Are you fed up of Job Search? Yes it can be frustrating when you are trying to find a new job and you just want it to come to an end and for someone to offer you are a job can’t it! Well I want you to be really FED up! But not in the way you might think and not that I am wishing you more weeks and months of job search. But I want to suggest that you look at your job search in perhaps a different way.
This morning I had a telephone conversation with Steve Radcliffe which came about purely by chance. For those of you who may not recognise the name he is the author of Leadership Plain and Simple which for me is probably the best book I have ever read on Leadership.
I had a job interview around lunchtime today with an organisation that has taken on board Steve Radcliffe’s Leadership model. I had therefore taken the opportunity to re-read his book to refresh my memory on some aspects of the approach. Having done so I dropped Steve a line thanking him for re-inspiring me about something I am passionate about as a Learning and Development Professional which is keeping things simple!
I was pleasantly surprised to get a message from him asking if I would like a discussion about his Leadership Model before my interview. Of course I was delighted to accept and we had a really excellent discussion. So what’s all this got to do with job search and being truly FED up?
Well, if you are not familiar with Steve’s Leadership Model it is Future, Engage, Deliver (FED) and is a model which can be applied to so many people at every level of an organisation but equally to individuals who are not “leading” anyone.
In summary the model is based around the idea that effective leaders need to do three things:
- Future – The Leader needs to have a clear vision that they can articulate about where the organisation is going. Or to put it another way they are “up to something” that they really care passionately about.
- Engage – The Leader needs to be able to engage others, bring them onboard and get them moving towards that future vision.
- Deliver – The Leader needs to be able to make things happen.
I love the simplicity of the model but equally the depth of insight it offers into the role of Leaders. If you want to explore it in a little more detail then I highly recommend getting yourself a copy of Leadership – Plain and Simple and like me you might find your views on leadership changing. Because as Steve shows leadership isn’t that complex!
During our conversation this morning Steve asked me how I was applying FED (Future, Engage, Deliver) right now. I didn’t really need to think about it because having been re-engaged with the concepts through reading the book again it is something I have been thinking about. As a Job Seeker I am “up to something” that I care passionately about. I have a clear understanding of the type of role I want to be doing and the type of organisation I want to work with. I am Engaging people through networking in many different ways, doing work on making relevant people aware of my personal brand and continuing to interact with people across social media. Then we come to “Deliver” and that of course is about ensuring that I am taking the actions required and getting others to take action for and with me to ensure that I can create the “Future” that I want.
I appreciate that at times it can seem a lonely, heartless task searching for a new job. However, if we think about it in terms of the leadership skills we can and are demonstrating it can make it a much more focused activity. Equally next time you are at an interview and you are asked when did you last demonstrate real leadership skills you can talk about your job search and you can also demonstrate your awareness of Future, Engage Deliver which makes leadership simple, understandable and effective.
As I said earlier I would highly recommend you getting hold of a copy of Leadership – Plain and Simple (UK) and if you are reading this in the US then you can get it here.