Читать книгу Inflection Points - Matt Spielman - Страница 18

They say that if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. Ted Page fits that description perfectly. He excelled in hockey in college and went on to enjoy an outstanding 10-year career playing professional hockey, including a stint as leader of the player's union. Ted was in his early 30s, and he had never held an office job. So here was the challenge: How does Ted, or any athlete, or anyone, for that matter, begin to contemplate a massive shift in career and identity?

Ted and I worked through the What, Why, How? model and we began to consider what he enjoyed, what lit him up, what energized him (the Sources/Drains exercise), and what he found most interesting. We then took his answers and examined what someone in his position, with that mindset, could manifest next in his life. Ted began to identify the different functions he would be interested in performing in the business world. Venture capital topped the list. Ted decided to get an internship at a venture capital firm. But another thing Ted had never done was go on a job interview!

Part of our work became interview prep. We talked about what kind of questions interviewers would ask. We developed the kind of answers that translated what he had learned on the ice into what he could do in the business world. Ted identified a series of skills relevant not just in the hockey arena, but also in the business arena. These skills included persistence, grit, bouncing back from injury, performing under pressure, teamwork, and not pointing fingers when things don't work out.

Ted secured an internship in venture capital and now he has a highly coveted general management training job at a consumer packaged goods company. Just because he was transitioning from hockey didn't mean he had to put his career aspirations on ice!