Page 112 - Talane Miedaner - Coach Yourself to a New Career_ 7 Steps to Reinventing Your Professional Life (2010)

100 COACH YOURSELF TO A NEW CAREER

else lead the way? Do you prefer to be the boss and give the orders,
or are you much more comfortable letting someone else set the
direction?
Are you a “single-tasker” and apt to do your best work when you
can focus on one project or element at a time? Or are you a mul-
titasker and inclined to be bored silly if
you don’t have a few projects going on
Don’t try to take on at once? Do you like a slow pace or a fast
a new personality; it pace? Do you need a variety of activities
doesn’t work. to keep you from nodding off, or does
having multiple demands just end up
—RICHARD M. NIXON overwhelming you, with the result that

you get nothing done?
These are just a few of the ques-
tions to consider when you’re defining the ideal career. It is no
good being an introvert and taking a sales job in which you are
expected to give presentations or entertain clients. You’ll sim-
ply end up being exhausted all the time and wishing you could
go home and read a good book. Likewise, if you are an extrovert,
you’ll find yourself moldering away in the back-office accounting
department crunching numbers when you really need and want
to be out talking and engaging with others. This point may sound
blatantly obvious, but if you don’t know yourself well, then it is
easy to make a mistake and accept a job that will have you miser-
able and exhausted in no time flat.
We can adapt to just about anything for a short period, but if
we are constantly in an environment that isn’t suited to our natural
style, we’ll soon be exhausted, and if we persist, the condition can
lead to sickness and disease. So, serious stuff not to be taken lightly!
I had one client, a journalist, who had been very happy in her
work until the company reconfigured the entire office space to
an open floor plan. No one had any privacy anymore, and the
noise level soared. The idea behind the redesign was to encour-
age sharing of ideas and brainstorming. This arrangement may be
stimulating for an extrovert, but it is sheer hell for an introvert.
She noticed that her work was suffering, and she couldn’t string