Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
John Neral (00:00):
Have you ever had
that pit in your stomach,
feeling walking into a meetingand wondering if your job might
be on the line?
I did, and I remember how awfulit felt.
All of a sudden, you're filledwith fear, anxiety, worry and
maybe even a little bit of shame, because who wants to lose
their job?
Job In this job market?
(00:27):
It is understandable if you arefeeling as though your job
whether you work for thegovernment, be it at the local,
state or federal level, anonprofit or a corporation is at
risk.
Well, by the end of thisepisode, I will give you three
practical strategies or tips tohelp you manage your career in
insecurity and how you can showup more confidently and more
(00:47):
assured that, whatever happens,you have the tools necessary to
keep building your mid-careerGPS.
Let's get started.
(01:10):
Hello, my friends, this is theMid-Career GPS Podcast and I'm
your host, John Neral.
I help mid-career professionalslike you find a career they
love, or love the one they have,using my proven four-step
formula.
Before we get into today'sepisode, do you know I have a
community?
We get into today's episode.
Do you know I have a community.
The Mid-Career GPS MembershipCommunity is your place to get
the support, guidance,information and coaching you
(01:34):
need to help you navigatewhatever is next for you and
your career in this job market.
I launched this community a fewmonths ago and it continues to
grow, and I'd love for you tolearn more about it and be a
part of it.
So to do so, all you need to dois go to my website,
johnnerrellcom, click on themembership tab at the top, and
(01:56):
there you'll learn all theinformation about the community
and how I can help you,including whether you want to
join by the month or by the year.
Visit johnneral.
com/membership for moreinformation.
Today's topic is all about whatis causing your career
insecurity and, as we start offthe second half of 2025, let's
(02:20):
acknowledge that this job markethas not been easy so far.
Maybe you got that quoteunquote fork in the road email.
Maybe your company has gonethrough some type of
organizational restructuring.
Maybe you're concerned aboutbeing laid off, or your company
is talking about budget cuts, ormaybe you're concerned that AI
(02:44):
may replace your role orredefine what skills you need to
be having.
You are not alone.
This is an understandableconcern for so many mid-career
professionals, and the fear orworry here is valid and, yes, it
is a sign of the times.
So often we can get caught inwhat's called anticipatory grief
(03:07):
.
It's mourning a loss thathasn't happened yet, and if
you're worried or concerned thatyou may be losing your job,
that anticipatory grief is real.
So how can you tell if your jobis actually at risk?
Well, here's the thing thatI've seen in my career.
(03:28):
I've seen it through the peopleI've worked with, friends of
mine who have gone through allof this.
There are red flags that startto show up, and immediately.
You may not be aware that thisis happening.
You may not be aware that thisis happening.
So, for example, you may beseeing a decrease in your
(03:49):
responsibilities or visibility.
Maybe, all of a sudden, you'requote unquote not that busy.
Maybe you're left out of theloop on key decisions or
meetings.
Maybe your boss has changedtheir behavior toward you.
Maybe they're not as friendlyor cordial or they're a little
short in their communication.
(04:09):
Maybe your work is coming underincreased scrutiny or
nitpicking.
Or maybe you're hearing aboutbudget cuts or you are seeing
leadership leave yourorganization.
If any or all of these thingsare happening to you, I want to
(04:32):
offer you here that there is ahuge difference between fear and
facts, and so, in looking atthese potential red flags, this
is an opportunity for you topractice some proactive
awareness without panicking andI know that is hard right.
(04:53):
I am someone who is a bit of aworrier, so when I was going
through that and seeing thechanges happening in various
places where I worked, all of asudden I would feel my mind race
and go oh my gosh, how am Igoing to make my bills?
How much money do I have insavings?
Do I need to tap into a loan,or do I need to ask my family
for a loan, or whatever mighthappen?
It's so understandable thatyour mind can race, so let's
(05:18):
quiet that down.
If you are feeling insecureabout your job or about your
career, what can you do about it?
Well, I promised you at the topof the episode I was going to
offer you three strategies.
