In this episode, I talk about the steps to take to build a skills inventory. I'll cover some of the resources that we spoke about in Episode 17 as well as the specific approach for creating your skills inventory. We'll also talk about why having a skills inventory is important and how you can use it to support your career and learning journeys.

Key Takeaways

• Broadly, skills can be grouped as transferable skills (what you can do), special knowledge (what you know), and self-management skills (how you conduct yourself) 
• Transferable skills are the most important and these are skills like constructing, creating, researching, analysing, teaching, organising, repairing, initiating, networking, communicating, planning
• Special knowledge is skills like physics, graphic design, bookkeeping, mathematics, data analysis, French, and psychology
• Self-management skills are skills like being adaptable, self-confident, dependable, supportive, loyal, persistent, innovative, and resourceful
• The more transferable skills you have, the more choice you will have when it comes to jobs and careers
• Transferable skills can be further broken down into people skills, information or data skills, and skills working with things
• Identify and describe seven stories that are significant to you. These can cover both your career and personal life. Typical things might be something that stood out in your life, publicly displaying your skills, a really good outcome, something that gave you pride or was a particular challenge, something that your colleagues or peers could not do, something that you would like to do or experience again, something that excited you
•  Matching skills to these stories will provide you with a skills inventory, highlighting your strongest skills and also any gaps
• Use this inventory to compare against still that are in demand

Resources Mentioned
I used the following resources in this episode:

• The OECD Skills for Jobs website
• The OECD Skills Needs website

Recommended Reading
I used and recommend reading What Colour Is Your Parachute? 2020: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers by Richard N. Bolles 

In this episode, I am joined by Jamie Mackay. Jamie is an employment professional and works with organisations and learning institutes to help them offer relevant learning opportunities to individuals. His work is very focussed on the skills that people need to find suitable employment and build their careers. Jamie shares not only his career story on the show but also some tips, ideas, guidance, and resources that people can use to continue their learning journey. 

Key Takeaways

• While you are ultimately responsible for your career, don't underestimate the value of your parents, career or guidance counsellors, and mentors
• Certain people find jobs because of their social capital (it's not what you know, it's who you know) and you can build your social capital using tools like networking
• When thinking about building transferable skills for the future (ca. 2030), think about skills that are difficult for artificial intelligence to replace like creativity, critical thinking, adaptability, communications, reliability, and even project management
• Storytelling is a fantastic communication and learning tool because people can relate to stories
• Having a part-time job at school and whilst studying is vitally important as it helps build transferable skills and prepares you for the workplace
• In addition to the usual books and online courses that are used for learning, think about other approaches like attending conference and networking
• When considering further education in the arts and humanities fields, think about the skills that employers may be looking for and how these might be learnt in your chosen field of study
• Having a growth mindset is vital to your continued learning and development
• Be responsive to opportunities and enjoy making the choices you need to make

Resources Mentioned
Jamie shared many resources during the interview:

• The National Careers Service for information, advice and guidance to help make decisions on learning, training and work.
• YouTube for everything from coding to fixing your hot water boiler
• Udemy for a vast selection of free and well-priced online courses
• The World Economic Forum - skills for your future
• The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development - skills and work
• The Open University - free courses
• The London Interdisciplinary School - an interdisciplinary undergraduate course, built around real-world problems

Recommended Reading
Jamie recommends reading the following books:

• The Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of Mass Unemployment by Martin Ford
• Mindset: Changing The Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential by Carol Dweck

Connect with Jamie
Listeners can learn more about and connect with Jamie by visiting his LinkedIn profile or Twitter page.

In this episode, I talk about coaching by briefly explaining what coaching is, answering some common questions about coaching and finally, tackling some coaching misconceptions.

