior publications, most
pointedly in my job search curriculum entitled Cultivating True
Livelihood. In response to this question, however, I have summarized
what I consider to be the most pressing and significant of those
changes. This is by no means all-inclusive of the changes taking
place, nor of the far-reaching implications they hold for all of us
as we attempt to make our place in the ever-changing world of
work. Treat this, rather, as an entryway to the issues, or as a
catalyst to a conversation about the perspectives we cling to even
when the world around us warrants a shift.
Here's to change – whether we like it or not!
~ Denise
Read Denise's previous (January 2010) newsletter...
Shifting Perspectives with Changes in the Work World
There is a great African saying, "When the music changes, so does the
dance!" In terms of the work world, while the music has indeed been
changing over the past two decades, we have been slow to learn the
new dance. The world of work has undergone tremendous transition,
and not just the kind of work that is being done, or who it is being
done for, but how people are hired and paid to work, how we define
success and security, and what a career looks like. In some ways the
changes that have taken place do not only require new ways of
working, but they invite new ways of thinking about ourselves and
relating to the world in general. Among them, I would include the
following Six Shifts in Perspective.
1. Changes in business priorities and hiring practices!
Old Mandate: Maintain the status quo. The goal is to recruit, hire,
train and sustain a permanent workforce.
New Perspective: Enable the workplace to respond quickly and easily
to change, even when this means down-sizing, right-sizing or
outsourcing the work. Develop a flexible, informal workforce that is
contingent on the changing needs of business.
Due in part to the onset of new technologies and a global economy, we
live in a society which has made speed a top priority. Virtually
every enterprise is seeking faster product development, production,
delivery, information processing, and service to keep up with the
rapid changes and increased competition that have arisen in the
marketplace. In the last decade many industries have reengineered,
reconfigured, and redesigned their work process in order to make
significant savings in time and money while increasing production and
profits. Many of those changes have directly affected how they hire
and compensate workers and what they expect of employees. Among the
most significant changes in business that have most affected
employment we would have to include:
· The elimination of middle managers by giving authority and
responsibility to front-line employees;
· Shortening the chains of command so that workers can make
decisions more quickly;
· Transforming managers from working like supervisors to
working like coaches;
· Focusing more on meeting customers' needs and less on
administrative micro-management;
· Developing a network of outsourced vendors and contractors
in order to build in expertise and flexibility into the company
without having to hire regular employees; and,
· Allowing people to telecommute from home or abroad with the
use of new technologies.
While these and other changes in the business world have wreaked
havoc on the lives of many people due to massive lay-offs, it does
not appear that the world is going to return to life as we once knew it.
2. Changes in how we define "job security"!
Old thinking: Security is to be found by landing a good, solid
position which will provide a safe haven in an insecure economic
world. Once you've landed a job, you can rest easy. Do a good job
and you will climb the corporate ladder. Your best bet is to pick a
lane and stay on your career path – stay focused on "the goal" and
don't get side-tracked by other possibilities.
New Perspective: There is no security to be found in a position, but
rather, in how we position ourselves in relation to the work world! A
job provides a short term solution to the ongoing challenge of making
a living. All work situations are springboards for other
opportunities. Cultivating one's livelihood is an ongoing
process! Be open, be flexible, and do not limit your options!
For generations, earning a regular paycheck was the most conventional
route to attaining financial security. Supporting yourself and your
family usually meant working for someone else. We grew up on the
advice to "settle down and get a good, steady job". This advice was
based on income statistics that proved right year after year. For
many generations, taking the unconventional path to pursue a
lifestyle of working on your own was simply not a viable route to
achieving financial security. But for many, this has changed. The
best route to security many not be through a "good, steady job"
because many jobs are not longer good and steady! Instead, you must
rely on yourself to create a way of making a living that feels good
by your standards, and is as steady as your resolve and determination
to make it so. For many, that will mean achieving multiple income
streams, whereby one's ability to earn a living is not dependent on
only one source, but on many sources.
3. Changes in how work is packaged and framed.
Old Definition: A "job" is the primary way of framing work. Jobs
are defined and organized by a prescribed set of functions, duties
and responsibilities which are relatively fixed and predictable. The
job-holder is paid in accordance to a fixed formula or pay level,
typically by number of hours, wages or salary.
New Perspective: Work is perceived as the use of one's energy,
skill, or personal resources to bring about desired results and meet
specified needs. It is an undertaking, enterprise, project, or
endeavor in which the work may be paid in exchange for results,
outcomes, or completion of an assignment, in fees, wages, or
salary. The responsibilities of the worker will vary with the
ever-changing needs of the workplace and must be flexible in nature.
