đĄ The Career Cost of Staying Quiet (Issue 647)
Stop being so shy! You've gotta be brave and engage
âI was nervous about reaching out to you.â
Kudos to the young designer who recently scheduled a free call with me. They had listened to my podcast conversation with Bob Baxley and decided to talk with me about their career goals (and worries about the future).
Like many, they wondered if their job was at risk now that more companies had stopped hiring people for more junior roles and claimed senior employees could handle that work using AI tools. They didn't know where to focus to stay relevant, get noticed, show value, and land a better job.
The market is tough right now. Many people are struggling to get hired. It's hard to stand out when hundreds or even thousands of people apply for the same few open positions.
However, Iâll continue beating this drum for the rest of my life: Itâs all about relationships.
Once youâve moved beyond the baseline of acquiring enough skills, knowledge, and experience to do your job well, the best opportunities will result from engaging with your network and expanding your network.
The problem is, many people are reluctant to do what it takes to get noticed online and IRL.
They donât know what to say.
Self-promotion feels icky.
Networking is stressful.
They don't want to look stupid.
They think others are too high and mighty to engage with them.
Let me tell you something: if youâre a reasonably smart person who knows how to communicate in kind and valuable ways, you have nothing to lose!
The most successful people want to see you succeed, too.
The good people will applaud your bravery and confidence.
Nice people like to help other nice people.
The only ones who might be a problem for you are the people who don't matter, anyway. The ones who might react negatively and try to tear you down are the people who are the least successful, the most miserable, and the least happy with their lives. Just ignore them, block them, and move on.
I asked this person a question:
âWould you purchase a product you had never heard of, never seen on a store shelf, and had never been mentioned by your friends?â
How could you? Even if that product is amazing, how would you even know to purchase it if you didn't know it existed at all?
We are the same. The work we do is the âproductâ we sell to employers, clients, and customers. They canât buy us if theyâve never heard of us. And good luck standing out if you dump your product in the pile of hundreds of other products with a cold job application.
If you want opportunities to come your way, people need to know who you are. You need a more powerful and extensive network looking out for you. That wonât happen if you stay on the shy sidelines. You gotta get in the game!
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Engage
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Reach out
Continuously expand your network to make it bigger, more powerful, and more relevant for your career goals.
Would you like to brainstorm some ideas with me? You can schedule a complimentary call. Donât be shy!
Iâm Larry Cornett, an executive coach who works with ambitious professionals to help them reclaim their power, become more invincible, and create better opportunities for their work and lives. Do more of what you love and less of what you hate! đ Check out The Invincible Daily Journals!
