Choosing a New Character to Play
What roles do you play in your professional life? Have you ever played the part of a valiant hero, arriving just in time to save the day? Have you ever been the cynic who finds the hole in everyone else's ideas? Or perhaps you have played the role of the "doer," the person upon whom everyone else could count to get the job done. One of the most difficult challenges of a career is to be willing to let go of a role that was once your key to success when it no longer works for you. Sometimes the need for change comes from a promotion or a new job. Sometimes the work environment changes, demanding new things from us. Other times it is our own desire for learning and growth that spurs us to discard an outdated role in favor of a new challenge. Whatever the reason, here are some tips that can help you identify the appropriate role for your current situation and to play it with Oscar-worthy artistry. Step 1: Ask questions to identify the old role that's not working anymore and the new role you are being asked to play. Are you being asked to stop doing everything yourself and start delegating to others? To become less of a manager and more of a mentor? To stop playing the victim and begin to take on a leadership role? To stop rushing in to help and start showing confidence in others' ability to do the job on their own? Have you always been the "tough guy" who demanded perfection; is it time to play a softer version of yourself? Or perhaps it is the opposite: is it time for you to stop letting others off the hook and set a new standard for excellence? Envision yourself in a variety of roles until the right character emerges. Step 2: Do a cost/benefit analysis of the change. What will the change cost you; what will you have to give up? What do you stand to gain? What problems will the change resolve? What new ones will it potentially bring? Keep working with your analysis until you can see clearly that the benefits will far exceed the costs. You'll need to remind yourself of the potential payoff during the transition. Step 3: Give yourself time to grow into your new role. One of the reasons we often stay in old roles too long is because our inexperience with new behaviors makes us feel incompetent. "It will be like being in first grade again," one professional astutely observed. Most often, we are our own worst critics. Co-workers, clients and managers may be so glad to see that we have finally let go of what we were holding on to that they may actually be our best supporters as we struggle in our unfamiliar new roles. If they don't support us in the transition, it may be because they have a vested interest in our old patterns of behavior; they may perceive that if we adopt new roles, they would then be required to make uncomfortable changes or that they might lose power. If someone should criticize or resist your changes, go back to your cost/benefit analysis. (Remember that the old role wasn't working anyway.) The quickest way out is not to go back but to continue through until you are playing your new character with equal if not greater skill than your previous role. The key to a great performance is simply practice and persistence. Summary: As you identify your professional development goals for 2005, consider the current roles you play in your career, which are working for you and which are not and the new role for which you'd like to audition this year. Your willingness to expand your repertoire of characters will improve both the scope and depth of your professional performance.
If you'd like to read coaching tips from previous months, we invite you to access the Tools section of our web site: www.forwardfocusinc.com Copyright 2005 by ForwardFocus Coaching & Consulting
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