Prep, Push, Pivot E-Book

Octavia Goredema

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 277

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Advance your career with this insightful playbook for underrepresented women In Prep, Push, Pivot, award-winning career coach and author Octavia Goredema delivers an indispensable career coaching guide for women looking for a new job, dealing with job loss, pivoting to a new career, or returning to the workforce after an extended absence. You'll discover practical strategies you can implement at crucial times during your career, ensuring your considerable talents and skills are used to their full potential. In this important book, you'll: * Discover your true worth, cement your career values, and carve out a realistic and aspirational career plan * Learn how to position yourself for a promotion, navigate a break in your career, and integrate your role as a mother or caregiver with your professional life * Deal with monumental career changes, contribute to the development of the women around you, and benefit from an array of professional resources in your journey forward Perfect for women who are ready to overcome any obstacles that await them, Prep, Push, Pivot is a thoughtful road map to help women chart their professional and personal success.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction: My Commitment to Your Career

PART I: PREP

CHAPTER 1: Know Your Worth

Cement Your Career Values

Get Your Goals Ready

Aggregating Your Accomplishments

Dealing with Career Envy

Working Through Challenges

The Devastating Effects of Discrimination

Bad Bosses and Coworkers

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Coping with Burnout

Q&A

References

CHAPTER 2: How to Bounce Back When You Lose Your Job

“You're Fired.”

“This Just Didn't Work Out.”

“You're Being Furloughed.”

“You're Being Laid Off.”

“Am I Dealing with a Wrongful Termination?”

Understanding the Terms of Your Departure

“I've Been Furloughed. What Do I Do Now?”

“I've Lost My Job. What Happens Now?”

Decide What You Want

Create a Small Support Squad

Stay on Top of Next Steps

Ask for What You Need

Revamp Your Résumé

Conquer Your Interview Nerves

Rebounding from Rejection

Q&A

References

CHAPTER 3: Landing the Salary You Deserve

Tackling Self-Doubt

Recruiters Can Be Anxious Too

Preparing for the Money Talk

Research Salary Brackets

Decide on Your Sweet Spot

Land on Your Target Salary Range

Determine Your Walk Away Point

Select Your Pay Me More Proof Points

Get Ready to Be Asked About Salary Expectations

Negotiate Your Job Offer

Make the Ask

Closing the Deal

Q&A

References

PART II: PUSH

CHAPTER 4: How to Position Yourself for a Promotion

Step 1: Understand What Your Target Role Requires

Step 2: Create Your Career Growth Plan

Exercise 1

Step 3: Be Visible

Exercise 2

Step 4: Understand the Decision-Making Process

Exercise 3

Step 5: Align with Advocates

Exercise 4

Step 6: Research Salary Brackets

Step 7: Create Your Promotion Proof Points

Step 8: Be Prepared for Pushback

Step 9: Practice the Promotion Conversation

Step 10: Ask for It

Q&A

Reference

CHAPTER 5: How to Navigate a Career Break

Preparing for a Career Break

Restarting Your Career After a Break

Negotiating Your Salary After a Career Break

Q&A

References

CHAPTER 6: Achieving Your Goals While Caring for Your Family

Step 1: Set New Career Commitments

Your Career Commitments

Step 2: Set Yourself Up for Success

Step 3: Create Your Personal Care Plan

Step 4: Assess, Acknowledge, and Adjust

Q&A

References

PART III: PIVOT

CHAPTER 7: How to Pull Off a Career Change

Creative Thinking

Confidence

Connections

Commitment

Q&A

References

CHAPTER 8: Be Pivotal by Paying It Forward

1. Do Good Things

2. Use Your Voice

3. Ignite Growth

Q&A

References

CHAPTER 9: Dream Bigger Career Toolkit

Recommended Resources

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1

Figure 1.1

Chapter 9

Figure 9.1a

Figure 9.1b

Figure 9.1c

Figure 9.2

Figure 9.3a

Figure 9.3b

Figure 9.4

Figure 9.5

Figure 9.6

Figure 9.7

Figure 9.8

Figure 9.9a

Figure 9.9b

Guide

Cover Page

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction: My Commitment to Your Career

Begin Reading

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

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PREP, PUSH, PIVOT

Essential Career Strategies for Underrepresented Women

OCTAVIA GOREDEMA

Copyright © 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Names: Goredema, Octavia, author.

Title: Prep, push, pivot : essential career strategies for underrepresented women / Octavia Goredema.

