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February 16, 2009
Tough economy requires smart choices
Is it going to be a hard year?
It sure seems like it.
The news around the world seems to indicate more and more chaos. Job losses by the millions in China, the fear of political unrest, growing unemployment in the US.
Even in Malaysia, the outlook turns sour.
The Star writes that December exports fell 14.9% year-on-year, the biggest slide since September 2001, while imports fell 23.1%, the biggest since August 2001. This has raised concerns that the decline in global demand in the coming months may be more severe and will weigh on the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
Kenanga Research, in a recent note, has revised its GDP forecast to 0.6% for 2009 from 3.3% while the average GDP growth for 2008 may edge closer to 5%. AmResearch estimates GDP growth of 4.9% in 2008 and a contraction of around 0.5% in 2009."
I believe you are aware of it.
Oftentimes, gripping fear sets in in these moments and the mind races to find answers. Some of those might be: "What shall I do?", "Will I be able to support my family", "What will happen to my many loans", "How to find a job when things turn out bad".
I believe you still have time. Time to get ready and be prepared. Especially when you are still employed. But also, now is the time to take inventory of your skills, an outlook of where you want to be in the future and a plan of massive action.
Inventory of your life: Take a hard look at your strengths and your weaknesses. Ask yourself, when was the last time you did something to improve your skills? Do you have skills that could earn you money somewhere else? Are these skills that could keep you in the employment loop? Do you see any gaps between what is required and what you have?
Outlook on your life: Ask yourself a couple of related questions. Do you really want to stay employed? I mean, having a job is a great thing to have, but will you be able to keep your job? Through this recession and the next one to come? Seriously ask yourself how you want to look back at your life in 10, 20 or 30 years? What do you want to achieve? Or more drastically - what shall people say about your once you are gone?
Plan of Massive Action:
Take a good look at the gaps between your current skills and the skills that you need to stay in the job. How fast can you close the gap alone. Alone, because not many companies will send you for a training. It is also about taking initiative now. It is about understanding that you have to invest into yourself now and improve your skills immediately.
Also ask yourself, what else is out there that you could be doing should you loose your job. Are there alternatives and what are the skills that are required to be successful in a new environment. How can you meet that requirement. Let's say you want to be a coach - questions could be - are you qualified to be a coach? How do you get along with people currently? Are you able to elicit great responses from them or are you someone who tends to interrupt others. Nothing wrong with this, but it is about awareness that you need to have about your weaknesses. What could you do to overcome those weaknesses, in the near future?
To end here - it is possible to succeed in this crisis. It is possible to get to a better spot in the future. Realise that you can do it, especially if you overcome your fear and take action now. Accept the fact that you could loose your job. But instead of being frozen like an animal that is blinded by the headlines, get ahead of the pack and move forward fast.
If you want to talk about some ideas, feel free to shoot me an email. I had plenty of career coaching sessions with individuals that lost their job and where able to move to the next job.
But they all were ready for action!
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Posted by Andreas at February 16, 2009 05:26 PM
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