Are You Selling Yourself Short?

Last week I had the pleasure of hearing Stacy Cunningham, President of the New York Stock Exchange, speak during Accenture’s Women’s Leadership Forum in New York.

Besides being an all-around badass, she said something that really rang true for myself and many of my clients around her transferable skills.

Stacey took a hiatus from her life as a trader earlier in her career to go to culinary school. While that may seem like a total left turn, she recognized some really important commonalities between being a chef and being on the floor of the NYSE.

They both required the ability to make snap decisions, to perform amongst chaos, the ability to keep moving despite mistakes, and to be fully present and engaged to get to the results you need.

And since Stacey had these skills from being a trader, it helped her perform well in the kitchen. And when she went back to trading, she had sharpened these skills from her culinary experience.

I support a lot of clients who are looking to make a career transition but feel a little stuck or that “it’s too late to start over” at this point in the game.

It’s not too difficult for them to rattle off their resume, but it is much harder to take a step back and pull out the underlying skills they have, outside of the context of their existing career.  

We all have a core set of transferable skills, they just aren’t always easy to see.

I share during the Real Women in Business podcast that my journey from graduate school, to management consulting, to coaching, to small business owner, and as a meditation teacher may seem all over the map.

But at the end of the day, I have a core set of skills around teaching, transformation strategy and management, communication, helping people get down to core issues, creating experiences and spaces for people to thrive, find their passion, and tap into their flow, and creativity.

There is a common thread here that has made me perfectly suitable for the work I’m doing now, but it took me a while to actually piece those things together and not feel like I was taking left turns with my work.

The trick… don’t overthink it.

Don’t let imposter syndrome get in your way (more on that next week). If there’s something you’re drawn to, follow that gut instinct.

You don’t have to see the common thread before you get where you’re going (though it may help you with the confidence to go for a new job or try out a new career or hobby).

This is your reminder that you either already have the skills to be successful, or you have the tools and resources to figure it out.

And I get it. It’s hard to see these things within ourselves, so if you want some support, I have a s#!t ton of resources to help you identify those core transferable skills and figure out the next step on your journey.

Cheers,
Elizabeth