Launchpad
Reigniting Your Colleagues and Your Career
Keith has been made redundant six
times in the past 18 years! Yes, he
picked a few duff companies to work
for. Though, in his defense, some of
these were in the dot com boom and
bust years! POP, they went!
He knows and understands the issues
individuals face when they must start
their careers over again and often,
perhaps, reinvent who they are.
Equally, they often need to learn about
a completely new sector.
Quite often these are life-changing
situations.
Keiths main message to people going
through these changes?
You are not alone!!
Grinsted_Launchpad_EI_164502.indd 1
by Following Your Passion
Keith Grinsted MBA FRSA
Abstract: Launchpad can help to reignite your career. It
demonstrates how to take a fresh look at your knowledge
and experience to date, and follow your passion from the
personal development of the individual through to entire
business teams. It will provide you with the tools you
need to set your focus for the future.
About this E-book: This book follows the establishment
of a program called Launchpadinitially set up to help
those who were u nemployed or facing redundancy to
get their lives back on track. It has extended to helping
businesses and s enior executives cope with the chang-
ing business environment. It demonstrates some of the
tools used that can be adopted by the reader in their own
situation. At its core is uncovering what individuals are
passionate about.
Keywords: Business, career change, career development,
charity, launchpad, passion, personal development,
redundancy, unemployment, volunteering
Launchpad: Reigniting Your Colleagues and
Your Career by Following Your Passion
The Beginnings
Java Job Cluba scribbled mind map on an A4 sheet
of paper.
That was the inauspicious beginning of Launchpad
initially a program to help people who were out of work
or facing redundancy to get their lives back on track.
Id seen executive job clubs work in the United States
where professional people came together (generally in
coffee shops offering free Wi-Fi) to support each other
and share their skills. Having been made redundant my-
self, Ive had to rebuild my career and, indeed, my life.
Ive also seen that, particularly for people aged 50 or
more, theres often very little support available to them.
Certainly, very little until they have been out of work
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 Launchpad
for at least 6 months. By that time, theyve
often lost contact with many of their busi-
ness connections.
I wanted to establish a peer support group
where individuals whove maybe lost some
of their confidence and self-belief can see
that they are not facing their situation on
their own. They can meet with others in a
similar position and both offer and receive
support.
Working collaboratively, almost as a vir-
tual Board, these groups worked together
helping the business called Me Ltd or We
Inc!
The mix of the group would be impor-
tant. There may be someone good with
words who can help others with their CV or
perhaps a business plan. Hopefully thered
be someone from a marketing background
who could help participants promote the
brand of Me. A finance expert who could
help with both business and personal fi-
nance issues.
In addition to supporting one another
the participants of the group may consider
start-up business opportunities. Possibly as
a group they could seek funding for a col-
laborative business proposal. This could as
easily be for an individual venture or one
for the group as a whole.
Youve heard the saying the sum of the
parts is greater than the whole, well this
has never been more appropriate than
with a group of experienced executives
putting their combined knowledge and ex-
perience together for a common goal. True
collaboration.
Ill go into more detail about the
Launchpad program shortly but it has
now expanded into a new phase helping
senior executives to refocus and relaunch
their careers. Or it may be to effect a ca-
reer change. Following a passion, or mak-
ing a move from the commercial world
to the charity sector (more on this later).
It can equally be used by companies
that may have either an individual or a
small team that needs to be refocused or
reinvigorated.
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We are living older and working longer
I was asked this week by a finance com-
pany if I still planned to be working at 75
and beyond! That would never have been
considered just a few years ago. There are
also no longer jobs for life. It no longer
matters what age you are, or what industry
sector you are in, there has never been a
better time to make a change than RIGHT
NOW!
In fact, your health and well-being will
certainly be enhanced if you have an im-
proved work/life balance. Or should that
be LIFE/work balance now? There are cer-
tainly schools of thought out there that be-
lieve this to be the case.
The other key point affecting your health
and well-being is to be doing something
you are passionate about. This is probably
the most important element of the Launch-
pad program.
