A career is a profession, occupation, trade, or vocation or what one does for a living. A career can also be the progress and actions that one has taken throughout one’s working years, the titles one has earned and accomplished over that time. A career can comprise of the different jobs that one has held in one or several companies, in the same field or career cluster. Whatever form a career takes many people work make a living and hope to find life’s meaning in their work. A good education does not promise a good career and the door to a good life. Many have been disappointed by this belief. There are five things that one should know about career planning.

I was first introduced to Agile just before I left IBM to join HSBC in 2006. I took no notice of it then because to it was IT way of justifying their existence and the cost of their production. Eighteen months ago, a client asked me what I thought about Agile as he was thinking to introduce to a company where he would be appointed as CEO. He wanted me to help him position Agile to bring the company to a new level of performance. Before I agreed to take on the assignment, I shared with him these five things about Agile.

In the past weeks, the issue of busyness came to my attention because every one of my 6 coachees is struggling with busyness. Busyness is about fighting against time. You may think that it is natural for everyone to struggle with time because there is always a need to want more time. It seems that there is so much to do and yet so little time. Unfortunately, the fact is that you cannot negotiate with time to have more time. Time just slips us. It was like yesterday that we celebrated perhaps one of the quietest Christmas and New Year of our lives. It was as if like yesterday that Covid-19 was declared a pandemic. And 2020 like many other years ended up with so many things left unfinished or yet to be started. Remember that whatever that you are dealing with you must deal with time.  5 things to remember when you deal with time.

A client asked me to propose a one day’s training on VUCA because the recent COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted their business. The company’s board  believes that the only way to deal with such shocks in the future is to embrace a mindset that could meet a business environment that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). In my view the business environment has always been characterized by VUCA and so what is so new about VUCA that business management tools have not addressed. There are five things about VUCA that I intend to bring their attention during the one-day training.

Many people are seeking coaching on how to be successful. In the past eighteen months, eighty percent of my client coaching conversations were around personal success. Everyone, from those born with silver spoons in their mouths to those without anything, is born with the need to succeed. Even those who encourage others that it is okay to fail, themselves do not wish to fail. And those who tell you that you cannot bring your successes to the grave also do not wish to be considered a failure. If you are struggling to succeed, consider these five things.