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2020 has been a crazy year, to say the least, and many of us have had to learn to embrace change, while also adjusting to being continually flexible, adaptive, and resourceful. For some of us, this has meant taking on more roles and responsibilities than we’ve ever had before.

In this season of Strategic Momentum, we heard from a range of guests who had overcome a variety of business and career challenges... and then took on the additional challenges of driving momentum in a pandemic. We’ve heard stories of triumph and tribulation, while also gaining valuable advice on how to navigate the uncertainty we’re living in.

In this episode, Connie Steele is joined by Strategic Momentum Marketing Manager Alexis Anthony and Production and Operations Manager Alan Corcoran to look back on the season’s podcourses. They synthesize the advice guests have shared over the past few months and highlight the key trends and takeaways that stood out, especially those that are particularly salient in today’s virtual working world. 

Strategic Momentum will be back in January with a new lineup of guests and topics for 2021, but in the meantime, we’ll continue updating strategicmomentum.co and our social channels with articles, videos, and downloadable content based on the trends that we're seeing in the world.

Key Themes & Takeaways: 

• Overcoming Fear to Drive Momentum
  Fear of failure and uncertainty is something many people are experiencing this year in the wake of the pandemic. With businesses closing and jobs being lost, it’s only natural that workers feel the discomfort that comes with sudden change and adversity. But guests this season offered a range of advice for people who are caught in this vortex:

  • Jon Krinn advised us to attempt to control a small portion of the uncontrollable: “The timespan between the uncontrollable and that pivot to controllable, that means, that's the make or break of my business. So, the faster you can turn an uncontrollable situation into a percentage of controllable, that gap, the smaller that gap is, the more chance you have to succeed and thrive." 

  • Jon also gave the perspective to see failure as a rite of passage, a necessary step to get to where you’re going. If you faced or are facing a difficult situation this year, think of it as an opportunity to learn and work on developing new skills to propel you forward in the future. 

  • Chris Krimitsos told us that, if you’ve found yourself suddenly needing to start over — or you are ready to chase a long-held dream — then you need to embrace that uncertainty and “Start Ugly.” Know that it’s not going to be perfect at first, but as Alexis summarizes, “It’s better to Start Ugly than to not start at all.”

• Mastering the Pivot
  This season we also addressed career pivoting, as it’s a growing trend in the constantly shifting workforce, as well as a widespread phenomenon as a result of COVID-19. A common theme among guests’ advice was to create the plan for where you want to go, and then go slowly, testing and learning along the way.

• Jenny Blake’s episode taught us to redirect our energy to find opportunities and make moves to advance our careers. She has a 4-Part Pivot Method to help you create traction to move your career in the direction you want. That involves a pilot, a test run that isn’t perfect, but at least it's a starting point: “With piloting, a good pilot is really a small experiment. And when I say go for quantity, go for quantity in terms of brainstorming. So, based on the plant and scan stages, first, brainstorm as many next steps as you can and then, narrow it down to one or two that you can try first. So, a good pilot will help you understand three E’s. Do I enjoy this area? Can I become an expert at it? And is there room to expand?”

• Building Your Personal Brand and Your Career Mashup
  For those who are at the verge of starting something new or looking to level up in their careers, guests also offered a wealth of advice for building your personal brand and career:

  • David Knies urged listeners to think of yourself as a product and build your personal brand strategy as you would a product marketing strategy: “It's really understanding how to view yourself as a product and what you offer as a service and how to best position that in the market to leverage your own unique strengths or superpowers, or understand your own weaknesses and your own kryptonite.”

  • Joshua Lisec embodied this strategy and then some. He understood his own superpowers and then experimented with applying them to different tasks in different environments, ultimately carving out his own niche and building his career mashup: “You throw stuff at the wall, see what works the best, and then just keep doing that, and then trying, and trying, and trying.”

  • And Dr. Annette Grotheer inspired us with the story of her own career journey that led to her unique mashup as a doctor, entrepreneur, and community philanthropist. She told those looking to create their own career mashups to think of ways to leverage pre-existing systems that capitalize on prior interests, hobbies, or activities to get started. 

• Finding the Human Element in a Virtual World
  Annette also asserted that, while acquiring new skills is critical to career progression, it is the important relationships that you will develop along the way that will get you where you need to go. Building relationships was also a key theme this season, as many of us are struggling to maintain and start relationships in the virtual COVID world. Michael Wilkinson, Chris Krimitsos, Jon Krinn and Marc Angelos all stressed the importance of relationship management:

  • Marc reminded everyone that exchanging value and researching the person before you meet them is critical to building rapport: “The thing about value is you don't get to pick what's value...People have what's valuable to them. And it's your job to know what it is. If I want to connect with you, I need to know I do my research...If I'm bringing you value or something that you might think is valuable, that's going to build a relationship.”

  • He also suggested that, if you feel nervous about meeting someone virtually for the first time, just be honest and transparent; tell them that you're feeling nervous or uncomfortable to break the ice.

Alan’s Career Advice

• It's very important to recognize that emotion does play a part in your career and in your life. Focus on the human elements in this broader picture of career success.

• Always keep looking for ways to learn and to try new things. You constantly have to be on the lookout for ways to improve and make yourself more marketable.

Alexis’s Career Advice

• Follow the Pareto Principle to prioritize and simplify your life. Invest most of your time and effort in those few things, people and places that bring you the most joy and make you feel the most fulfilled and productive.

• Think about building your career like a business and developing your own product marketing strategy. If you know where you want to go in life, now is the time to start planning backwards and thinking about what steps you need to take today to work your way to your ultimate goal.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

If you’re on our mailing list, you’ll have already heard about Building the Business of You. This is a brand new work trends and career advice book Connie has been writing that offers so much more than the typical job search and networking tips. It’s a system for aligning your passion and growth potential so you can create your career mashup —because a dream job is no longer something you get; it’s something you create. And Building the Business of You provides all the practical tools you need for yours. 

We’ve also been working on a 6-week intensive course to teach the process of Building the Business of You. By the end of the program, you will not only have developed a clear vision for where you want to go, but also a strategic plan along with the skills, mindset, and network of people to get you there. The book is set to release in early 2021 and the course will follow soon after; but you’ll hear plenty more from Connie in the coming weeks with details on where to get them.

Resources:

• Connect with Connie: Email | LinkedIn

• Connect with Alexis: Email | LinkedIn

• Connect with Alan: Email | LinkedIn 

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