Want to see the way ahead in a crisis? Look backwards.

As many as 70% of us are considering changing some part of our life or career as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. You may have been furloughed or made redundant, and need to know what to do next.  If that’s you, maybe you should look backwards before you look ahead.

 Last year I was hired to run a presentation class for a group of mature students who were going through a midlife career change. Some had been made redundant, some had given up jobs they hated, and some were trying to get back into work after raising families. I was there to help them pitch their new career direction to a potential employer or investor. 

On Day 1, we ran through some basics for how to prepare a pitch. I assumed they all knew WHAT they wanted to do with their future career, and I was there to show them HOW to turn that into a pitch. Then, in the first coffee break, one woman came up to me and said “I get what you’re saying, it all makes sense… but I don’t actually know what I want to do next.” The woman beside her nodded in agreement. As the day went on, more students admitted the same.

On Day 2, I asked the entire class “how many of you actually know what career change you want to pitch?” Only half raised their hands. Ah, right, I thought. This isn’t going to work.

 I scraped my teaching plan and ran a series of rapid mini-consultations. I began to tease out some common themes. I thought about my own mid-career switch (I left a 23 year career at the BBC to become a storytelling consultant). I grouped the ideas together and came up with a set of questions each student could ask him or herself about the previous chapters in their career, questions that might point the way to the next chapter. 

 That night, I sketched out those questions and recorded this video post for LinkedIn: 

 Here’s what’s interesting: a normal post gets 4-500 views, this one got nearly 5,000. 

 It’s almost certain that your future successes will be built on what you’ve done in the past. If it worked or if it failed, if you loved it or if you hated it, chances are it shaped you. 

 If you’re not sure what to do next, the best way forward is to look behind you. 

Join me on Thursday 16th July at 1.15pm to talk about The Benefits of Storytelling, with Co host Nicole Mapleson and Gary Wills from the Furlearn Group.