Craft Great Career Stories

At every stage of your career, you have to explain yourself. You're talking to strangers who might invest in you and they want to understand your talents. The best way to do this is through story. 

Story-telling to purpose has become a core skill of any leader. It's how to cut through the deluge of information people suffer. 

The task is not only to help others see a list of skills, but to feel the effect of those skills - and your personality - in action. 

Structure

The key is to structure your story so that your main point is clear. The main point is not about the skills and talents you possess, but what difference you make by applying them. 

This amounts to a theme that the structure of your story reveals in different ways. It reveals the reason why you've worked the way you do. What motivated you? It reveals what you did in the cut and thrust of action. When a meeting was about to go astray, when a decision was needed quickly, when someone was standing in front of you in need of help, what did you do? 

Significance

Even if you're talking with people from the same industry, they won't always know the significance of your achievements. Their importance depends on the circumstances. A small issue in a document can derail an agreement. Your approval of a risky expenditure at the right moment started a new revenue stream. Your appointment of a specific person made a crucial difference to the team. 

Significance is the difference between what could have happened and what you made happen.

Feelings

Business is emotional. Organisations and individuals who deny the world of feelings may function well mechanically but fail when the possibilities, risks and reasons are challenging, feelings drive results. Courage, caring, enthusiasm make the difference between technical ability and locked-in resilience. 

How did you feel during the story you're telling? How did you cope? What does your emotional journey say about your character? Good recruiters seek out character because it's crucial to cultural fit. It's also important because today's circumstances could change and your ability to handle the stress of rapid change is more important than knowing the right answer. 

The Agenda

In the process of finding a new role - even in your own firm - being able to tell your stories wisely gives you control over your agenda. The story shapes the conversation, providing material for discussing not only your fit for the role but also what the role really requires. Without this kind of tool, you aren't in control of the agenda. You're being interrogated rather than crafting an informative dialogue. 

A worksheet

I've been using a worksheet to help my clients with this issue and you can download it here. The worksheet guides through the important points to consider in crafting your key stories. It helps remind you what you did, details that get lost in the flurry of being busy and moving on to other events and tasks. 

To craft an effective career strategy needs more than stories. You'll also find insights and actionable ideas in my book, Navigating the Matrix, available at Amazon here. 

If you're a senior executive who wants to work on their career in a strategic, swift and effective way, contact me directly and we can work in-person or you can join one of my career strategy groups, the Continuation Atelier. In this limited size group process you'll find the tools and support to help you drive your future career from a foundation of your talents.