A Most Unusual Combination

In this series of posts, I am sharing a variety of real-life examples of people who have changed the way they are perceived--and in some cases, the way they perceive themselves--simply by reframing the way they tell their story.


Installment 4:

Roy, a participant in one of my workshops, spent 23 years handling IT security administration on a mainframe system supporting 35,000 users before the company eliminated his position. Not at all optimistic about his prospects, Roy said:

"No one is going to hire me. They aren't using mainframes anymore. I'm a dinosaur. I'm 58 years old and I'll never get another job doing this."

From a technological perspective, mainframes may be dinosaurs, but that doesn’t automatically make his experience an albatross.

Accurate or not, Roy’s perception was destructive because it allowed him to take his many accomplishments for granted. This, in turn, did nothing to help his self-confidence. In this situation, any setback, no matter how minor, could easily have pushed Roy that much closer toward the downward spiral of depression. Clearly this was a wonderful opportunity for reframing.

Reframing and the Self-Assessment

For reframing to be successful, you have to find and introduce new facts to the equation. This usually means starting at the beginning with a thorough self-assessment.

Digging deeper into Roy’s background, we uncovered an interesting fact that not only separated him from most IT security professionals, but also opened a new universe of possibilities. Before Roy started working his way up from claims analyst to IT security specialist, he was busy nurturing his interest in law enforcement. Still more surprising was the fact that Roy was now in his 25^th year as a reserve officer.

At that moment, I turned to the other people in the workshop and asked, "Can any of you think of an organization or company that might be interested in someone with 23 years of mainframe computer security experience combined with 25 years of law enforcement?"

Immediately, people chimed in with suggestions like, Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, etc.

Then I asked, "How likely is it these organizations would advertise for this unique combination of skills?" In other words, what are the chances of encountering this type of position on Monster.com?

Highly unlikely.

Why? Because employers would probably never imagine a person like Roy even existed. But that doesn't mean they wouldn't hire him on the spot if he contacted them first. Better still, from a supply/demand standpoint, Roy would be in a strong position to negotiate because the more unusual or specialized the skill, the higher the market value.

The morale of the story is this: If you have a unique combination of skills, challenge yourself to make a list of companies and organizations that might value it. It could be your ticket to a lucrative, fulfilling career.