Today’s New York  TImes raises a good question: Should your life coach have a life? Read the full article here.

At first I thought they meant, “Should the life coach have fun, family, etc.?” but they were referring to the increasing number of 20-something coaches. One 27-year-old coach works with several clients in their fifties.

The article talks about working with someone who’s young enough to be your child. How could a young person have something to help someone who is so much older.

On the plus side, a young person probably has a hip website. Female coaches look great in their online photos. The premise of coaching is that the coach doesn’t function as an advisor, but instead as a sounding board and facilitator. The idea is to help you understand more of your own intuition and wisdom.

On the other hand, I’ve found that coaches often cross that line. Just by asking certain questions ,the coach can direct your thinking along specific paths. Even Thomas Leonard, founder of CoachU and the man who brought coaching into the mainstream, told coaches to feel free to share their views. Many coaches go to their own coaches, who encourage them to view themselves as experts.

Quite honestly, I have trouble with the idea of talking to a 20-something about complexities like divorce, home ownership, frustrations with age discrimination and more. I remember being on a teleseminar with a 30-something coach, several years ago. She downplayed the idea of age discrimination as nonsense. “Think of the wisdom of elders,” she said. I pointed out that elders may have wisdom but few  companies are willing to pay for it.

I also think that certain career paths make more sense for someone under 35. A temporary restaurant job might seem like a lark when you’re 25; at 45 or 55, it’s not the same.

When I work with clients I don’t pretend to be a coach. I’m a consultant. Here’s the difference.

Tom is  a successful 50-something business executive who’s thinking of going back to school to become a teacher. He might talk to a life coach if he’s not sure that’s what he really wants. He might want to explore feelings, emotions and family pressures.

On the other hand, Tom may want to learn more about his options. For instance, he wonders how he can pay for a return to school. He just read about a new program that’s offered online; he wants to know if that’s a realistic option. As a former college professor, I know the ins and outs and sometimes can recommend creative ways to choose a program (and sometimes creative ways to pay for it). Often we can address his questions in a single session with a few follow-up emails. If he brings up issues of fear, I’ll share examples of others who faced similar challenge and suggest ways he can deal with it, based on my experience.

Who’s the best choice for Tom? I don’t know. And I don’t know how he’d feel about working with a young life coach. If he wants a consultant, he needs someone who’s knowledgeable. If he’s building software, a teenager can be a consultant. But if he wants to know about a specific set of choices, he needs to draw on someone’s real experience.

How do you feel? Do you care about the age of your coach?

OK, Penelope Trunk thrives on being outrageous. She’s shared a hefty dose of information about her own life (did you know her original name was Adrienne?). She’s written about her own relationship issues, therapy and mental health issues. But mostly she’s been an advocate of an outrageous approach to what used to be called career counseling.

Here’s a BlogTalkRadio podcast of Penelope at her best. It’s just 15 minutes long but she packs a lot of punch into each minute, thanks to an interviewer who just tosses out one question after another.

Penelope hates Tim Ferriss because she doesn’t think he’s got realistic ideas (and she shares why). Ironically, she an Ferriss share a common strategy: they get lots of media attention by being outrageous. After all, most of us couldn’t (or wouldn’t) follow Penelope’s suggestions in her book, Brazen Careerist.

Penelope doesn’t mince words when it comes to the recession. Not working? Just agree to take a pay cut, she suggests. Never mind that (a) many employers are suspicious of employees who downsize and (b) the psychological toll of taking a step backward can be enormous. She does recommend changing fields and starting over, which can be a better way to take a step back.

She also reveals how shes manages to raise two kids and have a career. “I haven’t been to a movie in 3 years,” she says. You have to make sacrifices and trade-offs. Here I think she’s right. I’ve met many business owners who sacrificed not just leisure but even their own health; several gained 20, 50 or even 100 pounds as they built their businesses. The question, “Are you willing to do whatever it takes?” is not an empty one.

Penelope has the luxury of being frivolous; unlike a real career counselor or career coach, she gets to be theoretical. She’s not dealing with a real client sitting in front of her (or talking on the phone) who’s got all kinds of special circumstances, excuses, challenges and side issues. Still, her ideas are entertaining. Click on the link below if you’d like to listen.

A great article from the Career News Blog – deals with the emotional aspects of career change:

By Curt Rosengren
Link here to the original article.

