There are many ways in which Virginia Swain, Founder and Director of the Institute for Global Leadership, has worked with clients since 1986: performance coaching for current career satisfaction (for example, helping to work with a difficult boss or reconciling conflicts), coaching for balance in work and personal life, re-setting goals or providing services to find a job, a career or a vocation.
First, a career and life direction coach is needed at different points in a person’s life to provide reflection on your life experience and help you re-evaluate where you have been putting energy. A decision is looming: do I want to continue in the same direction or make a change? This reflection time may be precipitated by a crisis. The crisis could come from a layoff, being fired, or your own decision. A change in life direction and career could come, for example, if you have a high pressure or time consuming job. You may decide to slow down and contribute in a different way to have more personal time or time with your family. You may want to incorporate travel into your life! Or you may, in the case of a recent client, re-envision yourself in your current organization. The point is that you decide that now is the time to stay or leave. If it can be your decision, it is better. Whether it is your own or someone else’s decision for you, a career and life direction coach as your guide along the way begins!
The first step is deciding if you want to:
- Stay in your current job with performance coaching
- Find a new job or career, or
- Go through a process to claim and work from your mission and purpose.
If you want performance coaching, a contract for a certain number of sessions is made based on your budget and need. Virginia Swain offers herself in person, by email, telephone or skype on a session by session or monthly retainer, to be available for her clients’ needs.
If you want a consultation, it is important to have immediate funds. Virginia Swain has significant experience (having served three years at Jewish Vocational Service as an employment specialist) helping people find immediate jobs and then helping them with the learning curve and performance issued that come up on the job. Some people decide to get a job while they are looking for a career or reflection on a vocational change.
If you want a career consultation process, you may wish prestige, fulfillment, achievement, wealth and reaching an accustomed standard of living.
Being mission-driven comes as a result of inner promptings and gentle nudges to give one’s gifts to the world and be of service. This stage of career development requires a strong knowledge and acceptance of inborn gifts and strengths as well as writing a mission statement. This stage may take several months to accomplish with sensitivity to budgetary needs and personal process.
After the type of consultation needed is decided, we make a plan of sessions together depending on your budget, time, and need. Virginia Swain gives assessment tests where values, interests and abilities are combined to give you a snapshot of your best career fit.
If you need help to assess your job, career or vocational needs and goals as well as design a flexible and constructive plan to meet those goals, call 508-753-4172.