At the US Army War College and other similar schools, they teach the principle that "no plan survives contact with the enemy." Why is that? Because the world of planners and the world of soldiers is vastly different.
Planners set goals, develop strategies, and lay out timetables. On the battlefield, soldiers deal with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. This is known as VUCA and it requires a different type of thinking and acting altogether. It means moving from plans to planning.
Instead of holding to something fixed, anyone in a VUCA environment has to stay highly attuned to what is happening around him. He has to adapt on the fly. He has to quickly recover and re-orient himself. He has to learn continuously and keep moving.
Does this sound to you like the world of today's job hunter? It does to me.
Using VUCA as a model, job hunters need to develop skills in four areas:
V = Visibility - How to get (and stay) visible to employers. Without this new skill, employers don't know you exist! Three ways to increase your visibility are: 1) Get on LinkedIn and be active there; 2) Get out of the house and go to networking events and be active at them; and 3) Get in front of potential employers by using your contacts to introduce you.
U = Upbeat - How to stay positive and pumped up even when it seems like you are making little or no progress. This may be one of the toughest new skills. Job search sucks! And job loss may have damaged your self-esteem. The best way to stay upbeat is to get with other people and help them in some way. Volunteer some of your time for a worthy cause.
C = Connected - How to use connections to move toward opportunity. Perhaps the second most difficult skill is overcoming the reluctance to ask others for help. Believe me when I say that Others Want to Help! They are waiting to help you. They will help you without expectation of anything in return in most cases.
A = Adaptability - How to keep changing and learning on the fly. The good news about this skill is that most of us do this one naturally because we are learning animals. We have been adapting throughout our lives. The danger during the job search is that we may fail to un-learn and abandon old self-limiting beliefs that, if unaddressed, will hold us back.
So to sum it up, the skills that made us effective when we were working are not the same skills we need to develop quickly to execute a successful job search.
Note: For more on VUCA:
Terrence H. Seamon is an organization development consultant who provides leadership and team development services to employers in New Jersey. His book Lead the Way explores the challenges of leadership. Additionally, Terry is a job search and career coach whose book To Your Success provides a motivational guide for anyone in transition. An alumnus of PSG, Terry co-founded and co-moderates the St. Matthias Employment Ministry in Somerset, NJ. He can be reached atthseamon@yahoo.com and via his website: http://about.me/terrenceseamon
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