Katie-Jeyn Romeyn

What Is A Career Coach?

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During our formative years, we often hear the question, ‘What will you be when you grow up?’. So, naturally, your focus is on what kind of job you will do, and that’s what you will be. The thing is, how we spend a minimum of 40 hours a week is more than just a job. To maintain our sanity, we need more; we need a career. A career speaks to the innate need for progression, growth, challenge, and fulfilment. That’s where career coaches come in. What is a career coach? What does a career coach do? A career coach is someone who can help you elevate your job to a career that is right for you.

What is the Definition of a Career Coach?

A career coach is someone who helps you advance your career and transform life. There may be numerous ways to improve your career, but whether those ways are right for you is a different matter altogether. A career coach will ask you about yourself, your career, your values, and your goals so that they can advise and guide you. Your career coach is the person who will give you invaluable feedback and guidance that few others can. Career coaches have professional insight, which enables them to help you navigate your career and make the right professional changes to move forward.

What do Career Coaches do?

With expert knowledge specific to career coaching, career coaches can guide you in many ways.

  • Career coaches can help you decide what to do next by assessing new opportunities which are different to what you may have previously experienced.
  • Our careers lead us along paths which can be rocky at times, leaving us somewhat damaged and even wounded. A career coach can help move forward from these experiences and reset the course to success.
  • A career coach can help you create a resume or CV which will grab the attention of employers by highlighting your skillset and gearing your CV specifically towards the job you’re looking for.
  • Interviews yield a daunting set of challenges, but a career coach can guide you through them, to help you confidently present yourself and make a good impression.
  • If it’s not a new job you’re looking for, a career coach can help you grow your career at your current workplace. They’ll guide you in changing your role or getting a promotion.

The Tasks and Duties of a Career Coach

Each individual seeking career coaching will have unique needs, and a good career coach will identify those needs and address them. Your coach will help you set goals, teach you crucial career growth skills, and guide you along the way. There is a range of tasks and duties to work through during your coaching sessions. It’s important to remember that your coach will help you with these tasks and duties, but they cannot do all the work for you; you need to be an active participant in the process.

  • Typically, you’ll start by discussing your values, interests, and the direction you want to take in your career.
  • Your career coach will help you create a list of positions on which you can focus. 
  • They will help you improve your CV and flesh out your LinkedIn page to attract the right kind of attention.
  • Your career coach will advise you on how to approach your boss and get meetings with the right people.
  • A career coach can help you develop your interview skills and identify any faux pas so you can get further along in the job-seeking process.
  • You will learn about following up after interviews and how it’s best done to move to the next phase of the process or get feedback.
  • Job offers are notoriously tricky, and the job search doesn’t end with the job offer. A career coach will help you clarify both parties' expectations and negotiate the position's salary and perks.

What Makes a Good Career Coach?

To start with, a good career coach is equipped with the skills and experience required to help you on your career growth journey. Before hiring a coach, vet them thoroughly, make sure they are certified, have clocked the hours, and have a proven track record of happy clients. Or better than qualifications, secure a Career Coach who has actually created the success you want. Then you are learning from someone who has done it, not just someone who has learnt the theory through a certification!

The right coach has a passion for what they do; they are familiar with the corporate and operational environments you are involved in or want to be involved in; and very importantly, the two of you ‘click’. There must be a connection and a common understanding in order for you to build rapport and get the most from your time together.

Why Would You Need a Career Coach?

There are many reasons to see a career coach; almost anyone can benefit from a career coach. People see career coaches when they feel that their careers have stagnated. You may need help getting a promotion or remaining relevant. You could benefit from a career coach if you’re working towards a promotion or developing a more long-term career plan. Career coaches provide support for those making drastic changes, such as going freelance or transferring to a new country or city. A career coach is your go-to advisor if you’re looking for an entirely different career or going through major life changes. Even if you’re struggling to network, a career coach can help you.

How to Decide on a Career Coach

Deciding on a Career Coach is relatively easy - the coach is someone who has been where you are and has achieved what you want!  Speak to some of their previous clients to get a feel for the progress in their careers or watch testimonial videos.  

