What’s in your “Career” Toolkit?

In this season, work is one of the hardest-hit segments of our collective lives.

It only took a few weeks for the coronavirus pandemic to upend our lives. It is a sobering reality, and we are living through a season of essential and remote. Personally, I believe these terminologies are here to stay. The way we approach work and career has shifted and we are living a new normal. These are uncertain times and many of us are building the airplane in the air as we fly. Everything is in limbo and nothing feels or seems sure.

What used to work no longer works, and we are having to dig even deeper beyond skills and technical know-how to thrive in the workplace.

Couple the pandemic with the recent killings of Ahmaud Arberry, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Rashad Brooks, and we are left gasping for breath.

For June, I asked two amazing women to share the career tools in their tool kits. One word, COMMUNITY, sums up the essence of their share and it is a word that we need now even more than ever in the era of social distancing.

Dee Olateru, Founder, Well Worn Heels & The Rich Immigrant

Tools: Owning My Character + Investing In Others + Relationships

There are several tools in my career toolkit, and different tools have served me at different phases. Three of my career tools are:

Owning My Character: “I rent my title but I own my character,” is a concept Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO of Consumer Banking for JPM Chase, shared in an interview. The statement resonated with me deeply for both in and out of the workplace. My title may change, and so can the company I work for. However, my character is mine to build, practice, and own forever. I realize that my choices and actions add or detract from my character. I build my character by being intentional about doing what is right even when no one is watching. Time and circumstances will test my character, and in owning it I am choosing to focus on what will last a lifetime.

Investing In Others: Growing up, I watched my mom invest in others throughout her career…