Flexibility was not a conscious choice in my early career.  However, flexibility has certainly served me well since my very first job.

When friends were landing their part-time jobs as waitresses at Toronto International Airport, I was couldn’t land a waitressing job anywhere.  As Dad would joke (with serious undertones), I just wasn’t cut out to be a waitress. Something to do with not being able to make a decent cup of tea.

Fortunately, through divine intervention that introduced the benefits of ‘flexibility’, I was hired in the airport duty-free shop. I wasn’t serving cola and fries. I was helping women choose expensive perfumes; thus gaining experience in helping women to enhance their quality of life.  My short time in retail gave me the necessary experience to move on to a large department store in the jewelry department. Again, I was helping women choose beautiful jewelry that gave them joy and confidence. How prophetic!

Flexibility served me well again when my classmates were launching their business careers as secretaries. I wasn’t cut out to be a secretary either. My typing speed didn’t meet the minimum requirements and I didn’t have shorthand skills. Is anyone using their shorthand skills these days? Do you even know what shorthand is?

Although I was disappointed to be turned down for a secretarial position, I was pleased when I was offered an accounting position in the same organization. This became a recurring theme throughout my career: turned down for what I thought was good, then offered something better. In retrospect, I was always offered the best opportunity for developing my unique career path. The skills and experience I gained acted as a springboard for every direction I pursued in my career.

I am often asked by young women how I got to where I am now. Simply stated, by being open to different opportunities and being flexible to move in directions that were not yet visible on my path, I set myself up to enjoy a most varied and successful career.

While flexibility was not a conscious choice earlier in my career, I do credit flexibility for helping me avoid the ‘ghetto’ effect and the threat of redundancy. Ironically or prophetically, I now coach others to be more conscious in their choices.

Key #5 – Be flexible. Become aware of new opportunities whenever there is change – especially during this time of rapid change. Be alert. Be proactive. Be positive. Instead of wasting precious energy joining the group that whines every time there is a change on the horizon, look for how you can take advantage of a new need or a new opportunity to make yourself more valuable.

Talk to your coach about how flexibility can serve you in your career.