Key Takeaways

• Coaching is different from mentoring and consulting
• To find a good coach you should start by understanding your needs, use your network, and evaluate potential coaches on their ability to help you achieve the outcome you are looking for
• Coaching does work - it needs a good coach and a coachable person
• If you are serious about achieving your goals and putting in the hard work, then coaching could be good for you
• Coaching brings new perspective, helps you set your direction, holds you accountable, improves your self-awareness, and helps you adapt to and drive change
• Coaching is not the same as therapy or counselling
• Coaching does not take a lot of time
• Coaching is not only for people with problems
• Coaching is collaborative and not "done to you"
• Coaches don't need to have a similar background to you
• A coach doesn't need to be a sports star to coach as a sports star
• Coaching is not a luxury 

Resources Mentioned

• International Coaching Foundation
• Association for Coaching
• I spoke about the Miracle of Brighton, with Japan beating South Africa in the Rugby World Cup in 2015. It's the best game of rugby I've ever seen.

Recommended Reading
I recommend reading The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More and Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier

In this episode, I am joined by Tim van Aarde. Like many of us, Tim started his career in a corporate environment, working for one of the big accounting and auditing firms. He soon found himself thinking that this was not the career for him, as it lacked purpose and he wanted something deeper and more fulfilling from a career.

He set out on a journey, back to university, studying humanities before shifting his focus to theology. 

After university, Tim took up a position at a local church and a chance meeting led him on the next step of his journey, which was a move to Burundi in East Africa. Tim shares his wonderful experiences and learnings and how he found purpose in what he was doing.

Key Takeaways

• Don't get stuck in an environment where you are not exposed to new ideas
• It is never too late to study or learn something new
• In looking for your purpose or deeper meaning in what it is you do, there needs to be conviction. This will help you identify your purpose
• Always be open to new journeys (or the next step) and opportunities
• Be flexible and embrace change
• Expose yourself to different cultures and languages. Learn them!
• Building resilience is key in helping you overcome challenges and struggles
• Being able to relate to other people and building empathy is important
• Having a guide or a mentor will make your journey, learning, and growth much easier
• Building your cross-cultural communications skills will serve you (and others) very well
• We don't always see the potential in ourselves. Others do, and we always have something to give that others will need

Resources Mentioned
Tim shared the following in the interview:

• Whilst in Burundi, Tim met a mother with a young child that had terrible burns. Tim and some others knew that they had to do something to change the life of this child. You can read more about the story in The Boston Globe
• Tim is featured on Collie Community Radio 
• The bible verse that Tim mentioned was 1 Corinthians 13
• One of Tim's sermons also discusses the bible verse above
• Tim is a featured author in The Routledge Handbook of African Theology
• Tim has published Equipping the poorest of the poor to become agents of community transformation: A case study of milk as a catalyst in Burundi

Recommended Reading
Tim recommends reading The Change Agent by Lyle E. Schaller

In this episode, I interview Steve Stewart-Keene. Steve shares his story with us, that begins with a life-changing motorcycle accident and how he had to consider the career options available to him. He talks about some of his earlier jobs before taking on a role with The Prince's Trust, helping vulnerable young people get their lives back on track. Steve then shares how he took a great leap and left the United Kingdom to start and run a resort in the South African bush. He shares some of the challenges that he needed to overcome to make this a reality.

Having made a success of the resort and running it for nine years, Steve talks about his return to the UK and how, after several jobs, found a massively fulfilling role, co-caring for a disabled young man.   

Key Takeaways

• Knowing your product (or service) and believing in it, is key to you making a success of your role
• You can come up with a lot of reasons not to do something. If you have an idea and you believe in it, do the research, look at alternatives, think about worst-case scenarios, and then plan
• In addition to having a plan, always have a plan B
• Have patience and look at things holistically - understand the big picture
• You need to develop the ability to sell what you are doing
• Be flexible and adaptable and be willing to change things that are not working
• Take feedback from others, sometimes it is not only your plan
• Understand that the world is a bigger place and expose yourself to diverse cultures and experiences
• Enjoy what you do, many people don't
• Obstacles are there to be overcome

Resources Mentioned
Steve spoke about his work and career at The Prince's Trust

Books Mentioned
Steve recommends the following books:

• Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A story by Richard Bach
• Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach

Connect with Steve
Steve does not have a social media presence but listeners are welcome to contact him via the show.