Here's number one Inventory yourvalue.
By that I mean I want you tostart generating a list of your
(05:42):
wins, results and achievements.
These need to be tangible.
So if you've listened to pastepisodes, especially ones that
talk about your performancereview, I often suggest
scheduling a 30-minute monthlymeeting with yourself to do
exactly this Capture the data,capture the results, identify
(06:05):
the achievements, where you canget testimonials from your
colleagues.
This could be on LinkedIn, itcould be something informal, but
you want to be able to check inwith your colleagues here to
say look, what am I doing reallywell right now?
What do you think I might beable to do a little bit better?
(06:26):
Where should I be stepping outof my comfort zone?
Have that conversation withthem about your value?
If you don't have a work bestieor a critical friend at work
who can have that conversationwith you, get one.
The idea behind all of this isto find ways to increase your
confidence, increase yourconfidence in knowing that you
(06:49):
bring value to your organization, and there is a need for that.
Strategy number two is all aboutstrengthening your mid-career
GPS.
Your mid-career GPS is based onhow you prepare, position and
promote who you are and what youdo, so you can show up to find
(07:10):
the career you love, or love thecareer you have Now.
There are some very simple waysyou can do that.
One you can strengthen yourmid-career GPS by taking a good
look at your LinkedIn and yourresume and audit it.
Make some subtle changes, Makesome enhancements to both
documents if you will Identifywhere you have some transferable
(07:33):
skills.
If you were to pivot your jobin some way, shape or form,
where would you go?
Where would those skills be ofmost value in a new role?
Because you can easily transferwhat you've already learned
into something else.
But strengthening yourmid-career GPS is also about
getting the career clarity youneed to know what exactly your
(07:57):
next direction will be.
Let's say, for example, you'rea project manager and you love
project management.
You're not necessarily gonnapivot your career, but if your
job is in jeopardy where youcurrently work, you then may
start looking for other projectmanagement type roles, and the
(08:18):
product or the program may notnecessarily be specific, but you
know what good project orprogram management looks like.
The clearer you are about whereyou want to go, the easier it
is for you to find that nextrole.
It all starts with careerclarity.
It's one of the biggest thingsI help my clients get in the
(08:40):
initial part of our work.
Now strategy number three isabout building what I'm calling
your career insurance policy.
When you think about our lifeinsurance or long-term care
insurance, we make that paymenton a regular basis.
Your car insurance you probablypay every six months or every
(09:02):
year.
It is just something you do.
Building your career insurancepolicy is about reconnecting
with your network.
Reach out to someone whom youhaven't connected with in a
while.
Schedule a coffee schedule, alunch schedule, a virtual chat,
whatever it may be butreconnecting with your network,
especially as a mid-careerprofessional At that mid-level
(09:26):
so we're talking between manager, senior director, maybe even at
the VP level, depending on yourorganization reconnecting with
your network is about keepingthem informed about what's going
on and, more importantly, youbeing aware of what's going on
with them.
Networking is that two-waystreet, back and forth.
You give value first, they givevalue in return.
(09:51):
Another thing you can do to addsomething to your career
insurance policy is start doinginformational interviews.
I am seeing more and morethings about this being posted
on LinkedIn and social media,about people taking time to
reconnect with others on aninformational interview, and I
(10:11):
firmly believe that, as amazingand powerful as AI is, we can't
do an informational interviewwith it.
You have to talk to peopleabout it.
This is your chance to practiceyour people skills here.
Right, and ask people how didthey land their current role?
What do they like about theirjob?
What are the challenges withinthat role?
You can come up with thequestions, but informational
(10:34):
interviews are a great way tobuild that career insurance
policy, especially when you askthis one question.
So I'm gonna throw in a littlebonus here in this strategy,
okay?
So if you're multitasking, comeback to me.
All right, the question youwanna ask at the end of any
networking conversation orinformational interview is this
(10:58):
who else should I be speaking toIf you were in my shoes and you
were looking to make a careerpivot or find a new job and you
know me?
