Keeping a journal will allow you to review your thoughts conveniently, and may prove to be an invaluable source of new in-sight into what you really want to do.
Collecting Information
A major portion of the searching period will be devoted to collecting information. It is in this stage of the searching period that a critical part of becoming a portable executive kicks in-adopting a spirit of cooperation through an appreciation of the unique capability and skill sets of other people. As the emerging portable executive begins to engage in information collection, he or she quickly discovers that people they didn't have much use for while operating within large organizations often have tremendous amounts of knowledge that will help them examine their choices. As Ken Heimberg of AT&T put it:
Networking is most productive when you have a reason to meet with people. If you find an area of interest, a specific subject or theme in networking and discuss it, you exchange value and people start to open up. I learned that everybody has some major things to contribute and it's very important not to make value judgments about people, but to really listen to them because some people will really surprise you with the contribution they will make.
As goes about collecting information, perhaps the most important thing he or she can do is to always bear in mind that everyone has something to offer. One way to open your mind during the searching process is to get involved with brainstorming groups.
With the sheer numbers of downsized executives around these days, it is easy to either find or start your own brainstorming group. Many already exist as part of outplacement counseling programs, through local churches and community groups, and they offer excellent opportunities to open yourself to new ideas, test your thinking about your skills and capabilities, and explore the viability of your choices. On-line computer roundtables, as mentioned before, are also potential sources for locating existing brainstorming groups or beginning one specific to the area you're interested in.
As part of his outplacement experience with Wright Associates, Wayne Thurston attended a weekly brainstorming group in which he and others weighed "what worked and what didn't" in the searching process. Once again, it is helpful to remember to approach these activities with an open mind and to listen intently to how other people are handling the searching process.
Information at Your Fingertips
The emergence of sophisticated databases available at the touch of a computer key provides a tremendous tool for who is seeking new ideas. You can become an instant expert on practically any subject through the use of databases, bulletin boards, and on-line networking capabilities that give you access to libraries throughout the world and to almost every major international publication.
Most on-line services offer you the opportunity to either join or start a "roundtable discussion" on just about any issue that attracts you, and these services offer the advantage of allowing you to network on an informal basis with people from all over the globe.
Testing Your Value
Within a large organization, it is often difficult to separate your personal value from that of the organization you work for. For this reason, as emerging portable executives deepen their understanding of themselves as business entities, an important part of the searching process is to test their individual value in the marketplace. One way to begin to see your value apart from the organization is to undertake a project in which you can directly affect the outcome of the activity. Many portable executives engage in volunteer work to test their capabilities. Whether this takes a simple form, such as coaching Little League, where you can observe actual changes in the players over the course of a season, or evolves while working on a community housing project or a shelter, volunteer activities offer ample opportunities to test the value of your new direction and skills.
While portable executives are constantly engaged in a searching mode throughout their lives, this initial transitional searching will eventually evolve into a fairly clear picture of where they want to go and the approach they need to take to get there. The obstacles they will have to overcome will also surface to be dealt with. Portable executives' sense of the value of their skill sets, how they want to work with an organization, the measures of success they arrive at, and their tolerance for financial risk all come together and can be applied to something they really like to do. As we have seen, portable executives emerge from the initial searching process not with a wish list, but with a considered vision of what they have to do and the choices they need to make to attain an integrated work situation. They deal realistically with the obstacles, both external and internal, that they will have to overcome to achieve their vision, and they emerge ready to go forward to create their own jobs.