Description: Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, [2022] | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021042426 (print) | LCCN 2021042427 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119789079 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119789086 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119789093 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Minority women–Employment. | Vocational guidance.

Classification: LCC HD6057 .G67 2022 (print) | LCC HD6057 (ebook) | DDC 331.4023–dc23/eng/20211012

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021042426

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021042427

Cover design: Paul McCarthy

This book is dedicated to my daughters, Thalia and Marisa.

Introduction: My Commitment to Your Career

Women of color are the most underrepresented group in the corporate pipeline. We are hired at lower rates. We are promoted at lower rates. We are retained at lower rates. We are paid at lower rates.

Here's the irony. According to the United States Census Bureau, women of color are one of the fastest growing demographic groups in the United States. It has been projected that women of color will actually be the majority of all women here in the United States by 2060. But being a rapidly rising demographic isn't enough. We want opportunities. We want equal pay. We want promotions. We want to advance. What it takes to carve out a career is often debilitating and exhausting.

When the road is this long, and this steep, we need all the support we can get. You might be at the start of figuring out your career, or you might have a deep bench of experience coupled with a proven track record. At every stage, we need support. I wrote Prep, Push, Pivot to help you find that support and help you to reassess, determine, and pursue your goals as you build your career.

Every day, whether it's in group sessions with hundreds of employees or in a one-to-one coaching session, I help professionals figure out how to do their best work. I'm the founder of a career coaching company called Twenty Ten Agency. I became a career coach because I'm passionate about the things most people don't see: the mistakes, challenges, and experiences that come before success. I'm passionate about helping people reconnect with their potential. My work is centered on supporting people who want to advance but feel stuck.

Figuring out how to get unstuck is hard to do on your own, and not everyone has the opportunity to work directly with a coach. At Twenty Ten Agency, my team of coaches and I create career breakthroughs. Nothing makes me happier than hearing someone has finally achieved an important milestone. Our coaching is focused on understanding your values, getting real about obstacles, amplifying your potential, and reaching forward to pursue the next phase of your career.

I wrote this book because I want you to know your worth, use your voice, and identify the best ways to find and do your best work. Whether you're looking for a new job, dealing with losing one, pivoting into something new, or returning from a career break, Prep, Push, Pivot delivers strategies to help you advance. This book is divided into three sections:

Part I is focused on preparation. These first three chapters of

Prep

lay the foundation for knowing your worth, cementing your career values, bouncing back if you lose a job, and securing the salary you deserve when you land a new one.

Part II is centered on pushing forward. Over the course of three chapters,

Push

helps you position yourself for a promotion, navigate a career break, and figure out how to align your career goals if you're also a caregiver.

Part III guides you through pivotal professional milestones. These final three chapters,

Pivot

, address how to plan for a career change, discuss how to pay it forward, and provide an array of resources to help you achieve your next big milestone.

Some of the stories shared in this book are based on composite accounts of women who faced specific circumstances during their careers. Coaching conversations are strictly confidential, so the stories I share have been created with fictious details. But the perspectives and experiences shared in these stories derive from the opportunities, concerns, challenges, and accomplishments of women I've encountered who are striving to push forward.

You'll also find Q&A sections within the book, sharing the frequent questions I've addressed during numerous coaching sessions and workshops. If you'd like to dig deeper, head to octaviagoredema.com where you will find a collection of Prep, Push, Pivot resources to help you accelerate.

Knowing how to navigate your career at pivotal moments can be scary, lonely, and hard. The stakes are usually high, and we're often left to figure things out on our own. I wrote this book because I have one mission—to propel you forward. Prep, Push, Pivot is designed to help you achieve your goals at every stage of your career

Know your worth. Land your next opportunity. Pay it forward. Never settle.

Let's get started.

PART IPREP

CHAPTER 1Know Your Worth

Building your career is the most valuable, and the most personal, investment you'll ever make.

Navigating your career as a woman of color in the workplace, however, continues to be an uphill struggle. We are the fastest growing demographic group in the United States,1 but we are the most underrepresented group in the corporate pipeline. As a career coach, I have one mission—to help you move forward.

Knowing your worth underpins everything. Your worth will be tested by the systemic inequities that women of color face every single day.

I know how important it is to cement your career values because it took me a long time to figure this out for myself. I started my career just over two decades ago. Landing my first job after graduating from my university started a rollercoaster that has included being promoted, leading teams, international relocations, taking a career break, returning to work as a parent, and making a career pivot.

