Reviewing your achievements
The year is nearly over. London 2012 will soon be no more (it's the way I've chosen to describe the year - I think it sums up our moment in the sun). It's time to turn from objectives to achievements. After all, our objectives were about planning and doing things. So how do you mark and review those achievements? What got in the way? How did you deal with it? How are your motivation levels looking for next year?
Let's look at what skills you've developed this year. Finding it difficult? OK, how many STARs can you count? It's usually used for interview preparation - Situation, Task, Action, Result - but I think we can utilise it as a way of gathering together examples of objectives achieved. And if they're professional achievements, you can store them away for the next interview you find yourself in.
I was speaking to the City University LIS students last week on the subject of career development and what skills are currently trending. We did an exercise to identify skills which went something like this - "A skill is something you are good at; tell me what you're good at." Cue silence. But this is a group of well educated and experienced students who like talking to each other. Once they started discussing this in their groups, it was difficult to stop them. In identifying their skills, we talked about specific situations where they might be working and what their roles entail. By doing this, they were able to see what individual skills they have. We can often find it difficult to break down our daily routines into skills as we mostly just get on and do our jobs without thinking we're doing anything remarkable. But when you're taking stock of your achievements this year, take some time to consider what you do every day. If this seems tricky, try this - how would you explain your job to a relative who has no concept of the industry? That's an achievement in itself!
The power of a postive attitude
I've been looking at the articles I've written and there's so much more I could follow up on and write about. One thing that sticks out to me is about having the right attitude in everything you do. Time and time again our clients impress upon us the need to have someone who approaches their work with a positive attitude, that they must be someone who gets the ethos of the organisation and will embody its values. I think if you're aware of your skills, what makes you tick professionally and what you enjoy about your career, you're most likely to be able to assess if any given environment is right for you.