Sital Ruparelia

From January 2010 I’m reinventing myself and what I do.

The website branding will change, the newsletter will change. I’ll be widening the range of services I provide and the range of clients I work with.

Why?  What?  How?

Below are 9 peices of advice I gave during 2009 and I explain how I’m listening to my own advice to reinvent myself next year – and how you can use the same advice to reinvent yourself and your career in 2010.

1. “If you stand still – you’re in trouble”

Due to the pace of change in modern business, we all need to reinvent ourselves every 2-3 years just to keep up. Given that it’s almost 2 years since I started the 6 Figure Career Management site / newsletter, it’s time for a change to coincide with the significant developments in the market-places I operate in.

How about you?

How’s your market changed over the last 2 years?

What are the likely trends, problems and opportunities in the next 12 months?

How can you adapt to meet this changing landscape?

2. “Don’t define yourself by your job title”

Don’t define yourself rigidly by your job title – but instead look at the results of your talent.

I’m rebranding things under one brand: ‘Sital’ – and one website: SitalRuparelia.com, so that all the work I do will come under there – speaking, coaching, consultancy, career management, resourcing, employee engagement and retention.

When you’re reinventing yourself, start identifying the range of problems you’re adept at fixing and the results you’ve helped deliver, rather than a job title.  Get known for your talents. Then build your brand around ‘you’ – your unique style, values and approach.

That’s how you minimize your exposure to market downturns whilst standing out from the crowd.

3. “Widen your service offering”

We’re all effectively freelancers nowadays – even if we have a permanent contract. And as a freelancer you must constantly widen your service offering to survive and thrive in ever-changing markets.

That’s why this newsletter and my blog will from January provide not only career resources for individuals but ALSO advice for employers and business leaders on how to manage talent within their organisations.

So, as you look to reinvent yourself, look at who else you can help.

What skills do you have that other teams, firms or indeed industries can benefit from?

Better still, ask them and listen…

4.  ”Listen to your audience / clients / the market place”

You’ve been telling me that you want a shorter, punchier newsletter and blog posts. You’ve been asking for advice on dealing with people issues in your teams and businesses – particularly around employee engagement and retention.

You’ve been telling me you wanted something you could read on your Blackberry or iPhone. You’ve been telling me you like the newsletter’s upbeat tone blended with humour.

So the ezine will be much shorter and will focus on both:

A. Career management advice for individuals on how to build exceptional careers in less time and with less stress

B. Talent Management advice for organisations and business – advice on finding, engaging and retaining the right people

We’ll maintain the humour and rebrand the newsletter:  “Straight Talk With A Smile.”

But I’ll still share links to longer articles on my blog so you don’t miss out.

5. “Be agile and flexible”

Between 2003-2007 about 80% of my time was focused on helping firms to find and keep the right people and 20% on helping individuals with their careers. During 2008-2009, 80 percent of my time was spent helping individuals manage their careers and 20 percent helping firms.

I suspect 2010 will be 50:50 between the two areas, reflecting the recovery and improvements in the employment market.

So Iike any other small business I’ve had to adapt to the changing market by being agile and adjusting my branding and marketing activities to meet the changing needs of the market.

The very same applies to you – take a close look at trends and the changing needs of your employers and your market to see where you need to position yourself in 2010.

Then ask yourself how you need to change the way you market yourself in this new landscape.

6. “Keep moving forward – even when it’s uncomfortable”

After much resistance, from January, I’ll be  video blogging. That’s right, me on camera giving advice on career and talent management. I’ll also be doing audio pod casts.

My IT guru Sandra De Freitas, who looks after my website, blog etc has been telling me for months

“Sital, you really need to start a video blog. “Your natural style is to speak rather than write and people will get so much more value.  Plus we’re all watching much more video online than we used to and reading far less – and that trend will continue.”

My response has been…..“yes, I know. But not yet, I’m busy. We’ll start soon….’

I knew it was the right thing to do, but like with anything new, I have found myself procrastinating and putting it off. But am now pushing ahead, despite it feeling awkward and uncomfortable, because I know that the more I do it, the more natural it will become.

And the same applies to you. If you’re planning on reinventing yourself in 2010, remember it will be uncomfortable as you make changes, but that’s not an excuse not to do it. If it’s NOT uncomfortable then you’re not testing yourself much at all.

7. “Forget perfection – just get started”

The new newsletter, the updated website, the colour scheme, the logo, will NOT be what I had in mind or what I really want.  But a lack of time and resources mean that I can’t be a perfectionist – I need to listen to my own advice: just get started and make corrections as we go.

Same with you – you don’t have to get all your ducks in a row and have everything perfectly planned out before starting.

Just take the first step on the way – you’ll find that opportunities, resources and ideas ‘show up’ once you’ve taken that first step.

8. “Be yourself. Be authentic”

‘Re-branding’ and “re-invention” sound like such fancy words – and for some people they sound like ‘spin’ and a little false.

But what I’m talking about is the complete opposite. When you re-invent yourself, you need to be getting closer to your authentic self – the real you.

Anyone who’s worked with me in the last 15 years will tell you that humour and fun play a big part in my work. That’s just me.

All my friends will tell you that if we’re going out to a bar or party, my first question will usually be: “have they got sofas?!” becauase I love hanging out on sofas. Call me an old man, but all my video blogs will (you guessed it) involve me sharing ideas from comfy sofas!

All my clients will tell you I’m passionate, creative and draw lots of pictures to make my points. So the video blog will involve me talking to you from a sofa and drawing pictures so that you get tons more value – and some entertainment too.

Are all these a little quirky and different? Sure they are. But they’re also very authentic. It’s just me being myself rather than trying to be like everyone else.

Being the ‘same as everyone else’ is the worst career strategy you can use. To stand out you need to reinvent yourself – not with spin – but with authenticity.

9. ‘Do some good’

Doing good is no longer deemed ‘fluffy’ but is in fact good for business.

And I firmly believe that our success is measured not by what we acquire – wealth, promotions, job titles etc – but by what we contribute.

It’s your contribution – not your bonus cheque – that you’ll look back on when you retire. It’s your contribution that will give your career and life a sense of meaning and purpose. Your contribution and the value you offer that will determine your legacy.

And so, as part of my contribution, the ezine will include an occasional idea or resource you can use to help you do meaningful work right now instead of ‘some day’ when you’ve got all your ducks in a row.

And that’s the biggest tip on reinvention. Changing yourself and what you do is one of the toughest things you’ll ever do. So make sure the goal involves you becoming a better person and creating a legacy rather than simply making more money or getting a fancy title. There’s nothing wrong with money or titles, but it’s long been proven that money, titles and status don’t give job satisfaction and won’t make you fundamentally happy. Whereas doing something meaningful and making a difference will.

The new shorter, punchier newsletter will be out from early January. As will the www.SitalRuparelia.com website

(the current www.6figurecareermanagement site will redirect to the new site automatically)

The video blogs will be up and running from early January – or even earlier if I push myself through my procrastinating, ignore those uncomfortable feelings and just get them done!