It took me a long time to realize my career values were the foundation for everything. Countless times, I found myself in roles or situations that did not support my values. Despite this, I endeavored to do my best work, and yet even when I delivered results it just didn't feel right. In the past, the only time I considered my worth was when I was asked to prepare for a performance review. Even then, it was a struggle to self-assess my skills, and I calculated my worth through my employer's lens versus my own. Over the course of my career, I've created and pursued professional goals, but there were also hard times when I felt lost and uncertain of what I should be aiming for. By discounting what mattered most, I was working hard, but without a true purpose.

So, what exactly is your worth? For many of us, it's how much we earn, but in truth your worth runs way deeper than that. It's about understanding what enables you to do your best work, defining your nonnegotiables for your career, and embracing your unlocked potential.

As a first step, I'd like you to cement your career values, as this provides the foundation for the professional goals you will pursue.

Cement Your Career Values

Your career values are your guiding light, in good times and tough times. They underpin everything. Jobs will come and go, bosses and coworkers will come and go, but your values remain—and they are unique to you.

Remember, you have choices, and when it comes to your career you decide what matters most. I recommend documenting your career values using the following question prompts and reviewing and refining your responses several times a year. This makes your values a priority.

Your career values encompass the following core principles:

Your achievements

Your purpose

Your inspiration

Your style of work

Your mission

Your reputation

Career values provide the foundation for you to create goals that align with your purpose and principles. In chapter 9, you will find a worksheet you can use to save your responses to the following questions:

What matters most to you personally when it comes to your career?

What's on your must-have list when it comes to the work you do next?

What makes you feel excited and inspired about your work?

What motivates you to do your best work?

What are you naturally good at?

What would you love to do more of at work?

What energizes and excites you?

What type of environments do you want to work in?

What's your preferred work schedule?

Is there anything that's nonnegotiable for you at work?

What are the greatest accomplishments of your career?

What is it about the accomplishments that make them special for you?

What do you want your career to feel like?

What do you want to be known for?

How do you measure success?

When you start to think about your career values, your responses to the questions may require deeper and longer reflection, and your responses may change or evolve over time. There are no right or wrong answers and it's not a test. Your responses are for you to define. This is a space for you to consider what matters most in your career so that you can build a platform for goal setting and actions that will get you closer to where you want to be.

Get Your Goals Ready

Most people are asked about their goals roughly once a year when the performance review cycle rolls around. Somewhere in the self-assessment form you're asked to complete for your supervisor there will be a question along the lines of “What do you want to accomplish in the next year?” or “What do you want to be doing five years from now?”

Some of us may be tempted to answer, “I want to be working somewhere else” or “I want to have your job and your salary.” Most of us panic a little about the question and try to figure out an acceptable and appropriate answer. Whether it's a performance review that's looming or your own personal thought process, considering our future can be scary because we just don't know. Being asked about goals can feel like the worst kind of test.

“Can I be honest?”

“Am I thinking too small?”

“Is my goal too big and unachievable?”

“I straight up don't know what I'm aiming for.”

These are legitimate thoughts when someone asks you about your career goals. Goals are powerful, complex, and captivating things. They can be exhilarating and terrifying, all rolled into one.

So, what happens if you're confused about possible career goals? Or maybe you know what you want, but you don't know how to get there.

How to Set Goals

After you've documented and reviewed your career values, it's the perfect time to align your goals. If you're not sure where to start, pick a goal that really excites you, or could be a stepping-stone to something that really excites you.

Some of your goals might be big, some might be smaller, but there are no rights or wrongs when it comes to what you decide on. It just needs to feel right. The only thing I ask is to push yourself out of your comfort zone. That can be hard at first, and it may take a few attempts. I shared a set of goals with one of my mentors once and his immediate response was, “That sounds great, Octavia, but I'd like you to dream bigger.” That one statement alone was transformative to me. So, I added another layer to my goals that were bigger than I'd ever contemplated. He was right. After all, if you'd told me I'd start my career in one country and build it in another, I'd never have believed it.

Here are some questions to help you get started:

Based on your career values, what do you want to experience in the next chapter of your career?

Where do you feel stuck?

What do you want to set in motion?

What skills do you want to develop?

What's a next step that's just out of reach?

What's a next step that would feel like a giant leap?

