"Try harder" Isn't a Strategy (Think Like a CEO instead) | #161

If you were the CEO of a company, and that company was underperforming, would you just

try harder, or would you zoom out and look at the data, assess the strategy, and decide

what needs to change?

See you are the CEO of a company of one.

Where do you want to be in five years, in ten?

And what career and what job will facilitate that life, that career, and that trajectory?

What role today sets that in motion?

See today we are going to talk about what it really means to make a high leverage decision

in your career.

Not one that is reactive, not one that is focusing on the fields and the emotion of the ups and

downs of the job search, but a strategic decision.

Because you are your best asset, and how you invest in yourself determines everything.

Hey there, this is the Uncommon Career Podcast, here with you every single week to help

you stop tweaking that resume to death, and instead get callbacks, momentum, and a pretty

sweet offer.

I'm here to remind you that strategic action always beats scattered action.

My name is Patricia Ortega, I am your brand strategist and career coach, and your guide

for all things career.

Now listen, if this is the first time that you are joining us, or if you've been here

for some time, but you and I are not connected on LinkedIn, let's make it official.

Reach out to me on LinkedIn, you can click the link in the description, or just search

for a PM or Tega, those are my initials and my last name.

And when you reach out to me, I'll get you connected with the best resource for the

stage you're at right now.

Again, head over to LinkedIn, that's PM or Tega.

Okay, so now, let's get started with today's topic, shall we?

Think of yourself as a CEO of a company of one, and you are deciding where your company

needs to go, where you need to be in the next five or 10 years.

Your most strategic decision has to do with vision, with direction, but also with figuring

out what your gaps are.

It's kind of like a SWAT analysis.

You may have heard of a SWAT analysis where you've got strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,

and threats.

And you want to look really high level and say, okay, what are the opportunities that

I'm not yet leveraging as well as I could be?

What are the threats that are coming against me that I need to neutralize or eliminate

altogether?

What are these strengths I have?

And what are the weaknesses that I need to watch out for or work on?

All of this is deep work.

And so when we look on whether it's social media or my favorite place is YouTube, I'll

always look on YouTube first, but guess what, those are all surface level because the

real deep work is so specific to you and your context and your experience and your situation

and your level and your function, et cetera.

It's so specific to you that this is where that deep work just can't happen over a one-way

form of communication.

And so this is where you want to remember, I am my best asset.

Where do I want to invest?

For some women, that's career, but for some women, that's in their health.

I don't know about you, but I've had situations where I'm like, man, if I could just

get my health in order.

You know, I have, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism.

So there came a time in my life where I was like, yeah, I can't do this alone.

There's so much research to be done.

I need to know what's healthy for me, what's not healthy, what to test, what to take, what

to do.

I didn't realize that running a half marathon was actually detrimental for my health.

And that decision of getting expert guidance changed everything.

And so think about your life right now.

You are CEO, not just over your career, but over your whole life.

What in your life needs to change?

Or what in your life needs to be accelerated?

Again, maybe that's getting hired.

You're like, I need a job ASAP, but I also want a really good offer.

Or maybe it's your health and fitness and you're thinking, that's it.

I'm getting a trainer.

We have decided today.

Either way, just know you are your best asset.

Or also the decision maker over your career.

And the interesting thing is that when I meet a woman on our console calls, we're working

towards the offer, of course, but at the end of everything, when we do a case study call

or a testimonial and recap their wins, we realize that there's always something bigger

underneath.

And that bigger thing, for example, I'm going to tell you three things that continually

come up at the end of our time working together.

And top three things that come up that are sort of somehow connected, right, intertwined

because life and career, they're kind of on the same lane, right?

You can't really create a life if your career is an alignment with it.

And if your career, whether it's salary or schedule, isn't facilitating the life you

want.

And you spend so much of your life at your career that they're just intertwined.

Anyway, the top three things I hear that seem to be intertwined with that career success

piece is number one, life hits.

Life got busy.

I've got complicated.

Next thing I know, I look up and I realize half my life is gone.

And I'm like, what do I really want to do moving forward?

What do I really want my life to look like in five or 10 years?

The second thing is unfortunate.

I've heard this multiple times.

I used to be this really confident person.

But then the last place I worked at was really toxic.

And it drilled that confidence out of me.

And I want to come back to myself.

So I want to come back to that joyful, bubbly, competent, assertive person.

And I think that understanding my value, sharing it confidently and having that strategic

layer of support is going to really help me own that as I move through this phase.

And the last one, it's kind of going along with like life hits.

But there's a loss in the family or a health situation or I just went through a divorce.

It really took a life out of me.

And again, the same sentence gets coming over.

I want to find my way back to myself, right?

So so know that the offer is huge.

Sometimes it's a life changing and there's not doesn't need to be anything wrong for you

to want a great offer.

But sometimes there's like something else attached to it.

You show up differently at the end of this.

Your voice is clearer, more decisive, more persuasive when you need it most.

When you're talking to leaders, when you're, I don't know, in a boardroom or giving

a presentation, a proposal, a pitch, or my absolute favorite, I've heard multiple times

now.

And I just love hearing this when a mom says, I didn't realize how much I had shifted my

communication until my little boy or my little girl said, Mom, you're different.

You seem happy now.

I literally heard that.

I thought it was the absolute best.

This is about your job, yes, your career, yes, but even broader, it's about life.

Because when you have a job that sucks the life out of you, let's be real, it's really

hard to have to bring that home.

And so our goal is to first tackle the career piece, but inevitably because life and career

are intertwined and because that's how coaching works, we seem to tackle multiple pieces

at once.

And it's a really beautiful thing that happens.

So right now, you don't need another 20 point checklist or another YouTube rabbit hole

to go down into.

You just need to get clear on the strategic way forward that's best for you.

Because I've learned that when women like us make high leverage decisions, it doesn't

just change the offer, it's not just a job.

It changes how you show up, it changes your voice, it changes how you walk into rooms

and sometimes it even changes the way your kids see you.

And so if you are at that crossroads and you want to look behind the door and see what

you're getting yourself into, that is exactly what this intensive is for.

It's not complete execution support and to end like our full program.

This is strategic clarity to help you decide if you are on the right track and give you

that confidence to move forward, or if maybe you do want to consider full execution support.

You can learn more about it at the uncommoncareer.com slash intensive.

But whether you decide to move forward on your own or to tag an expert in to accelerate

your process, just remember you are never stuck.

You're actually your number one asset and you get to lead and choose where you go.

Until we see each other next week, Denise and I are praying for you for cheering you on

and we'll see you on the next one.

Hey, thanks for listening.

I really appreciate you spending time with me today.

If you found this episode helpful, please tap the five star review on the show's homepage

in your podcast app.

It would absolutely make my day and it helps others discover the uncommoncareer podcast.

Now to download your free career resources and learn how I help season professionals

land amazing offers in as little as 90 days, click on the link in the description or go

to the uncommoncareer.com.

Thanks again and I'll see you on the next one.