Permission granted to include in our blog by Judy Feld, Director of Training, Executive and Professional Coaching Program; 6-20-08.

Recession-Proof Your Coaching Career

by Helen Harkness, Ph.D

During my three decades as a career coach in Dallas – helping adults replace the conventional personality Type A or Type B with the Type CC (the Career Change Catalyst) – I have experienced an infinite number of “dark nights” of recession similar to our current one. I have survived and thrived despite crisis changes and the rise and collapse of countless industries, including my original profession, teaching. In the mid-70s, Ph.D.’s were driving buses and painting houses. My reality was that a Ph.D. and a dime could get a cup of coffee. Consider the major industries in Dallas that have “boomed and busted:” oil, finance and banking, real estate, telecom corridor and dot coms. As residential real estate faces new challenges, all businesses face threats from international competition.

For me, the most important factors for recession proofing my coaching career have been developing and maintaining the following Type CC characteristics:

Commitment and courage.

Realizing freely and deeply my career and mission, I gain consistent meaning and persistent purpose by my ability to tolerate uncertainty and through the courage to maintain consistent integrity.

Competency.

By being the best in my work by staying on a consistent learning curve, I achieve and maintain the highest level of ability and knowledge of my clients’ needs in difficult times.

Creativity and curiosity.

Developing and using intuition, foresight and inventiveness, I synthesize and seek out the unknown to introduce alternatives and possibilities to help myself and my clients grow and change.

Confidence and compassion.

Self-assuredly, I capitalize successfully on change, chaos and uncertainty, yet consistently focus on the needs of the individual.

I attract clients by:

Teaching courses at universities and community colleges;

Maintaining membership in the National Speakers Association, and speaking at professional meetings, conventions and organizations;

Providing Pathfinder career workshops that are open to the public and regularly feature successful clients and other professionals; and

Using web sites like YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook to create additional awareness among new clients.

I am an active member and speaker for the newly formed Dallas Bar Collaborative Law Association. “Recareering” lawyers seeking career options – and their women clients in divorce transition – represent 35% of my client base. I also present, write and coordinate the free career sessions for the World Future Society Annual Meetings.

Finally, I am moving out of my comfort zone, despite my reluctance and technology aversion, to join my 20-something granddaughters in this brave new world.

Helen Harkness, Ph.D., a pioneer in the development and implementation of career management programs, founded Career Design Associates, Inc. (CDA) in 1978 after a career as a college professor and administrator. She has provided career change direction to over 10,000 individuals and worked towards improving retention for numerous organizations through her career enhancement programs. A futurist, consultant, researcher and speaker, she has authored four books, Best Jobs for the Future (1995); The Career Chase: Taking Creative Control in a Chaotic Age (1997); and Don’t Stop the Career Clock: Rejecting the Myths of Aging for a New Way to Work in the 21st Century (1999); and Capitalizing on Career Chaos (2005). The consistent theme in her work is “Freedom is Knowing Your Options.” Visit www.career-design.com for more information.

Posted by Meggin | 6/20/08