While we many of us were raised to believe that "jobs" were the way
that work has always been done, the truth is that they are a
relatively new phenomenon. Before the industrial revolution people
did not have "jobs", they had livelihoods. Bakers baked and
shoemakers made shoes, primarily in the place where they lived and
with the involvement of the entire family. People didn't get "hired"
in the traditional sense, rather, they traded, bartered and earned a
living by utilizing their craft or talents in a variety of ways. It
was only with the Industrial Revolution that people became 'workers"
and were slotted into 'jobs' categorized with specified boundaries,
structures and rules. For many it was a traumatic process to cram
their sense of work into the category of a job, while others today
are experiencing the flip side of that trauma – learning to become
comfortable working outside the frame of a job.
4. Changes in what it means to be employed.
Old Definition: To be employed means to have a permanent, steady job.
New Perspective: To be employed means having a way to earn a living
and participating in the work force in one or more of a variety of ways.
Not only is it possible to earn a living without having a job, for an
increasing number of people in the workforce today it has become a
requirement, and for many, a preference! Many people craft together a
viable livelihood by taking part in the work force in a variety of
ways. Consider some of the many income streams that we have to
choose from today:
· Accepting part-time or full-time employment for positions
being advertised in the open job market;
· Accepting full or part-time temporary employment;
· Accepting seasonal employment;
· Doing project or piece work for other businesses;
· Doing odd jobs for people in your community, your
neighborhood, or within your personal network;
· Doing freelance work;
· Offering your services as consultant to other businesses;
· Starting your own home-based business or micro business;
· Starting a small business in partnership with others; or,
· Proposing part-time or full-time employment to businesses
where you know you could bring a profit or fill a need; creating your
own job within an existing business or organization.
There are many new terms for the kind of career that is made up of
various income streams, among them you will hear the "hybrid career",
a "portfolio career", the "quilted career", a "Renaissance career"
call it what you like – it is the fastest growing version of
livelihood in the 21st century!
5. Changes in where the opportunities lie!
Old Reality: Big corporations form the backbone of the North American economy
New Reality: Small businesses have been and will continue to form
the foundation of our economy.
We have long held the belief that the foundation of the work world
was to be found in Fortune 500 companies and in the large
bureaucracies that run our towns and cities, including our schools,
hospitals, police departments, etc. Those large businesses and
humungous bureaucracies do still exist, but they no longer form the
backbone of the economy, nor do they provide the mainstay of new
opportunities in the work world. In her keynote speech at a
conference on employment, I recently heard an economist estimate that
as many as 90% of all new jobs in North America for the next ten
years will be in companies with less than 50 employees, and the
majority of those companies will have less than 20 people!
For those with an entrepreneurial bent, this is great news because
there is ample opportunity among small businesses to grow and expand
their enterprises in a variety of ways! Consider the fact that
virtually all small businesses have an ongoing need and use of a
variety of outside services, creating employment possibilities for
people who position themselves to service this sector of the
economy. The kind of small-business services in high demand include:
Advertising
Bookkeeping
Writing
Business networks
Business Plan Writing
Computer repair
Computer consulting
Desktop publishing
Desktop video
Information brokering
Janitorial services
Mailing list services
Mediation services
Medical billing
Medical transcription
Professional organizer
Proposal and grant writing
Public relations
Technical writing
Security services
Word processing and data entry
Travel services
Take heart in knowing that as large businesses have down-sized, the
creation of small businesses has been on the upswing! Work doesn't
just go away, it changes hands!
6. Changes in how we approach the world of work.
Old Approach: One's strategy should include:
· Developing a career goal and a job search plan based on
short and long-term goals.
· Applying for openings as advertised in the open job market.
· Focusing on employer needs as they are defined in the
position and doing one's best to compete with others for the position.
· Honing one's interviewing and resume writing skills.
New Approach: One's strategy should include:
· Developing a larger life plan which includes a career goal,
and an initial employment plan.
· Specifying long-term economic goals but also identifying
immediate income objectives, as well as a job search plan.
· Viewing the world as a market full of opportunities to be
uncovered, remaining open to a variety of ways of approaching
businesses to solve a problem or meet a need.
· Focusing not only on the immediate needs of employers, but
on their unmet needs that have yet to be identified.
· In addition to interviewing, resume writing, and other job
search skills, developing communication skills, the ability to spot
opportunity and market oneself, social and networking skills, as well
as the ability to manage and balance the various aspects of one's life.