How to Stay on Track

When you've chosen a goal to pursue, start to outline the next steps you need to take to make this goal happen. Often, professionals I work with assign a deadline to a goal, for example:

“I want to secure a new role by the end of the calendar year.”

As a coach, I think it's fantastic that you have a time line in mind for what you want. However, I always recommend focusing on the time frames to the actions you will take to pursue your goal. For example, the steps you need to take to do that might include updating your résumé, talking to your network about opportunities, and of course, spending time looking at job postings. Assigning time frames for key tasks, or including the frequency for key tasks, is what will propel you forward.

Including when you will do the tasks creates an action plan, which could look like this:

“Create an updated version of my résumé by the end of the month.”

“Set aside time twice a week to reach out to people in my network to ask for advice about my search.”

“Allocate Sunday afternoons as uninterrupted time to review job postings and prepare applications.”

I believe the best way to stay on track with your goals is to focus entirely on the actions you need to take. We can't control the outcome of our actions, but we can control what we do. By scheduling time for the actions required, and doing them, you may land that new job before the end of the calendar year, or after the end of the calendar year, but you will be moving forward constantly.

Sometimes our goal seems so far removed from our current reality that we don't know where to start. When that happens, it's not uncommon to feel deflated or even downsize our visions to something more achievable. This why breaking the big, scary goal into smaller pieces and scheduling the steps is so crucial. Setting your intentions to pursue the goal is the secret to success. Goals will only become accomplishments if you act. The best way to do that is to just start. Don't worry about what comes next; just take it one step at a time.

Create a strategy to hold yourself accountable, especially during the tough times. Maybe you choose to tag team with a friend, where you each share a goal you're working on and give each other encouragement along the way. Perhaps you journal about your process. Maybe you work with a career coach. Or perhaps you schedule time on your calendar to act and plan your next steps. Do whatever works for you.

When you've decided on and scheduled your next steps, you should plan how you'll celebrate each step. Yes, I advocate celebrating every step, not just reaching the end of the goal. It could be something small, like reserving time to do something you love or something bigger, like treating yourself to a special purchase. You get to decide. This will reinforce that you're making a continuous investment in your professional development and signifies that every step matters.

Here are some questions to help you stay on track with your goal:

How important is this goal to you?

What ideas do you have about next steps?

How could you break the next steps down into smaller pieces?

What's the next action you should take?

Who can you ask for help with this?

How will I celebrate the completion of each step?

What will you commit to doing next?

As a final step, use your career values and goals to create your own road map. This is something you can revisit every quarter and adjust and update as you need to. In chapter 9 you will find a blank Career Road Map worksheet for you to use.

Your Career Road Map should include:

Your career values

Milestone moments so far

Short-term goals

Longer-term goals

Ideas for how to progress

Ideas for how you will celebrate

Career Road Map

Use your career values and goals to create your own road map.

MY CAREER VALUES

Do work that channels my creativity.

Collaborate on exciting projects with talented professionals.

Become respected in my industry for my skills.

MILESTONE MOMENTS

Landing my first promotion.

Seeing my first campaign launch and gain traction.

SHORT-TERM GOALS

LONGER-TERM GOALS

Gather assets from previous campaigns and update my digital portfolio

.

Complete my certification

.

HOW TO PROGRESS

HOW TO CELEBRATE

Dedicate one day a month to professional development.

Invest in new equipment.

Find a mentor.

Figure 1.1

Channel all your energy into taking those steps toward the career you're building. One step at a time. Focus on what you can control: your own actions.

Decide that if there are obstacles standing in your way and impeding your goals, you will do everything in your power to push them out of the way. Commit to asking, more than once, for what you want. If that doesn't work, commit to finding an opportunity that meets your needs.

Aggregating Your Accomplishments

My coaching clients already know that this topic is something I constantly talk about. Aggregating your accomplishments is everything when it comes to knowing your worth. If you're not sure what I'm referring to, then it's likely you have some work to do, but I promise it will be worth it.

Basically, it's easy to forget our accomplishments. Even if we don't intend to. We do stuff, we get busy, we do more stuff, we pause for a minute when something major happens, and then we move on to the next thing. That's life, I get it, but I want you to stop. Yes, stop right now and answer this question:

What are the 12 most important things that you achieved in the last year?

If you already have a list, congratulations! My next question for you is, how often do you update it and how often do you review it?