If seeing a career coach has even briefly crossed your mind, that may be your cue to look for one. So, why not speak to someone who can help you improve your career? With Katie-Jeyn Romeyn, one of Australia’s top career coaches, you can accelerate your career using the Career Success Formula™. Reach out to us, and get the most out of your career.

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Executive coaching guide

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Why invest in executive coaching?

So you want to level up your personal and corporate success, how exactly does one do that? When leaders and executives want to progress their careers beyond their current roles, they need the guidance of those who have gone before them. Leaders often want to stick it out alone, but you don’t have to make the tough decisions without support any longer. Investing in executive coaching will not only accelerate your career trajectory but enable you to be a better leader from the very first session.

Katie-Jeyne Romeyn is known as the ‘disruptor’ to her clients. Why the disruptor? Well, she is here to shake things up while helping professionals accelerate into their success. Sometimes change can be unsettling, but if you are planning to break through to the C-suit (or through a glass ceiling or two), you are going to need some significant changes. Because when you change, everything around you changes.

Read more: Limiting thoughts and beliefs that are holding back your career

What are the benefits of executive coaching?

Someone in your corner

Any human being can benefit from having someone in their corner to support and encourage them through life’s hurdles. Although an executive coach is more than just your cheerleader, their role is rooted in support. This means no more big decisions alone, no more limiting beliefs crushing your motivation to strive higher. An executive coach will know your strengths and what makes you tick. It’s their job to push you towards your goal (and beyond), be there to help you quash limiting beliefs and tackle new challenges as they present themselves. They are your personalised guru for all things leadership, management, networking and executive team.

Unbiased feedback

What to expect from an executive coach? As much as they are your support network, it is their job to challenge you. They know your skillset, limitations and goals; they will hold you accountable and ensure you aren’t getting in your own way. Their unbiased feedback mightn’t always be music to your ears, but their assessment is essential to your career growth. An executive coach identifies your blind spots and personal roadblocks limiting your growth. Personal growth can cause discomfort, but it is necessary for ambitious leaders. Plus, when a leader is growing, the whole team benefits as their leader transforms into their full potential.

Read more: Helpful tips for those wanting to become a CEO

Faster acceleration

Hire an executive coach to help you achieve your goals faster. Executive coaches are experts in goal setting, realising the dream and providing an action plan to get you there sooner. They act as a mirror to yourself and can often help you see yourself more clearly to identify your top strengths and most significant weaknesses. Then, you know what to throw yourself into and what you need to work on, wasting less time in your career acceleration. An executive coach arms you with the best people management skills for executive status with your very own leadership toolkit. Plus, having someone to bounce ideas off will make you a more effective decision maker, transforming your career trajectory.

Can you see this as your reality already? Why go it alone? Be the leader you want to be with the help of an executive coach in your corner. They not only have done it themselves, but they also work with CEOs and executives in the roles you want. Be guided by those who have gone before you with proven formulas to help you reach your highest career potential.

Katie-Jeyne has been helping clients climb the corporate ladder, smashing their limiting beliefs and guiding them beyond their initial goals. Her clients have seen salary increases between $20,000 to $460,000 through her Career Success Formula. You can view her client’s results here and reach out to us when you are ready to create results of your own.

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How to improve your career development

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From when we were asked in kindergarten what we wanted to be when we grew up, our career development began. Not many five-year-olds are blessed with the foresight to know what job will best suit their skillset once they reach adulthood. So you can see our career has always been in development - our vision changing throughout high school and into university to where we see ourselves working one day.

And congratulations if you have found it! Your current career path looks good on you; you enjoy the work, earn a decent income and can’t see yourself leaving this industry. Whilst you may have settled into your career, it doesn’t mean we should stop reaching for new heights. To maintain fulfilment in a role you’re dedicating roughly 40 hours (or more) of your week to, there needs to be a level of ambition.

