12 Questions for Career Mindfulness: #4 Write about a Phone Call that Changed Everything

zen-thee-rocks-in-gardenThe fourth question of the 12 Questions for Career Mindfulness Series is meant to remind you of something that changed your life and the course of your career. Was there one phone call that changed everything for you? Did you receive a phone call from a friend of a friend, who wants to network with you on a new business idea? Did you receive a call, letting you know that you were getting laid off?

When I think of a phone call that changed everything for me, I always remember receiving a phone call from one of my future VPs. I was in the American Museum of Natural History on a holiday trip to NYC. I answered my cell phone, not expecting a request for a job interview. My future VP told me who she was, what company she worked for, and who referred me to her. The referral came from one of my former bosses, who was one of her peers. She was building her marketing department and needed a product manager.

I remember being taken completely by surprise. There I was, in the lobby of the American Museum of Natural History, listening to someone who wanted me to help build their marketing department. At the time, I was taking back-to-back trips, so I wouldn’t be able to meet with her for two to three weeks. After this trip, I was in Alaska, as she called with me updates on the job. The rest is history. Prior to our meeting, I FedEx’ed my portfolios to her. I flew over to meet her. We hit it off. I started immediately.

That phone call came at a time, when the economy was still in a recession. I had been unemployed for fourteen months. President Clinton and Congress had extended unemployment benefits twice, because the recession was so bad. It was a challenging time for me to stay confident, knowing that there are no accidents in life. There’s a reason for everything. That call jump started my career again. I’ll always be grateful for that job and that VP for finding me. Because of this position and the events leading up to it, I made a new start on my career in product marketing and management.

What calls have you received that changed everything? Is there anything that changed the course of your career? When we reflect on events like this, we’re able to understand the whole context, so we can understand how things unfold. At times, for the better.

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12 Questions for Career Mindfulness Series

The 12 Questions for Career Mindfulness Series reflects on twelve questions to help you reflect about the course of your career. Perhaps once you see your answers, you’ll see patterns or maybe you won’t. These questions conjure up memories of jobs that may still create some undercurrent of discomfort. I hope some questions validate your strengths or your weaknesses, while some questions provoke a memory that you thought you forgot.

  1. How was the first day of your last job? How was the last day of your first job?
  2. If you wrote an email to yourself on attitude adjustment, how would it read?
  3. What things did you do or love as a child that explains how your work today?
  4. Write about a phone call that changed everything in your life.
  5. Write about the book that changed everything in your career.
  6. If you could ask a former boss a question you wanted to ask, what would that question be?
  7. Have you experienced a painful loyalty?
  8. What happened on a workday that was different?
  9. How did it all go wrong so fast?
  10. What if you didn’t get that job?
  11. What is the elephant in the room?
  12. What if you finally get to do what you always wanted?

I’ll post one question on career mindfulness per work day for the rest of June 2009. For previous entries in this series, click here.

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