In terms of executive career advice, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to write about what a singer could teach me about this or job search skills, so much do I abhor X-Factor et al, but as often happens when you open up to new experiences and new ways of seeing things, changes happen.

March & April this year (2016) was an exciting time for our family and a few friends.

We had planned to attend the full 5 days of the Grenada Music festival (Jazz, Soca, Local and International talent) and wrap a couple of weeks around that to create a nice Spring break.

Grenada

If you’ve never been to Grenada, don’t… No really, I don’t want the island spoiled any more than it’s likely to be by hotel development or an increase in visitors. But of course I jest; you’re very welcome.

Grenada is known among other more well know Caribbean islands as a ‘small island’, slightly disparagingly but also in rib poking fun (‘Ah, you’re a small islander’ as referred to by some other Caribbean islands). The island itself is quaint; people say hello, ‘good morning’ etc and are very curious about who you are and where you’re from. Colonial features still abound, mixed with a vibrant commercial ambition, not to mention Olympic heroes such as Kirani James, the men’s 400m gold winner at London 2012.

Mr Killa

Hollice Mapp (aka Mr Killa), was unknown to me before visiting Grenada, but I had nodded my head (and maybe more) to a few of his infectious Soca tracks.

It’s going to be hard not to turn this article into a travel log, but I’ll get to my point, as well as expand on it.

My point being how wisdom can come to us from what we may sometimes imagine unlikely and surprising sources.

Hollice’s eloquence first struck me at a ‘founder’s event’ before the formal start of the festival; he said a few words about his life in Grenada, his adventures in the USA including drug and gang involvement, but all the while he maintained a strong resilience, never giving up in the tsunami of bad influences, and those who would say no to his early music career efforts. It was a powerful and heart felt talk.

No resilience, no progression

This was no ‘Ted’ event, but none the worse for it, and his words stuck with me. I found it very easy to relate this to our typical career coaching client journey. Analogies sometimes take a while to evolve, and sometimes they smack you in the face! This was a smack moment.

Resilience, in my humble opinion, has to be the most valuable job search tool for any executive seeking their next role. Our executive coaching can teach you many new skills around networking, optimising social profiles, and honing interview skills, but resilience builds from increased self-awareness, another concept we will discuss with you during career coaching sessions.

Ask yourself

It can be tough when job hunting; the early enthusiasm, motivation and systematized approach can start to wane a few months in, particularly when achieving your next senior role can take longer than you might have anticipated.

You might start to lose focus in terms of the numbers of meetings you’re arranging and the general networking, contacts, and job networking activity can dip.

I understand how that can feel. However, I’ve learned a few strategies to help combat these moments.

In the meantime, ask yourself the following questions:

Am I consistently engaging with people in LinkedIn groups to leverage the hidden jobs market?

Am I promoting my Thought Leadership to differentiate myself from other candidates?

Am I keeping track of meetings I’ve had, and follow ups due?

Am I presenting the right personal brand to the market?

Do I have a weekly LinkedIn & Twitter strategy for social engagement and job search connections?

Am I keeping in touch with selected head hunters and recruiters?

Am I taking time out to reflect, think, and plan?

Am I as motivated as I was 3,6,9 months ago?

If you can answer yes to all of the above, then keep pushing forward. If you’d like to find out more about some of the ways we help our clients to maintain resilience and motivation through career coaching , just visit our about page, or simply contact us to set up a confidential, complimentary career strategy call.

Remember, resilience in your job search is vital; nurture it, grow it, maintain it.