Are you feeling burned out in your job? If so, you’re not alone. Job burnout is an all-too-common phenomenon in today’s workforce. And while there’s no magic wand you can wave to get rid of it, there are steps you can take to improve your situation.

Understand why you are feeling burned out. Get a really clear picture of why you’re feeling burned out. Take inventory. Don’t just say, “My job is burning me out.” Get specific. Say, for instance, “I’m working too many hours. I don’t like what I’m working on. I’m experiencing too much conflict with my co-workers. I feel stuck and trapped.” Awareness is a key ingredient. Understanding the specifics of the source of your burnout opens the door to asking, “What can I do about this? Are there any changes I can make that would improve the situation? What steps can I start taking to make changes in the long term?”

Question black-and-white thinking. Black-and-white thinking keeps you limited and feeling trapped. It limits you to either/or choices. Either you can fix the situation, or you’re doomed to wallow helplessly in it. Either you have to just accept that your job sucks, or you need to change jobs. Having only the two choices on the extreme ends of the spectrum doesn’t leave you a lot of room to maneuver. The reality is that there is frequently a whole spectrum of possibilities between those either/or ends of the spectrum. You may not be able to fix the situation completely to your liking, but you may be able to make it 30 percent better. And 30 percent better is 30 percent less pain.

Find your energy source. One way to combat burnout is to build more of what energizes you into your workday. And to do that, you need to know what energizes you to begin with. A good place to start is to make a list of things that have lit you up over time and then pick one and ask why. What was it about that activity or experience that was so energizing? Why was it so fun? As you explore multiple things from that list, you’ll start to see common themes (reasons why) emerge. When you understand those common themes—your energy sources, if you will—you can ask yourself, “How can I create the opportunity to experience more of these energy sources in my work?”

Look at the 360-degree picture. How you feel at work isn’t solely related to what’s happening at work. What is happening in the rest of your life can have an impact as well. If you aren’t taking care of your health, guess what? That has a huge impact on the energy reserves you have to draw from at work. Take a look at your life in 360 degrees. Do what I describe as a personal energy audit. Ask, “What is giving me energy? What is draining my energy? What supports me? What depletes me?” Do that for all the areas of your life, including work, relationships, and health.

Commit to change. Typically, clients come to me when they have frustration coming out their ears and they’re ready for a career change yesterday. I have noticed repeatedly that the simple act of committing to change reduces their frustration significantly. Why? Because part of their frustration comes not just from what’s happening today, but also knowing that it’s going to be repeated day after day after day into the future. So committing to change takes a lot of the weight of that future frustration off their shoulders. Nothing about their situation has changed in the here and now, but knowing that they’re not trapped for the long haul makes a big difference.

Meditate. No post on job burnout would be complete without mentioning meditation. Imagine yourself as a Catherine wheel, that firework that spins around throwing sparks in all directions. That’s how a lot of people live their lives. Exhausting! If you can find a way to slow down and stay grounded, it lets you stop spinning that energy off in all directions.

Exercise. Exercise is the great stress reliever. It has the dual benefit of immediately relieving stress and giving you more energy in the long run by being more fit.

Find meaning. Finally, look for ways to derive meaning from your work. That could mean identifying what the benefit of what you’re doing is and focusing more on that. Or it could mean finding ways to make a difference, like mentoring a younger colleague.

After years as a professional malcontent, Curt Rosengren discovered the power of passion. As speaker, author, and coach, Rosengren helps people create careers that energize and inspire them. His book, 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work, and his E-book, The Occupational Adventure Guide, offer people tools for turning dreams into reality. Rosengren’s blog, The M.A.P. Maker, explores how to craft a life of meaning, abundance, and passion.

Have you been considering a career change? Many workers seek a change but get discouraged by the realities of what it takes. Here are the factors that make a difference in successful career change and hopeful wishing.

First, career change takes time.

If you’re working 70 hours a week and you have any kind of personal life, work on finding ways to get more time in a day and a week. You need to be able to attend professional meetings, network and go on interviews.

Some career changers need have all the time they need. They just need to manage what they have. They need to set priorities and create systems to deal with overwhelm.

Second, most people manage to change careers without paying for a career counselor or career coach.