If you were me, who else shouldI be speaking to?
Get them to connect you tosomebody else?
Build that credibility, buildthat value, that cache about
(11:20):
expanding your network andgetting to know somebody new who
might just be that person toconnect you with somebody or be
the person to refer you for yournext job.
Lastly, when you're buildingyour career insurance policy,
take an honest look at yourskills.
If you need to get a newcertification or build a new
(11:43):
skill set somewhere, what wouldit be?
What's the value for you?
How are you going to go aboutdoing that?
But these three strategiesabout taking an assessment on
your value, strengthening yourmid-career GPS and building your
career insurance policy arethree wonderful tips to help you
(12:05):
deal with any career insecurityyou have.
Now, my friends, please knowthat I didn't say it was going
to get rid of it.
That is something for you tohave to deal with and manage it.
But when we worry about things,we care.
When I have clients come to meand they're really nervous about
(12:30):
going in for an interview orwe're doing some kind of
interview prep and they say Ijust wish I could calm my nerves
, I'm like uh-uh, we acknowledgethem.
We acknowledge them.
We acknowledge them and we letit be known that we care.
(12:50):
That's fine.
Somewhere along the way we gotthinking that being nervous was
a bad thing.
I don't think it is.
Now.
You don't want the nerves toget so far in the way that you
can't put a complete sentencetogether or you fumble telling
your story.
We don't want any of that.
But being nervous is okay.
If you're nervous or worriedabout whether or not you're
going to have a job in the next30, 60, 90, 180 days, that's
(13:11):
okay.
But let's come back to the onething I always talk to you about
.
You are 100% responsible foryour career and that means if
things are changing within yourorganization, you find that next
job.
It is something that has servedme very, very well throughout
my career, because I've had todo that several times, and it is
(13:32):
something I coach my clients onas well.
Right, you're navigating one ofthe most dynamic times in your
career, and one of the thingsthat makes mid-career so dynamic
is the resilience you have tohave to get through it.
So I want to offer you onecoaching question in this
(13:54):
episode.
If we took a moment to reframeany career insecurity as an
opportunity for growth, I wouldask you this what if your
current job isn't going away,but rather this version of your
career is making room for abetter one?
(14:17):
What's next for you?
How would you answer that?
What if all that's happeningfor you right now is just
clearing out all the debris andthe detritus to get you to where
you ultimately need to be,right next.
Right, we want to acknowledgewhere we are, but what if it's
(14:41):
setting you up for somethingeven better?
That's what I want you to thinkabout at the end of this
episode.
If you enjoyed this episode, youknow someone that's going
through some career insecurity.
Please do me a favor share thisepisode with them.
I would be so honored andgrateful if you would do that.
If you are looking for moreinformation on how to build your
mid-career GPS, I invite you tocheck out my website at
(15:04):
johnnerrellcom.
You can click on the resourcestab for several free and
low-ticket offers, including myfree email newsletter community
that I email twice a week withvarious leadership and career
tips.
Also, I have the membershipcommunity I'd love for you to be
a part of as well and go tocheck that out on my website at
(15:26):
johnnerrellcom.
But my friends, remember thisyou will build your mid-career
GPS one mile or one step at atime and, more importantly than
ever, how you show up matters.
Make it a great rest of yourday If you are traveling for the
4th of July holiday here in theUS.
Safe travels, be safe, be well,be kind to each other, and I
(15:51):
will be back with you next week,Take care.
Thank you for listening to theMid-Career GPS Podcast.
Make sure to follow on yourfavorite listening platform and,
if you have a moment, I'd loveto hear your comments on Apple
Podcasts.
Visit johnnerrellcom for moreinformation about how I can help
you build your mid-career GPSor how I can help you and your
(16:14):
organization with your nextworkshop or public speaking
event.
Don't forget to connect with meon LinkedIn and follow me on
social at John Darrell Coaching.
I look forward to being backwith you next week.
Until then, take care andremember how we show up matters.
Thank you.