For Today’s Job Seeker: Navigating in an Unsettled and Unpredictable VUCA World.
The market these days is a double edged sword. From layoffs on one end to unprecedented hiring gaps on the other end, a VUCA world is the perfect term to describe today’s constantly changing and deteriorating markets.
Some of you may ask, what’s VUCA? VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. It is a term that originated in the late 80s, primarily used by the military to describe times of war. It became more popularized in the business world after 9/11. It encapsulates a lot of what we’ve experienced the last couple years with the pandemic, social unrest, war, violence, and economic instability. More specifically VUCA refers to:
(V)olatility. The nature and dynamics of change, and the nature and speed of change forces and change catalysts.
(U)ncertainty. The lack of predictability, the prospects for surprise, and the sense of awareness and understanding of issues and events.
(C)omplexity. The multiplex of factors that we need to take into account, their variety and the relationships between them.
(A)mbiguity. The haziness of reality, the potential for misreads, and the mixed meanings of conditions; cause-and-effect confusion.
Change is inevitable and more so in our current VUCA world where too many things are simultaneously happening fast, and globally. In recent times, mass layoffs in the tech industry have stunned the world yet once again, creating a climate of distrust, disengagement and a threat to individuals' livelihoods. With sudden loss of earnings and so much uncertainty about the future - people are pushed to reassess their professional goals, explore a change in career industries, or even consider self-employment. It’s important to understand layoffs do not reflect on your value as an individual. In fact, no job does. Work is simply how we make money, it does not dictate your self-worth.
Say this with me, “My worth as a person is not defined by my labor.”
During times like these it’s important to focus on the things you can control, including your mindset. When life shifts, it creates a clearing; a space to consider and evaluate if what you were doing was aligned with your values, beliefs and desires. A shift in perspective will help you focus on what’s important to you.
What if I told you that you have the power to turn volatility into vision, uncertainty into understanding, complexity into clarity, and ambiguity into agility?
There is always a beginning and an end. Change is scary. The unknown is scary, but it doesn’t have to be! By embracing change and striving to be a lifelong learner, anyone can gain the ability to adapt to evolving circumstances. As a self-advocacy career coach, I truly believe that people can always keep growing and learning, and this is an essential perspective to succeed in a VUCA world.
Here are some mindset best practices to help you navigate constant change in a VUCA world:
Develop an Adaptive Mindset: To navigate successfully, it’s important to accept and embrace change as a constant. Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher said, “Change is the only constant in life.” Simply put, get comfortable with unclear situations and traveling into unexplored paths.
Be an Agile Learner: In a rapidly changing world, it’s important to be constantly curious, and be willing to stretch outside of your comfort zone with an open-mind to embrace new concepts and new unfamiliar situations.
Operate with a Bias for Action: It’s important to understand and accept we are living in an imperfect world which means you might not always have complete information when faced with making decision, however the ability to make the best choice for yourself in the face uncertainty or adversity can be empowering despite disruptive environments. We want to move away from our actions being limited to survival responses.
“The crucial thing is to be mindful of what is occurring, not to control what is occurring.” -Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English
And the reality is if you’ve ever been paid off, it’s hard. It's deflating, and it's an emotional kick to the soul. So please allow yourself to grieve and process, but please remember you are exceptional, you are worthy, and you will find your way to an organization that will value and celebrate you as a valuable culture add. This is an opportunity to re-set and prioritize what's most important to you at this stage in your life.
Whether you’re still employed or not, HERE’S THREE THINGS I want to leave you with that you can do right now to help ease the anxiety of today’s VUCA world:
Check out the Mindfulness in Plain English Book by Henepola Gunaratana. I love this book because it touches on the practice of mindfulness, and being more aware of your thoughts, feelings, and body in the present moment. I found it particularly helpful when working through difficulties in life and healthy ways to nourish ourselves and others.
Sign up for Thrive Limitlessly’s Smooth and Stress-Free Career Transition Series to receive seven actionable tips that not only I have found helpful in my transition, but also many of my clients.
Check out the Job Search Toolkit and Laid Off Toolkit at Roadmap. A constantly updated collection of the best free tools, apps, websites, and networking and interview resources to help job-seekers.
The future of work has arrived, and we are currently navigating through unsteady waters. We can either be spectators and watch it all unfold, or we can actively and mindfully take part in its transformation.
Let’s discuss! Tell me in the comments: how are you currently navigating today’s VUCA world?