In this episode, I interview Matt Roadnight, an Agile and Scum coach. Having developed an interest in IT, Matt completed a BSc. degree and went on to begin his career in a corporate environment. After a stint of travelling, he then went on to join a niche IT services company. It was here that he was given that latitude to work in a way and develop himself that he enjoyed. Acquisition of the IT services company by a large corporate got him reevaluating his position and coupled with an opportunity to provide some Agile coaching independently, Matt left to establish his own business. 

Matt now owns and runs SprintAgile and is a founding partner of BeLiminal LLC. Both organisations focus on developing individuals and teams.

Matt shares his journey and the values that he developed that shaped his career and choices. He also talks about the enablers of learning and shares some great resources.

Key Takeaways

• In many instances, we train for jobs that don't exist. The important thing is learning to learn and carrying this ability through our careers
• Developing values is important. Understand your values and live by them but make sure you don't focus too much on a single value whilst neglecting other values. There needs to be a balance
• Always be open to opportunities and try to take advantage of opportunities when they are offered to you
•  Challenge yourself to move beyond your comfort zones
• Even if you enjoy working alone, don't ignore the importance of partnering and working with other people
• Learning is often driven by client/organisation demand and the desired quality of work
• Make sure that you develop a growth mindset (learn more about this in Episode 11)
• Doing quality work is important but don't let perfectionism hold you back
• Change doesn't happen without emotion!

Resources Mentioned
Matt shared the following resources:

• Job Crafting - Amy Wrzesniewski on creating meaning in your own work
• Managing Yourself: Turn the Job You Have into the Job You Want by Amy Wrzesniewski, Justin M. Berg and Jane E. Dutton
• Camp America

Books Mentioned
Matt recommended the following books:

• The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization by Peter Senge
• Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies by Paul Zak
• Creating Intelligent Teams by Anne Rød and Marita Fridjhon
• Business Model You: A One-Page Method For Reinventing Your Career by Timothy Clark, Alexander Osterwalder, and Yves Pigneur

Connect with Matt
Listeners can learn more about Matt and connect with him by visiting his LinkedIn page, Twitter feed, or the BeLiminal website.

In this episode, Peter Robinson joins me. Peter has more than 20 years of experience in the corporate world with recent roles as the Head of IT at Specsavers and the Head of Retail Applications at Dixons Carphone. Peter shares his experiences of entering the corporate world and how he grew alongside a growing organisation, before moving to an even larger organisation. He shares the challenges of delivering change in large organisations and how this ultimately led him to the realisation that working in a large organisation wasn't what he wanted to do.

Peter talks about deciding to join another corporate or go his own way. He shares his experiences of starting on his own and the says the advice that he gives to his 18-year-old daughter, starting her career, is the same advice he would have given to himself at that age. 

Key Takeaways

• Striking a balance between business and IT skills is important and something that we should all look to achieve
• When addressing skills gaps, we don't need to become an expert in everything, we need to learn the right amount that will move us forward
• When presented with opportunities to learn something new or challenge yourself, grab those because you never know where they will lead you
• Don't underestimate the power of networking to help you learn new skills and push you out of your comfort zone
• Accept when you don't know things and don't be scared to ask for help
• To get the best out of everyone, you need to adapt your approach and make sure that you develop a personal touch to build relationships
• Take stock of your situation and how much you know - you'll be surprised. Use this to determine your worth.
• Empathy is important, but don't mistake this for sympathy. We still need to get the job done
• Round Table, and other service organisations, are a great way to build your skills and personal network 
• When you are in a challenging situation, don't be scared and trust in yourself
• Learn to market yourself and live with being uncomfortable
• When you are at the start of your career, think about a change every five years

Books Mentioned
Peter recommends the following books:

• S.U.M.O. (Shut Up, Move On): The Straight-Talking Guide to Succeeding in Life by Paul McGee
• Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE by Phil Knight

Connect with Peter
Listeners can connect with Peter by visiting the HITS Consultancy website or Peter's LinkedIn page.