You never hear an actor complaining
about going to work. Or a dancer. Or a
jockey. Or a top sports person. Why is that?
Simple. They are doing what they are pas-
sionate about and get a real buzz from it no
matter what the downsides may be. An ac-
tor between roles never speaks of being out
of work. They are instead resting.
If you are over 50, or over 60, then the
time to make those changes in your life is
NOW!
Those changes you have been thinking
about for some time. That project for when
you retire. Just accept that we are leaving it
later than ever to retire and by then it may
be too late. Make that change now. While
you still can. While you still have the en-
ergy, desire, capacity to make it happen.
Keep control of your world and make that
change now before someone else forces
change upon you.
The time to make that change is NOW!
Launchpad: The Early Days
The original concept for Launchpad was to
run it in partnership with Starbucks in UK
(hence the Java Job Club name!) but it was
an unviable proposition at a time when I
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 Launchpad
needed to be generating income! However,
when I started working with a retail coop-
erative society it fitted perfectly with their
values and principles.
It meant I had to extend the scope to all
ages and not just those over 50, but it was
great to see the positive changes it brought
to peoples lives. I worked with participants
from 18 to 63! And people with all sorts of
life challenges. Many suffering from some
form of depression having been out of work
for a long while, or having to face levels of
stress they were unable to deal with alone.
It was not long before the local gov-
ernment run job centers got wind of the
sessions and started to send along to me
people they had for one reason or another
not been able to help. In a number of cases
this was because the individuals had skill
sets of a much higher level than the job
centers could help. I had IT Directors, Sales
Directors, and even Accountants attending
the Launchpad program!
What Its All About
Ill cover what happens both at group ses-
sions and individual 1:1 sessions as, effec-
tively, the program is very similar. The 1:1
sessions allow a greater level of focus on
the individual.
Its Not a Job Club!
Despite the original Java Job Club name, it
was never meant solely to help people get
another job. Instead it is a means of refo-
cusing. Of uncovering passions. Of setting
a strategy for the future.
OK, quite often it has resulted in partici-
pants securing a new role, but just as of-
ten it has resulted in the establishment of
a small business! Sometimes start-ups built
by individuals, and sometimes by several
people collaborating. These are always ex-
citing developments.
The overriding concept, whether in
group or 1:1 sessions, is to engage with the
individual and uncover the real person be-
neath the surface. The private person be-
hind the public persona.
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Fred may have been a computer pro-
grammer for the past 14 years, but that
does not mean he is passionate about pro-
gramming and still wants to work in that
type of role.
In fact, Fred (name changed) actually
was a programmer when he first came
along. Although more truthfully, he HAD
been a programmer before he took early
redundancy 18 months ago thinking hed
be able to walk straight into another role!
A bad move.
When he first emailed me his CV it ran
to 15 pages. Fifteen pages of computer
programming jargon, much of which was
no longer relevant in such a fast changing
sector.
When we met I said, Fred, Im sorry, but
I lost the will to live by page 3! No-one is
ever going to read all of that. You are hid-
ing behind page after page of jargon. It be-
came clear very quickly that his heart was
no longer in programming but he did not
know what he really wanted to do.
Fred had another issue, which became
only too apparent after a couple of sessions.
Fred had a hang up about his hearing.
In fact his hearing was quite poor and he
needed to wear hearing aids. This to me
was not a problem. However, what was a
problem was that he mentioned his hear-
ing in virtually every other sentence!
Eventually I had to confront him.
Fred, you have a problem with your
hearing!
Yes, he replied, I have to wear hearing
aids.
No Fred, I replied, I know about it,
you tell me every other sentence. If I were
a prospective employer I dont have a prob-
lem. I could make reasonable adjustments
to comply with disability legislation.
I continued, Its YOU that has the prob-
lem with your hearing! It is a problem that
is holding you back, and you have to get
over it.
Fred, understandably was rather taken
aback. No-one had spoken to him that
bluntly before!
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