Only one professional career? No, at least two! – 2nd part
The role of coaching Luigi Rigolio’s article that I read recently “Starting from Peter Drucker: the second professional life of knowledge workers”. provided a cue for me to comment on the author’s thesis on the opportunity to start a second career in the human resources sector (e.g. coach, counsellor, mentor, trainer).
Rigolio argues:
A concrete opportunity: human sciences in business. It’s difficult to imagine a time where people will do without meeting one another (indeed there seem to be more and more meetings). As long as it’s necessary to motivate people, transmit messages to customers, convey theoretical and practical knowledge, communication between people will be essential. Computers will never replace humans in designing a strategy, selecting the right people for a job, resolving a complex problem or in a negotiation.
– Luigi Rigolio
It’s certainly true that if a person has a career as a manager - especially in a large multinational - they are likely to have been trained in so-called “soft” or transversal competencies and will have had to put these into practice with varying degrees of success. So a manager looking for a second career can convey, teach and train young people on “soft” competencies.
That’s his thesis and the following considerations are worth examining.
1. Scientific approach. “Human resources” as a professional sector is not for everyone, it’s not just idle chat as people from a more scientific background might think. Even in this sector you need to study, seek out authoritative sources and practice under the supervision of competent people.
2. Tending towards excellence. While professionals with a scientific background find it easy to earn trust and credibility, for people working in HR trust is something they need to gain all the time:
- By showing a scientific approach
- By constantly refreshing what they know
- Collecting feedback and suggestions
3. Capitalising on experience. It’ s not sufficient to have been a manager, you need to think about what you have learned and practiced on the subjects you want to teach and not just improvise. As you’ll need to go to the heart of the teachings you received and, if necessary, update this and adapt it to the context and the people you are working with at any one time. If you don’t know the origins of certain themes, you’re unlikely to be able to progress in a given field.
4. Be careful of employment conditions. All too often the people I have worked with in this process suggested by Rigolio are offered... nothing, i.e. they are offered a period of collaboration as an investment (for themselves). That’s not a good idea. You might choose to enter a market or work for a customer at a special rate but working for free is hardly ever a good idea.
5. Maintain your listening skills. A manager that has always been successful is rarely willing to listen. But this is one of the most important competencies for this type of profession. Not just for supporting an individual, but also for remaining up to speed with the requirements of the market and customers.
GoodGoing!
The professionals at GoodGoing! will help you develop an interesting second career that will be sustainable in the medium-term. Some of our professionals are also on their second career, while some others have experience supporting people in this very process.
Contact us for more information.
