When is the Last Time you Examined your Backswing? It may be the Secret to Moving Forward in your Career and Life
Posted: 12.07.2015
“To set things in motion, to move from one thing to another, you need to go backwards,” says Norman Amundson, professor of counselling psychology at the University of British Columbia. “Whether it’s a tennis racket or broom or hammer, you’re using a backswing to move things forward.”
One effective career management practice is to explore your career and life story and take a look back before moving forward. From your stories you can gather and organize what you want in your career and life, what’s important now, and the strengths you want to use. This narrative process is the backswing. It’s like what you do with a hammer before you take a good hard swing, before hitting the nail squarely on the head, and driving it home. A career backswing reminds us of who we are, and helps us discover hidden future possibilities. This backswing followed by a process of “intentional exploration,” which is the “follow through,” together make for an effective career management practice.
CLIENT’S PERSPECTIVE ON THE BACKSWING
“The backswing metaphor makes total sense to me,” says Charlotte, a recent client of ours. “It made sense for me to step back and see what decisions I made in the past--to see what I’ve cared about all along.” When she first came to see us, Charlotte, 33, was working as an advertising account manager in the health and beauty sector. She had been back in the workforce for two years after a year of maternity leave, but found herself dissatisfied. “I’m not going to save the world one bra at a time,” Charlotte says, referring to the work she did on the Wonderbra account. The goal with Charlotte and other clients is to come up with the two essential building blocks of one’s individualized backswing: a reliable and complete snapshot of who you are today, and a list of future possibilities you’re most curious about.
CLARIFICATION COMES FROM THE STEP BACK
In our practice we encourage clients to draw a timeline of their lives, highlighting what they liked and learned in each ‘chapter’ of their story. “Walking through my story gave me the freedom to see that anything was possible,” says Charlotte. “Because I was so deeply into my advertising career, with seven years experience, I couldn’t see how I could make a good change. I didn’t realize that skills transfer into other places.” Encouraged to ask for feedback as part of her backswing, Charlotte approached a few trusted allies--acquaintances, co-workers and friends. “The feedback reminded me about what I like and took me out of the negative place I was in. It reminded of what I liked about what I was doing. It made me feel great hearing what others said about me, and knowing there were interesting options. Going through a list of skills, looking at past jobs, things I did in college, I realized I had gathered skills in all my experiences, not just my job.” Her experience demonstrates that skills and knowledge you use in the future may come from earlier chapters of your life.
THE FOLLOW THROUGH: HITTING THE NAIL ON THE HEAD
Once we gathered and organized relevant data from her story Charlotte drafted her “Career Statement.” This is a brief statement highlighting six key areas covered in the backswing process: desires, strengths, personal qualities, assets, influences of other people, and possibilities you’re curious about. [See sidebar.] For Charlotte, after years of working on advertising accounts for corporate clients, part of her Career Statement included: “What’s important to me is doing good and giving back.”
Following a suggestion from her mother, Charlotte spoke with an acquaintance who worked at a marketing and fundraising company. Their tagline, “marketing for a better world,” means they work exclusively with non-profit clients. Talking to the acquaintance was “extending the backswing using leverage like the plastic ball-throwers that dog owners use,” says Amundson. “Networking is the analog. By having other people out there searching for you, you’re getting a broader sweep.”
Charlotte felt excited and inspired about taking action and after reaching out to her contact at the company she was offered a job interview. Several days later, the newly confident Charlotte received a job offer from the company, which she happily accepted.
The effectiveness of Charlotte’s reflective backswing was in the rekindled energy, good feelings and positive mindset that flowed from the fun and engaging process of telling her story. This made the follow-through easier, and almost effortless, compared to the dread so many people attach to traditional job searches. Charlotte said the process “opened my eyes to options.”
How does Charlotte feel about leaving the old company and joining a new one, more aligned with what’s important to her? “I’m really excited. Leaving my old company was bittersweet. They gave me a really nice sendoff. But it wasn’t working for me -- I’d lost my passion for it. I wanted to do something that gave back, and would be more fulfilling. Now I am.”