This new perspective challenges us to think of ourselves not just as
"applicants" applying for openings, but as vendors or independent
contractors with services to offer. It asks us to view our lives as
our own micro businesses and ourselves as CEO and Board of Directors
of the important enterprise that is our life! It requires us to
remember that as a person with unique gifts, we are each looking for
the right place to invest our time and our talents! It takes into
consider that fact that our livelihood is not a destination, but an
ongoing journey!
For many, this last change is the most difficult leap to make. We
were raised to take a more passive approach to employers, to be
subservient, and compliant with whatever is being offered to us. We
were always told to be modest and to downplay our strengths lest we
appear conceited and full of ourselves. Now employers want to see us
take initiative, think out of the box, and show our resourcefulness
and assertiveness! They want us to be team players but they also
want to see independent self-starters! We need to be humble, but
know how to toot our own horn! We want to be loyal to those we work
for, but we also want to be loyal to ourselves. Yes, we are looking
out for the good of the employer, and we are also keeping watch for
our own good! This is the day of the paradox! We are being asked to
show up and give our all to whatever job or project we are engaged
in, but not to lose sight of the big picture and opportunities on the horizon!
Even for those who have every intention of holding out for a "regular
job" as we were raised to understand it, here are a few good reasons
to stay open to additional ways of making a living and entertaining
the idea of creating additional income streams (e.g., offering your
services as a freelancer, finding ways to capitalize on a pet
project, or accepting a part-time, seasonal job, etc.):
· It will enable you to maintain some structure and a sense
of control in your life while looking for regular work;
· It will provide opportunities to invest your time wisely
while you are in-between jobs;
· It may provide a way of developing a network which will
lead to the work you want;
· It will keep your skills honed and your confidence fresh; and,
· This just may end up being your preferred way of working!
In summary, John Lilly once suggested, "Our only security is our
ability to change." While that holds true in all facets of our lives,
our ability to change – to think in new ways and broaden our horizons
– is certainly being put to the test in relation to work. It is a
worthwhile endeavor to not only examine our actions and the results
they are producing, but the perspective(s) we hold which motivate
those actions. A shift in perspective can change everything – including us!
© Denise Bissonnette, February 2010 (If not used for commercial
purposes, this article may be reproduced, all or in part, providing
it is credited to "Denise Bissonnette, Diversity World -
www.diversityworld.com." If included in a newsletter or other
publication, we would appreciate receiving a copy.)
We welcome your comments and feedback on this article!
Please consider sending us your opinions, perspectives, experiences
or related resources on this topic. Unless you specify otherwise,
your comments and contact information may be edited/published in a
future edition of the True Livelihood Newsletter.
Email your comments on this article... TLN at diversityworld.com
Thoughts to Consider
"Chchchchchanges
"
- David Bowie
"The only people who actually like change are babies with wet diapers!"
- Ashley Brilliant
"There is no security in life, only opportunity."
- Mark Twain
"The only thing that makes life possible is permanent,
intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next."
- Ursula LeGuin
"Keep sowing your seed, for you never know
which will grow; perhaps it all will."
- Ecclesiastes 11:6
"All progress is inevitably accompanied by strife and shock.
Evolution never happens without work and suffering.
It is not enough to let oneself be borne passively along by it;
man must collaborate in the event."
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Putting it into Practice
Here are some tips for using this article with job seekers in a
class, in a job club, or for individual coaching:
1. Have them read the article themselves or go through the six
points one by one, using the article as your facilitator guidelines.
2. Ask the job seekers to identify which of the points they are in
agreement with, and which of the points present the greatest
challenge to their current thinking.
3. Have job seekers identify where they think they are in terms of
the perspectives they hold in each of the six areas.
4. Emphasize the fact that what is being suggested in this article
is not true or false, or right or wrong, but simply another
perspective. Have them add to the list with their own ideas about
changes they see in the work world and how their perspective has shifted.
5. Ask the job seekers to give examples of people in their own
lives who are making a living through multiple income streams. (Most
will be able to name many!)
6. Be sure to point out that following the advice in the article
does not necessarily mean changing the way they are going about the
job search at present, but it could add to or augment the great
things they are doing!
Denise Bissonnette's Publications
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Denise has published several important works on topics of job
development, career development, personal development and similar
topics. She also has two video-based in-service training programs
available. Please visit our online store, Diversity Shop, for more
information on these and related products. Link to more information
on Denise's publications...
Some of Denise's Upcoming Confirmed Appearances
* San Jose, CA * Albuquerque, NM * Toronto, ON * Anchorage,
AK * Laramie, WY * Portage la Prairie, MB * Burlington,
ON * Montgomery AL *
See all of Denise's Scheduled Events...
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