Get a Coach to Achieve Construction-Career Goals

Q: My spouse has hired a career coach to help her along in her career as a medical executive. I think that's an intriguing idea for me, a construction executive. Do you recommend getting a career coach? Where can I find more information? What are the positives and negatives?

A. Career coaching is not industry specific. It takes many forms and can have many positive impacts for those individuals who approach it with a willingness to change.

I certainly recommend career coaching for anyone who is interested in improving his or her personal performance. Career coaching can take many forms, so try to think what will best fit your situation before beginning.

Personal career coaching is normally available from consulting firms that are engaged in such activities as employee evaluations, personality profiling and assessments. In fact, taking on this process yourself at the start of your coaching will give both you and your coach a good idea of your personality characteristics, strengths, weaknesses and relationship skills among many other things.

Many consulting firms then can offer ongoing assistance to provide either group or individual coaching.

The Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches has a certification program for career coaches. This credential is earned by coaches who complete a training program that is designed to help them focus on the skills needed to identify a client's life goals, ambitions and career options.

The organization's website at www.parw.com is equipped with a search engine that allows individuals to find credentialed career coaches in their local area.

Another excellent source of coaching information is www.mapconsulting.com.

In fact, there is a construction specific section of this Web site.

A Testimonial

I myself have had personal experience with the Management Action Program (MAP). I went through a true 360-degree performance evaluation, full personality assessment, two days of intensive review of the aggregation of this information and ongoing review of progress towards reaching goals.

Certainly another option is to visit the bookstore and begin reading.

There are many great career coaching books available, and you may try to undertake the process yourself. This may be more difficult to be fully objective, and enlisting a family member or peer may help you walk through this process more productively.

The positives for this activity include personal development, professional success, direction and confidence in pursuit of worthwhile goals.

Negatives can be encountered when you are unwilling to be open to the process, don't take the time or effort to implement the processes required for progress or get defensive or burned out on the process.

Career coaching starts with you first. It truly takes more looking in the mirror than looking out the window to begin this process.

Do you have questions on construction human resources or safety?
E-mail them to Leonard Toenjes at ltoenjes@agcstl.org or
craig_barner@mcgraw-hill.com.

(If Len picks your question,
he will answer it in a future issue of Midwest Construction.)