This is where career development comes in, investing time and resources into advancing your skills and experience to be an ambitious leader. But what are career development activities? How do I develop a career plan in the first place? I’m going to run you through the principles of career development and actionable steps you can start taking today to advance your career trajectory.

Read more: Limiting thoughts and beliefs that are holding back your career

What are the principles of career development?

Accept change

Change is a constant, so there is no point resisting it. You, along with the world around you, are growing and changing every day, whether you like it or not. Once you are open to the idea of change, you are more likely to be open to opportunities coming your way. As we are all changing inevitably, we might as well be taking action which benefits our career path for the better.

Lifelong learning

Learning doesn’t end as soon as you graduate. Each job or relationship has at least been a learning experience. If you think of our time on earth as constantly ‘in school,’ you will be more ambitious in learning new skills and habits than someone who believes they know everything. Execute this in your career development by striving for personal development daily.

Build your network

Especially in corporate career development, making allies along the way will always be beneficial. It should be the norm to want to build authentic relationships with those you work with; you may spend more waking hours with coworkers than your family. To improve your career development, striving for a strong network of respected peers, coworkers and competitors is essential to building your reputation.

Stay true to you

As much as our careers feel all-encompassing, you need balance. One way to improve your career development is to dedicate time to not only switch “off” but develop passions outside of your career development. CEOs need hobbies too! If you have a hobby outside of work, whether it’s reading SCI-FI novels, making candles, fishing or yoga, putting energy into mastering something you don’t get paid for is proven to improve the quality of your life.

Read more: Helpful tips for those wanting to become a CEO

Remember, it’s a journey

Many aspiring CEOs are blinded by their dream title; they fail to see all the value in the process along the way. The final principle of career development is to remember your career encapsulates from your first job to your retirement; it’s not just all about the final title. Whilst an athlete’s final game is important, you aren’t going to value their worth on the last 60 minutes of a lustrous career. Don’t do the same with your career path. Enjoy the journey to greatness. Take a moment to reflect on how far you’ve come, enjoy the view and practise gratitude.

What are career development activities?

One immediate step you can take after reading this article is to set goals for your career development. Sit down, assess your career thus far and articulate where you aspire to be. This is your macro goal, write it down and put it on the wall if you have to remind yourself. All other goal-setting (like increasing earnings or attaining a leadership role) are your micro-goals to help you reach the macro achievement. Include personal goals like maintaining healthy relationships and exercising regularly; they are all helping you along with your career development!

Now you are assessing and setting goals, you'll be more aware of learning and development opportunities available to reach them. It may be enrolling in a leadership course, volunteering or getting a career coach. It is certainly saying yes to all training opportunities within your company to upskill yourself on soft and hard skills in your industry.

As a principle of career development, networking is vital for your career path. As well as networking within your organization and industry, it would help to surround yourself with like-minded leaders looking to advance their career trajectory. If you seek these networking opportunities to strengthen your career development, we invite you to join the Ambitious Leaders Network. This online event hosted by Katie-Jeyn Romeyn features influential guest speakers sharing their career journey and path to success. Not only could this network directly impact your career development, it serves to inspire you to be the best you can be. We would love to see you there.

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Helpful tips for those wanting to become a CEO

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Helpful Tips for wanting to become a CEO

But what exactly does a CEO do?

CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer, and they are in charge of the overall management of company operations and resources. Also known as the President or Managing Director (MD), CEOs are the most senior executive, a.k.a the highest-ranking person in a business. Although a CEO draws on their team's expertise when it comes to making executive and business decisions, the final management call is up to them.

Your future CEO duties will depend on your industry. You may be a more hands-on type CEO in a smaller company or perhaps a high-level executive in a larger company. In general, a CEO will determine short-term and long-term strategies for a company in line with their vision for the business. They communicate with the board of directors, shareholders; and represent the company to the public. Becoming a new CEO doesn't just expand your portfolio with a new job title; a CEO tries to create a successful company built to last.