Mark Franklin, M.Ed.,CMF is practice leader of CareerCycles.com, host of Career Buzz radio show on CIUT, and creator of the Who You Are MATTERS! Career and life clarification game. Â Jill Kirson, EdS, MA, is a career professional and an Associate with CareerCyles . Visit www.careercycles.com and play the 60-second Career Happiness Island game.
One effective career management practice is to explore your career and life story and take a look back before moving forward. From your stories you can gather and organize what you want in your career and life, what’s important now, and the strengths you want to use. This narrative process is the backswing. It’s like what you do with a hammer before you take a good hard swing, before hitting the nail squarely on the head, and driving it home. A career backswing reminds us of who we are, and helps us discover hidden future possibilities. This backswing followed by a process of “intentional exploration,” which is the “follow through,” together make for an effective career management practice.
CLIENT’S PERSPECTIVE ON THE BACKSWING
“The backswing metaphor makes total sense to me,” says Charlotte, a recent client of ours. “It made sense for me to step back and see what decisions I made in the past--to see what I’ve cared about all along.” When she first came to see us, Charlotte, 33, was working as an advertising account manager in the health and beauty sector. She had been back in the workforce for two years after a year of maternity leave, but found herself dissatisfied. “I’m not going to save the world one bra at a time,” Charlotte says, referring to the work she did on the Wonderbra account. The goal with Charlotte and other clients is to come up with the two essential building blocks of one’s individualized backswing: a reliable and complete snapshot of who you are today, and a list of future possibilities you’re most curious about.
CLARIFICATION COMES FROM THE STEP BACK
In our practice we encourage clients to draw a timeline of their lives, highlighting what they liked and learned in each ‘chapter’ of their story. “Walking through my story gave me the freedom to see that anything was possible,” says Charlotte. “Because I was so deeply into my advertising career, with seven years experience, I couldn’t see how I could make a good change. I didn’t realize that skills transfer into other places.” Encouraged to ask for feedback as part of her backswing, Charlotte approached a few trusted allies--acquaintances, co-workers and friends. “The feedback reminded me about what I like and took me out of the negative place I was in. It reminded of what I liked about what I was doing. It made me feel great hearing what others said about me, and knowing there were interesting options. Going through a list of skills, looking at past jobs, things I did in college, I realized I had gathered skills in all my experiences, not just my job.” Her experience demonstrates that skills and knowledge you use in the future may come from earlier chapters of your life.
THE FOLLOW THROUGH: HITTING THE NAIL ON THE HEAD
Once we gathered and organized relevant data from her story Charlotte drafted her “Career Statement.” This is a brief statement highlighting six key areas covered in the backswing process: desires, strengths, personal qualities, assets, influences of other people, and possibilities you’re curious about. [See sidebar.] For Charlotte, after years of working on advertising accounts for corporate clients, part of her Career Statement included: “What’s important to me is doing good and giving back.”
Following a suggestion from her mother, Charlotte spoke with an acquaintance who worked at a marketing and fundraising company. Their tagline, “marketing for a better world,” means they work exclusively with non-profit clients. Talking to the acquaintance was “extending the backswing using leverage like the plastic ball-throwers that dog owners use,” says Amundson. “Networking is the analog. By having other people out there searching for you, you’re getting a broader sweep.”
Charlotte felt excited and inspired about taking action and after reaching out to her contact at the company she was offered a job interview. Several days later, the newly confident Charlotte received a job offer from the company, which she happily accepted.
The effectiveness of Charlotte’s reflective backswing was in the rekindled energy, good feelings and positive mindset that flowed from the fun and engaging process of telling her story. This made the follow-through easier, and almost effortless, compared to the dread so many people attach to traditional job searches. Charlotte said the process “opened my eyes to options.”
How does Charlotte feel about leaving the old company and joining a new one, more aligned with what’s important to her? “I’m really excited. Leaving my old company was bittersweet. They gave me a really nice sendoff. But it wasn’t working for me -- I’d lost my passion for it. I wanted to do something that gave back, and would be more fulfilling. Now I am.”
Mark Franklin, M.Ed.,CMF is practice leader of CareerCycles.com, host of Career Buzz radio show on CIUT, and creator of the Who You Are MATTERS! Career and life clarification game. Â Jill Kirson, EdS, MA, is a career professional and an Associate with CareerCyles . Visit www.careercycles.com and play the 60-second Career Happiness Island game.