You will benefit from a coach when you

– feel isolated and don’t have a sounding board or confidante.
– feel confused about what you’ve been reading – can’t seem to get going on your goals
– face a tough decision and need a sounding board.

However, I don’t recommend turning to friends and family when you need career advice. They will be biased and frankly they just don’t know how career change works. Their advice will be well-intentioned but very often you get sent on needless, time-consuming detours.

If you choose a coach, don’t expect to get a quick answer from career tests. If you’ve been working more than a few years, the tests will show you are very well suited to the career you have now. Focus on creating a game plan, not answering questions.

Finally, look at your environment outside your career. If you feel depressed or anxious, a career change may not be the answer. If your family life feels strained, your career may be suffering along the way.

Of course the reverse is also true. I’ve seen people turn their lives around when they change careers. They feel confident, find new friends and even enjoy their hobbies more.

Learn more about how I can work with you here.

Clients often call when they feel they’ve hit bottom. They often say, “I’m ready to quit.” Or, “I think I’m going to be fired.”

(1) Your boss is probably looking for a way NOT to fire you. The company has invested in hiring and training you. If you’re in a big company, your boss’s reputation suffers if she’s known as someone who can’t keep good people. Finally, your department’s budget may allow keeping current employees but not hiring anyone new. If you leave, somebody else has to do your work.

(2) Hang in there unless your physical or mental health gets threatened. (That’s beyond my scope.) Once you leave voluntarily, you may lose claims to file for unemployment and severance. I’m not a lawyer. I cannot give legal advice. But from anecdotal evidence I’ve seen people file unemployment claims and win. Your employer probably doesn’t want to go there.

(3) Work on your style. Are you communicating confidence, verbally and non-verbally? For instance:

When you answer a question, practice beginning with confidence. Starting with the word “Well …” communicates nervousness or uncertainty.

Be brief and be gone. If your boss says, “You should have known not to do X,” don’t get into a discussion. Just say something like, “You are right. And now I would like to ask you a question about doing X .. ”
If you’ve made a genuine mistake, just say, “You’re right. I’ve set up a process to prevent future re-occurrences.” And stop.

“Anne” was called into her boss’s office to discuss her many transgressions. As her boss went on and on, she had to stifle a laugh. She had no idea what he wanted her to do; he just ranted. I suggested she just sit quietly and take notes (or pretend to take notes). If he asks what she’s doing, she can say, “I’m taking notes.” If he asks why, she says, “I want to make sure I get all these points.”
If he gets hysterical and irrational, she knows she’s got a crazy person to deal with. That’s another topic.

But here’s what happened with Anne. Once she had a strategy, she never needed it. Her boss treated her more respectfully, probably sensing that she was confident and strong.

Would you like to work with me to address your challenge at work – and perhaps keep you from quitting? For one-to-one coaching, visit this page. Due to time constraints, I can work only with paying clients.

“Linda” was getting frustrated. She had just taken a day job with  a government agency, just to bring in some money while she waited for her dream job and investigated business opportunities.

But she found herself struggling to balance these competing challenges. She came home every evening feeling stressed. She couldn’t stop thinking about the events of the day even though she realized she was spinning wheels. “Who cares if my boss hates me?” she would say. “Who cares if we will implement Plan A or Plan B? But I find myself getting all worked up.”

Suggestions for Linda:

(1) Compartmentalize.

As you leave work, take a minute to visualize yourself stepping into a whole new world. When you get home, change your clothes. Think of taking off the uniform and becoming yourself again.

(2) Build your psychic shield.

When you enter the workplace imagine you have a shield that protects you from every negative influence. I discuss this technique in my Report Ten Things To Do When You Really, Really Hate Your Job.

(3) Plan an activity for the end of the day where you engage with others. Schedule interviews, client calls, meetings or groups. When you sit alone at the computer, it’s harder to stop a busy mind.

(4) Create a topic that you can turn to as your mind starts to circle around the work problems. For instance,  think instead about your dog or cat, a trip you will take, your next career…anything for a distraction!

(5) Avoid getting too tired, hungry or thirsty. I’ve heard this tip by members of 12-step programs and it works here too. When you’re vulnerable, bad things happen.

I also offer one-to-one coaching and consulting if you would like more support for this transition.