In this episode, Crystal Metcalfe joins me. Crystal is the UK VP at RGP, a consulting firm that helps customers implement their business strategy. Crystal shares her career journey and talks about how she used a growth mindset that helped her develop the skills she needed when making career transitions. She also talks about moving countries and how she dealt with that.

Key Takeaways

• Having mentors in your life is important. They can help you understand where you want to go, and how to get there
• Work experience is so important and getting this experience, before entering the formal workforce, can be of great value
• Self-development and observation are great tools to help when you are overwhelmed, feeling intimidated, or dealing with impostor syndrome   
• Being constantly challenged will help you grow
• Be confident in yourself and your team
• Have empathy for others
• Developing a consultant mindset will serve you well in your career
• When thinking about a new job or career; assess yourself, identify what the new job or career requires, and understand if you have the attributes you need
• Always stay relevant!

Books Mentioned
Crystal recommends reading The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels by Michael Watkins.

I refer to Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck.

Connect with Crystal
Listeners can connect with Crystal by visiting her LinkedIn page. 

In this episode, I cover the importance of focus and some of the tools that we can use to create and maintain focus. I first talk about focus in the broader context and how we can approach goal setting and track our progress. Next, I speak about focus at a more granular level and share some tips and tricks on how we can maintain focus and avoid distractions.

Key Takeaways

• Think about setting our goals in the same way that organisations set their strategy by using vision and mission statements
• Long-term planning is important but don't get blinded by your longer-term goals as circumstances change around you 
• Write down your objectives!
• Be specific about your objectives
• Focus on the essentials
• Use objectives and key results (OKRs) to plan and track your goals
• Avoid procrastination by just making a start and eating the frog
• Break your tasks down into smaller chunks
• When tempted by distractions, think if this distraction will help you achieve your end-goal
• Multitasking comes at a 20-40% overhead
• Think about the 80/20 rule when deciding which tasks to tackle
• Be aware of attention fatigue
• Unsubscribe from email lists!
• Learn to say no
• Use the Eisenhower matrix to triage and prioritise tasks
• Reframe negative thoughts to help you get back on track
• Be present

Resources Mentioned

• The Google OKRs Playbook
• The Eisenhower Matrix
• The Agile Career Podcast - Episode 6, Understanding Yourself
• Headspace meditation app
• Managing tasks using a Kanban Board

Books Mentioned
I recommend reading the following books:

• Measure What Matters by John Doerr
• Deep Work by Cal Newport
• High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard

Connect with me
You can connect with me by visiting my website or LinkedIn page.

In this episode, Doug McGeachie joins me. He is Sales Director at Snowflake, a cloud-based data platform company. Doug has built his successful sales career for close on 20 years and in the show, he shares the skills, mindset, and motivation that helped him do this. He talks about the traits that good salespeople need and the approaches that he has used to build new skills and grow existing ones. Doug also talks about the transferable skills that help him coach children's rugby.

Key Takeaways

• Building people skills and learning to engage with people is key
• Being competitive will help you achieve your goals
• A willingness to learn, not being afraid to ask for help, and having a support network in place are critical in helping you bridge skills gaps.  
• Be prepared to challenge beliefs, yours and others. Push yourself
• Learn to accept change and believe in yourself
• Always know there is an end game
• Everybody, in some shape or form, is in sales
• Understanding what it is that you want is the first step in achieving your goals
• Using assessment tools like DiSC and Myers Briggs will help you understand yourself and your strengths and weaknesses in a better way

Books Mentioned
Doug highly recommends reading the following books:

• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey
• Legacy by James Kerr
• What It Takes To Be #1 by Vince Lombardi
• Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
• The Way of the Wolf by Jordan Belfort
• The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

Doug also spoke about using Audible to listen to books. Click here for a free month of Audible by Amazon, with one free book (two if you are already an Amazon Prime member) to keep, even if you cancel.
Post the show, Doug shared a really great list of books, in addition to the above. I will share these in a blog post on my website.

Connect with Doug
You can connect with and learn more about Doug by visiting his LinkedIn page.