Be Prepared! Time to Take Action...NOW!

Proactive career planning and career management are key career success elements, but even our best laid plans can get side-tracked if we don't keep our eyes on the horizon and be prepared for unexpected changes and detours in our career path.

As an executive career coach for the past 15 years, I have noted 12 common career situations that present themselves to us at both expected and unexpected times in our career. You will likely recognize all of these and have probably experienced many in your own work life. Learning how to effectively deal with these common career situations is absolutely critical to optimizing your career success.

How many of these have you personally experienced?

Are any of these looming on the horizon for you?

12 Common Career Situations That You MUST Be Prepared for:

• Unexpected Job Loss - What Do I Now? What's Next? Where Do I Start?

• I've Got a New Boss - How Can I Tee Myself Up for Success with Her?

• I've Just Begun a New Job - The 90 Day "Probation" Period Challenge is Upon Me.

• I'd Like to Post for a Great-Looking Internal Position - How to I Rise to the Top of the List? What Can I Begin Doing RIGHT NOW to Improve My Chances?

• I'm Thinking About Leaving the "Corporate World" and "Going Solo" - Should I? Can I? How Do I Decide? What Should I Do First?

• I Was Just Passed Over for a Promotion! - Why Did This Happen? What Can I Begin Doing RIGHT NOW to "Pass the Test" Next Time? Who Do I Need to Have a Stronger Relationship With?

• I'm 90 Days Out from My Annual Review - What Can I Begin Doing RIGHT NOW to Ensure I Receive the Highest Marks? Is it Too Late? (No!!) How Have I Added Value This Past Year?

• I'm Ready to be Promoted - How Can I Maximize My Chances? There's a Promotion Opportunity on the Horizon That is PERFECT for ME!

• I'm Ready for a Job/Career Change - What Do I Do Next? Should I Leave or Should I Stay? How Do I Decide? What Do I Do About It? First Steps?

• My Job Search is Stagnated. I Can't Seem to Get ANY Traction - How Can I Re-establish Momentum? How Can I Generate Some Viable Opportunities?

• My Weak Areas Are DEFINITELY Holding Me Back. I've Tried to Improve But I'm Not Making Progress. What Do I Do?

• I'm Assembling a New Team...Or I'm Teaming Up with a Business Partner - How Do I Ensure the Success and Sustainability of the Team?

So...What do you do about these? Any of these sound familiar?

If you haven't run into many of these...Listen Carefully...you DEFINITELY will! Consider the following ideas to help you effectively deal with these situations when they present themselves:

• Find a Mentor or Mentors. Find someone who HAS experienced the circumstance that you're experiencing -- someone you trust and someone you can confidentially speak with. Ask your friends; ask your family members; ask your other trust advisors if they know of anyone. Talk to the mentor(s) about exactly what they did. Have them walk you through their thought process and action plan. What did they do right? What do they WISH they had done? What should the have NOT done that they did? Listen, take notes and formulate your own plan.

• "School Up" On It. Read about it! Because these circumstances ARE common, there is already LOTS of material out there that talk about it -- Books, magazine articles, blog articles -- believe me....it's out there. Dig in and locate some resources. Read, learn, take notes and APPLY what you learn.

• Approach It Like You Would an Important Client/Work Project. Formulate a realistic and achievable action plan -- write it down; get granular with it; flesh out the details. Set SMART goals and milestones; find an accountability partner (a friend, your spouse, etc.) to help hold you to task. Plan...and take action!

• Approach an Experienced Career Coach. Find an expert in the field, someone you have good chemistry with, someone who's been through these circumstances as an advisor to others. Have them help you map out a plan, have them teach you what you might not know, have them help hold you accountable to the plan, have them INSPIRE you to action.

• Do ALL of the Above! None of the above are necessarily mutually exclusive -- some combination of all of the above is probably the ideal solution. Remember...it's your career...it's ultimately up to you. Make it happen. Proactively plan and manage your career. Keep your eyes on the horizon and be ready to deal with these common career situations.