You’re a corporate executive or self-employed professional. If you are reading this blog, you probably have a question about your career. Maybe you thought you’d always want to keep working in your current career and now you feel differently. Or maybe you don’t have a choice. Your job goes away. Or your health, family, priorities and/or dreams fade away, change or grow stronger.

There are lots of people out there who want to help you. I’m one of them. When you read through this blog, you will get a sense of my style and you’ll know whether I’m the best resource for you at this time.  I offer career consulting as well as a series of ebooks you can download right away.

My name is Cathy Goodwin. I have a PhD in business from UC Berkeley and an MBA from the Wharton School. As a certified corporate maverick and 20-year college professor, I’ve been fascinated by careers ever since I can remember. I’ve published research careers and life transition, worked with dozens of clients and gone through career changes myself.  You can download my published book on Relocation Strategy.

Originally from New York, I am fast and direct. My favorite question is, “What’s the bottom line?” I don’t waste time on fluff. I don’t hold out the promise of easy answers in a career test. And I won’t answer a question with a question (90% of the time).

Truths I’ve Learned About Careers and Career Change

There are no cookie-cutter solutions. You can hire someone to be a sounding board. I can make suggestions and often help you avoid costly details. But you have to find your own way and tune in to your own intuition.

Tests are almost always a waste of time and money, if you’re a mid-career professional or executive. If you’re looking for tests, click away now – you won’t find them here. Your career test will show you are ideally suited to the job you have now.

The major predictors of career change success are motivation and time. You have to really, really want to change. Usually that means being so miserable you’re willing to take risks and give up some comfortable parts of your life.

Finally, if you have emotional baggage – a tough divorce, death in the family, depression, anxiety – trying to change careers won’t help. In fact, any emotional baggage you carry around will just get heavier. Work with a licensed therapist first. Some people also benefit from life coaches but that’s up to you.

The most important truth about career change is…  the decision may not be up to you.

If you really, really hate your job, recognize that the problem won’t go away. You may start to sabotage yourself. I’m not a therapist so talk to a professional for the Real Deal. I’m just speaking from experience and observation. I’ve seen perfectly smart, competent people make dumb, foolish mistakes. They get sick. They lash out and lose control. And then it’s too late to be proactive and take charge of the situation. You’re branded as a loose cannon or worse.

I’ve got lots of tips and ideas here, from free messaging to one-to-one consulting. I’m not a trained coach, therapist or counselor. But if you like my down-to-earth, no-nonsense style, maybe we should talk.

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Are you thinking of getting help with your career change or job search? Here are 3 tips based on mistakes I’ve made or watched others make, both as a career coach/consultant and as a client of career coaches.

Tip #1: Get clear on what you need and what you can expect.

Job search takes time and energy. You can hire the greatest coach in the world, but if you work 80 hours a week you just don’t have time to do anything. You need time to network, make phone calls, get information together, rehearse for interviews and a whole lot more.

Often a career coach can speed up your job search. However, if you are an executive, you need more than few weeks to reach success. Changing to a whole new career will most likely take six months to three years. For instant results, invest in a magic wand, not a career coach.

Tip #2: Choose a coach who understands how the career game is played, not who has a wall full of diplomas.

Clients often are confused by titles: career coach? counselor? consultant?

A counselor often has passed courses in counseling and might be licensed in your state. In many states anyone can call himself or herself a counselor. A trained counselor often focuses on test-taking. A counselor with mental health training can be valuable if you have emotional issues associated with work.

Coaches typically are trained in a form of communication that involves dialogue and questions. In contrast, consultants are more likely to give direct advice. However, anyone can call himself or herself a coach or consultant.

If credentials are important to you, ask the prospective coach, “How will your training help you do a better job as you work with me to find a new career?”

My own irreverent view is that the coach’s credentials are less important than his or her knowledge of the real world. Can she read between the lines of a want ad? Can he help you interpret a bizarre interview response?

Tip #3: Free coaching is worth what you pay for it.

Occasionally a new coach will offer free coaching to build a client base. I did this myself but found it was not helpful to me or the client. Clients who seek free coaching tend to differ significantly from those who understand they have to pay.

Coaching from your family and friends may be helpful in terms of helping you assess your strengths. If your mom says, “You always were organized, even as a child,” file that away for future career choices. However, many successful people will lead you astray because they don’t realize the job market has changed and indeed the world has changed.

