The Myth of Futureproofing ANYTHING

The term Future proof is being used a lot over the past few years, and continues today.  You find it in advertisements for a number of products, like learning (Future Proof Your Job), career (enroll for this course to future proof your career), family and relationships (buy this product to future proof this relationship). Given my reading and experience, I wondered if any form of future-proofing would be possible in reality.  Here are some definitions of the term "future proof" that I checked from the net to see if my understanding matched (it did).

Future proof is a term used to describe a product, service, or business that is designed or structured to withstand the challenges of the future. www.bluestonepim.com

to design software, a computer, etc. so that it can still be used in the future, even when technology changes - Cambridge Dictionary

If you future-proof something, you design or change it so that it will continue to be useful or successful in the future if the situation changes - Collins Dictionary

As you can see, the definitions talk about the ability of something to stay relevant and useful even when surrounding circumstances change in the future.  

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The reality is that knowing what is in the future is one thing, but knowing what the future means is an entirely different matter.

Considering that the number of events that have occurred in the world over the past 8 years (like the lockdowns) were mostly unpredictable, the results of those events could not have been visualized or understood immediately.  What we know is that very little of what we have known for sure in the past has remain unchanged.  Even without the explosion of AI tools, the requirement for people to adapt has greatly increased in the past 30 years.  

The impact of AI tools is still taking place, in ways we haven't understood or imagined yet - for eg. the impact of AI systems on the planet's environment is not talked about as much as it could be.  The current war in the middle east and other domestic and international policies provide zero indication of things stabilizing, and while adaptability is once more a key skill for humans,  in reality, what are the chances of really futureproofing anything?

What can you do?

• Develop awareness of yourself i.e. strengths, weaknesses, and so on.  I've given more details in this video here - https://youtu.be/9etu02AtSJA. 
• Upgrade yourself. Keep learning things that you could possibly turn into a career and make money.
• Study trends - political and market. Review the recent past, keep an eye on current trends and attempt to discern which way the wind seems to be blowing.
• Get a mentor or coach - It always helps to have someone to talk to about such things.  If there's someone in the family who you trust and look up to for advice, then please do that, or else put aside funds to engage a professional (like me).
• Build your network - become known in the industry you work or want to work.  Essentially, it means be polite to everyone you meet, without evaluating how someone may be able to help you.
• Do your own due diligence - Beware of tall claims, should you wish to opt for one of the offers of future proofing, and take the time to understand what contingencies they have planned for, what costs are involved, including time (you definitely can't get your time back), do reference checks on your own, be clear about the benefits that are being promised.  Some of these offers may actually suit your needs, especially if they're being open and honest with you.

Finally - don't believe all the ads you see about future proofing your job, career, business, industry.  Nobody really knows the future either. 

Don't resign - Reassign: Crafting your Job

 https://www.iedp.com/articles/dont-resign-reassign/

As a career coach, I get enquiries from prospects and clients about how to find meaning in work.  I coach them to design their work so that they are working with their strengths instead of their weaknesses.

Wonderful article on how to craft your #job to suit your #strengths - this is something that I coach my clients on. A sure way to increase your #jobsatisfaction in your #career.

Read this article here.

Three Key Competencies to Showcase When you apply for a Leadership Role

Well, actually - Four Competencies!.

But let's turn back the clock a bit.

You feel you are read for a Manager's position or a Leadership role (internally or externally) and want to apply?  

Why? Because you have the work experience and have ambitious growth plans. You feel you get along well with people, including your colleagues.

Great! You have some clarity about where you want to go career-wise. 

But what happens is that you apply many times internally or at different organizations, but don't get through.  You have no idea what you are doing wrong since there's no real feedback for you to work on.

Based on my HR experience in the corporate world and having coached clients who are applying for senior roles, here are my thoughts that may help you understand where the mismatch might be.

When applying for a Leadership position, whether in your own organization or in another organization, here are the key competencies / abilities that you have to showcase in your cover letter, resume and interview:

Finance - Particularly, how the business makes money and awareness of the critical cost areas beyond your department.

Why this is important? - As a leader, you will be in charge of a finite budget (size doesn't matter). Your strategic utilizaiton / consumption of this budget will impact EDBITA, as well as meet your goals. It's an opportunity to showcase application of your knowledge of finance.

Marketing - This includes understanding the product / service, customer and how the product / service is marketed and sold (based on your industry, this could include how the product is made).  This means that your industry knowledge should be as upto date as possible.

Why this is important? - Customers come to our organization because of the products / services being offered. As a leader, your work directly or indirectly impacts this.  So showing your understanding of how this works will be a major plus for your candidature.  After all, the business survives and thrives because of the spending habits of it's customers.

Human Resources - This means showcase how you manage people, groom them for higher roles and lead the team to deliver value consistently. If you are able to also inspire people, that is a bonus.

Why this is important? In today's world, one person cannot do it all, but a team can (conditions apply of course, and a lot of those conditions depend on the leader).  This means knowing in clear detail the capability of your current team members, and the skills necessary to hire (so that you can leverage these) in your future team.

Now, suppose you have specialized expertise in one of these areas and think that it is enough to move to a leadership position (especially in today's times), then I can say that leadership roles will not suit you as you will be an incomplete candidate for the role.  You will find yourself getting skewed while executing your duties, leading to an imbalance in execution.

You don't need to know everything in great detail, but you must know more than the basics.

What's The Fourth Competency - you must have sufficient expertise in your own functional area, and consistently deliver value to the organization.  

What does 'sufficient' mean, you wonder?  It means you know enough about the job to train new team members effectively, hire and groom a new employee with little work experience into understanding and delivering the requirements of his / her role within three to six months.  Additionally it means you can manage the ambiguities of the role you are currently handling.

When you present yourself as someone who is familiar with all these areas, then you become a strong contender to take on the critical role of managing, developing and perhaps leading people.

Now that you know this - what next?

As a candidate applying for leadership positions, prepare your responses to questions in these areas, as well as other aspects of the job. Take same time to understand how these tasks are aligned with your strengths. The reality is that not all of them will be aligned to your strengths.  In which case, please explain that you would manage those out of alignment areas (i.e. possible weaknesses) by collaborating with your colleagues, and that you are a  great team player by lending your strengths to complement their weaknesses.  Integrity, of course, is non-negotiable. 

If you need help to prepare for your interview, get in touch with me at +919820155778 or write to me at ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com for a discussion.  

As an organization looking to hire for leader / team manager roles, please ensure that you evaluate the candidate on these criteria in particular, amongst others that are important to the organization's growth and culture. Integrity is non-negotiable. Use psychometric, behavioural interviews, special assignments or assessment centers to evaluate candidates.

Should you wish to enhance your existing hiring process, contact me for a discussion on how my BEI Workshop "The Selection Discussion" can be effective in improving the quality of people hired for your organization.

Conversations that Leaders must have with their people

Here's an indepth read about the #conversations that #leaders need to have with their people.

From the article - "three key conversations for leaders will be : career conversations, performance conversations and engagement conversations."

Some of the questions mentioned in the article can definitely be used to build a #strengthsbased organization.

Read the full article here.