Read more: How to improve your career development

CEO job qualifications

There is no direct career path to becoming a CEO, but commonly, CEOs come with a formal educational background and hold one (or many) business leadership positions. An important stepping stone on the path to executive roles is a bachelor degree in business, management, law, economics, or a bachelor degree in the industry you plan to lead. Although the necessary business qualifications can vary depending on the industry, generally, CEOs will have at least five years of management experience under their belts.

It goes without saying; that budding executives should have a thorough understanding of business finances and be somewhat tech savvy. You shouldn’t be climbing the corporate ladder with zero understanding of how cash flow or excel work. Keep in mind the number of degrees they hold does not determine the career path of most CEOs, but instead, through the leadership experience and hard skills they develop along their journey. So what are the key skills of a CEO?

Key skills of a CEO

Leadership

Leadership is an obvious skill for aspiring business executives. But, what does a notable leader look like? You must be a capable leader who can analyse problems as they arise and have the courage to make big decisions. A good leader is able to manage a team with impeccable organisational and communication skills. If you want to be the spearhead of an organisation, you must be a motivated team player. A leader ready to reach new heights is always keen to collaborate, take input from their team and know how to delegate. A business will never grow if you don’t give up some control.

To gain more leadership experience, seek out new roles to diversify your portfolio and challenge yourself. Join the corporate board, participate in development training or volunteer in nonprofits. You need to present yourself as a problem solver with experience and a wealth of knowledge. If your current job isn’t doing that for you — it’s time to start making career moves with your CEO goal in mind.

Network

To make it into the corner office, you need the respect of your peers. To be a CEO, you need to build connections and relationships within the business, between stakeholders and influential figures outside of the company. You should effectively maintain these relationships through all the ups and downs of life using solid people skills. Sure, there are plenty of CEOs with little to no interpersonal skills. But, I wouldn’t classify them as successful CEOs. A successful CEO needs to be able to handle the needs of a whole team while inspiring them to work hard. And, in an ever-increasing digital world, never underestimate the power of a firm handshake. Throughout your career, take all the network opportunities available to you; within your organisation and with other industry leaders.

Read more: Executive coaching guide

Mindset

You have to be willing to put in the hard yards to make the big bucks. A strong work ethic is vital along your career path to CEO. Be open-minded. Look at your journey so far and note each of the lessons learnt from your stumbles; chances are you won’t make them again. Practice remaining calm under pressure. Learning patience and stress-management techniques now will serve you well into the future. Remember, you will have to become an exemplar of company beliefs and values and set an example for the team with a service-driven mindset.

Another asset to have in your journey to becoming CEO is finding a mentor to learn from and keep you inspired — someone who has gotten to where you want to be. Along with quizzing them on how they got to executive status, note how they act in their position, and conduct meetings. How do they give tours of their office or worksite? How do they rally their team up or maintain client relationships? Start getting into the mindset of a CEO as early on in your career as possible.

If you have been working hard on developing these skills throughout your career already, you might be wondering — I can’t seem to break through the ceiling and become a CEO. What's next?

I’ve helped countless CEOs, executives, and ambitious leaders push past their current success to reach new heights. I work directly with these executive leaders, so I know what it takes to reach their status. If you would like me to help you along your career path to CEO, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.

CONTACT KATIE-JEYN

If you're looking for guidance in driving your career forward or crafting the ideal career path for you then reach out today. Let’s create successful and inspiring change together.

CONTACT US

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Limiting thoughts and beliefs that are holding back your career

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Limiting beliefs are false thoughts about yourself that are holding you back. You may not even know you have them as the negative way we talk to ourselves is so normalised. Limiting beliefs come in all shapes and forms, but they usually instil a ‘less than’ opinion of yourself. If you are looking to progress further in your career, you need the mindset to match.

Especially if we don’t even recognise these limiting beliefs, we can easily get sucked into a cycle of self-doubt. Limiting beliefs are generalisations we have about ourselves formed from our past experiences. The beliefs we have about our careers can be particularly harmful because they hold us back from reaching new heights.