Never, ever seek career advice from a prospective employer or recruiter. They are not being paid to help you so they will experience a conflict of interest if they honestly want to do what’s best for you.

To learn more about my services, you can go here.

Free ebook and ecourse: Midlife Career Strategy.

If you like this blog, please sign up to subscribe via Facebook’s networked blogs – see links to the right.

Could your career use a 30 day “Wow it’s time to do something different and I want to get out there and start winning games….instead of sitting on the sidelines and watching others score the points?”

I just opened the doors to a totally awesome new un-program. Here’s the concept:

Who?: Any midlife, mid-career professional or executive who needs to add some cometitive edge to your career game…in the next 30 days.

What?: This is Get It Done for your career. . In this totally awesome un-program we will analyze everything that’s currently involved in the complex game called your caree. We identify and refine your goals and create a plan to reach those goals without taking unnecessary, time-consuming, expensive detours.

This is a structured program. We are not going to just get on the phone and shoot the breeze about your career. We will chat about what’s keeping your career change from happening and how you can get out there and kick some serious butt. .

Just as you’d work on drills to improve your game, you will have some things to do. You will get questions before each ONE-ON-ONE call, I will walk you through a process and we will come out at the other end with a model and a plan that will help you get a head start on your career change. J

Where?: From your office, living room, patio, coffee shop, bar…Anywhere! . All you need is a phone with long distance access. I’ll take care of the rest like telling you what number to call, recording it for you, and sending you worksheets so you say things like, “Good grief…I may make a 3-point shot after all.”

When?: Over the next 30 days. Well, any 30 days that you pick over the summer. We don’t have to start right now (but my schedule gets filled up so call when you decide go get started).

Why?: There are twol reasons I’m doing this:.

One: I’m getting messages from people saying they’ve just been frazzled by their careers and don’t know what to do next. Or they spent a chunk of change on career tests and feel like they’re chasing their own tail.

And I realize that some folks are nervous about investing the going rate for career consulting because they’re nervous about layoffs or they’ve been frustrated with career planning sessions that led nowhere.

How Much?:

Like I said, I like to see a game that’s played well. The current WNBA season has inspired me. That’s why you are going to get 2 one-hour sessions with me for just $1000 dollars. NO, NO, just kidding. . Seriously you are going to get 2 one-hour ONE-ON-ONE sessions with me for $275.

Sounds like a chance to elevate your game, right?

If you want to register, all you have to do is send a message to me:
midlifecareerstrategy (a) gmail.com with the subject: Career Special
Tell me a little about you and your situation and we’ll see if It’s in my scope. If it is, you can sign up.

Spaces are limited – I can only work with a few people each month at this rate. So go ahead and sign up. It’s cheap, it’s effective, and you’ll be glad you did.

Before you invest in a stock you might ask your broker what kind of research has been done on the company issuing the stock. You might be especially interested in recent developments: a new patent, a lawsuit, a catastrophe, or even a world event that affects the company. For instance, an airline that draws significant revenue from a particular international route  might be affected by an outbreak of war, regardless of whether the airline’s own country is involved.

(1) Be sensitive to projects  are on the edge. If you are working on a project for a company client, talk to the account exec and sales reps. Be sensitive to any shakiness in the account that might shut down the project.

(2) Study your boss’s priorities (and, if appropriate, the agenda of your boss’s boss). For instance, your boss may have been told to push sales of a particular product or service package. If your own activities do not relate to that product, you might be in a one-down position when you ask for anything.

(3) Don’t assume your boss is more informed than you are (or that she will share the information with you). Talk to people in other departments of the company. Set up google alerts for your company as well as for key people in that company. One administrator at a private university wondered why she wasn’t getting more budget when enrollment was up and profits seemed to be increasing. An Internet scan revealed that the university had pay back certain student loan funds that were collected inappropriately.  There was no hint of criminal action, but the school would have unexpected expenses and a cash shortfall. The administrator not only understood why her projects weren’t getting funded; she developed a new insight into the way information was shared.

Finally, work with facts but pay attention to rumors. Rumors can be wildly exaggerated but often contain some basis in reality. Even more, a persistent rumor can tell you a lot about the company’s culture.

For more information on planning a strategy for your own career, see http://www.midlifecareerstrategy.com/coaching.html