If you aren't in the habit of tracking your accomplishments regularly, I'd like you to adopt a new habit, starting today. I'm serious about this, because I believe documenting your accomplishments is the single most important thing anyone can do for their career. So, with that in mind, do whatever it takes: start a document on your desktop, create a list on your phone, start journaling, build a brag book. Call it whatever you want and do whatever you need to do to remind yourself that you know your stuff.

When something great happens—big or small—write it down in a dedicated space that is just for your accomplishments. That way, it's easy to revisit when you need to. At the end of each week, look at it. At the end of each month, reflect on everything and pick the number one win that stands out. If you do that every month, you'll have a least 12 amazing things to reflect on one year from now.

Dealing with Career Envy

We've all been there. You happen to catch a notification on LinkedIn from a former colleague who's suddenly scored an unbelievable promotion, or an incredible new role, and your heart starts to sink. In an age of constant social media updates, it can feel like others are accelerating way faster than you are. Career envy happens to the best of us, even when we're happy for the people with good news to share.

If you find yourself starting to compare and question your progress, it's time to switch gears and embrace your achievements and goals without the filter of anyone else to cloud your view. If that feels uncomfortable, perhaps because you can't shake the perception that someone else is moving ahead faster, remember this one fact. Even if you both started at the exact same point with the exact same skills, your journeys will not be the same, and that's OK.

Despite knowing the person whose career you're coveting, you may not know everything about their back story, or the reality of their career journey. The accomplishments that look fabulous and exhilarating from the outside can be stressful and unfulfilling on the inside. All we know is how our own career path feels, and that's where we need to focus attention. Instead of comparing yourself to others, focus on what you're building toward. Use the achievements of others as fuel to motivate you positively; if they can do cool things, you can and will too.

Working Through Challenges

Watching women of color successfully climb the corporate ladder is always inspiring because there are so few of us that make it. As a result, this type of ascent often makes headlines. Each time someone defies convention to make it to the corner office, the boardroom, the Senate, or wherever they've set their intent, we collectively cheer and applaud from the sidelines. But as we celebrate, I often reflect on what we don't know, or may not see. We don't know the struggle that preceded the achievement, or how it feels to be the first, only, or one of just a few, after a ceiling has been broken. Who picks up the pieces?

A few years ago, I heard US Vice President Kamala Harris say this, and her words stuck with me for the longest time:

“When we talk about breaking barriers, some would suggest that you're just on this side of the barrier and then you turn out on this side of the barrier. No, it's breaking barriers. And when you break things, it hurts.”2

As women of color navigating the workplace, we see and feel barriers to advancing that are largely invisible to white professionals. Breaking barriers is painful. Then, if we persist and push through, it can be equally painful on the other side. How your career looks on the outside isn't anything like how it feels.

My work is centered on helping others overcome challenges in the workplace. No one is immune from facing challenges at work; even professionals who are perceived as highfliers will have periods where they struggle. If you're facing a hard time, you're not alone, and you will come through it.

During my career there were periods of time when I was the only Black woman in a meeting, the only Black woman on my team, and the only Black woman in the building. When you're the only, the first, or one of very few, there's an inherent pressure to be perfect, because you represent your race and gender, not just your job title. And on top of that, it often feels like there's no protection.

The Devastating Effects of Discrimination

Despite decades of anti-discrimination laws, being a woman of color in the workplace exerts a largely unseen emotional tax on your performance, well-being, and ability to thrive. A recent study by Catalyst, a nonprofit that advocates for accelerating and advancing women into leadership, found that 68 percent of people of color are on guard to protect against bias and unfair treatment within their work teams.3 Most of us know we don't need a survey to tell us what we have already experienced. Studies repeatedly show that invisibility and exclusion—often described as the feeling of not being heard or recognized in group settings—is a widespread problem for women of color.4

While many of us have become accustomed to the perils of unconscious bias, lack of support, and performative allyship, dealing with insensitive language, microaggressions, harassment, and discrimination is one of the most devastating experiences for anyone to navigate in their place of work.

Knowing your worth, even in the face of the steepest of challenges, is paramount. At the federal level, laws protect employees from unfair treatment because of their race, sex, religion, national origin, age, and disability status. These categories also cover discrimination based on color, gender identity, pregnancy, and sexual orientation. In addition, many states provide more expansive discrimination protections. For example, in 2019 California became the first state in the United States to ban employers and school officials from discriminating against people based on their natural hair.5 Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Crown Act into law, making it illegal to enforce dress codes or grooming policies against hairstyles such as afros, braids, twists, and locs.