Examples of limiting thoughts and beliefs:

  • I am not good enough
  • I’m not smart enough
  • I am too old / I’m too young to be
  • taken seriously
  • I don’t have enough time
  • I don’t have enough money
  • My family never had money
  • Who cares about what I have to say?
  • I am not worthy of success
  • The economy is bad
  • It’s too late to try

These limiting beliefs and thoughts then produce unproductive actions and habits. Then, we are unhappy with the results because we psych ourselves up for failure – aka – a self-fulfilling prophecy. Beliefs are powerful; they shape our thoughts, feelings and actions. So, of course, if you have negative beliefs about yourself and your capabilities, how can you expect to accelerate your career past its current state?

Read more: Executive coaching guide

How to stop limiting thoughts and beliefs from holding back your career

By acknowledging these limiting thoughts when they arise, we can work on replacing them with positive affirmations to finally break the pattern. By reframing your thoughts, you can accelerate the path to achieving your goals.

But sometimes, our limiting thoughts and beliefs are so ingrained in us they are subconscious. So how do you notice these beliefs if you’re not actively thinking about them? It all comes down to self-awareness, taking note of your feelings, thoughts and actions and recognising repeat patterns in your behaviour. This is why a Coach & Mentor is so beneficial, they are someone driven to get you towards your goals, and they often spot these behavioural patterns even before you are aware of them.

How to identify limiting beliefs:

  • You are disappointed in an outcome, and it is similar to a previous event
  • You hesitate to answer a question
  • Questioning any “I am, I can’t, or I don’t” statements as they arise
  • You feel like something is holding you back, but you are unsure of what it is

Take note of when you are thinking in this limited state. Stop to reflect on why you may think this way about yourself and your career. How are these thoughts helping you? If your friend was talking to you like that, would you be their friend? Your limiting thoughts do not have to become your reality. Once we capture and critique these limitations in action, we can work to correct them.

Read more: How to improve your career development

Correcting your career-limiting beliefs

It’s time to start prioritising what you want out of your career. Are you happy to stagnate at your current success, or do you want to reach new heights? To do this, you will have to correct your limiting beliefs. Get out a pen and paper, and write down new, positive beliefs and thoughts to replace your limiting beliefs.

For example:

  • I am good enough
  • I can do this
  • I have an abundance of time
  • I am worthy of success
  • I have enough experience and I am
  • always developing new skills
  • I am the ideal candidate for the job
  • I am confident
  • Doors are opening for me
  • I have limitless potential
  • I deserve a fulfilling career
  • It’s my time, and I am ready to accelerate my career

And just a heads up, just because you quash a bunch of limiting thoughts doesn’t mean they won’t pop up when you least expect it. Our self-talk is a lifelong journey, but it’s something we have the choice to improve on every single day. If you need some help correcting your limiting career beliefs, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

I work directly with CEO’s, Executives and Ambitious leaders to Accelerate their Careers past what they thought was possible to reach new heights. If you are ready to stop getting in the way of your own career trajectory, check out my HOW TO ACCELERATE YOUR CAREER in 12 months or less half-day training. Quit stalling, accept you are worthy of greater success in your career, and let’s get you there sooner.

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The 2015 Australian Women’s Leadership Symposium

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Yesterday I was a keynote speaker at the 2015 Australian Women's Leadership Symposium in Melbourne. The audience of 240+ people was awesome - so keen to learn and embrace new ideas.  Their energy and contribution throughout the day was amazing!!

The line up of speakers were outstanding from Kate Palmer - CEO of Netball Australia all the way through to Rosie Battie - 2015 Australian of the Year.

I also loved sharing my message on 'how to' close the pay equity gap fast with the intention to improve business performance and unlock the potential of individuals!

- Gratitude -

Katie-Jeyn Romeyn is a leader in closing the pay equity gap.  She is passionate about equipping leaders of organisations with strategies and skills to create successful change and helping women reach their full potential.

CONTACT KATIE-JEYN

If you're looking for guidance in driving your career forward or crafting the ideal career path for you then reach out today. Let’s create successful and inspiring change together.

CONTACT US

Category: Katie-Jeyn Romeyn