Develop Career Craft to manage your own career
- Dr Kiran Chitta
- Feb 2
- 3 min read
To what extent is work integral to the meaning of life?
Can a job – especially a ‘big’ or 'important' job (however you may define this) – really make you happy, or give you purpose?
How much do you really care about such questions? How much should you care given the practical necessities, the duties and obligations, of your life?
Perhaps you wake up some days wondering, "What am I doing?", "Where am I going?" or "How did I get here?".
It is possible that you feel slightly confused about career choices, or generally a bit stuck in your career. It is also possible that things seem to be going very well. However, you may not know quite where your career is going, or whether it is taking you in a direction that, when you really think about it, is the right direction for you.
Individuals, teams and organisations can sometimes feel slightly lost, confused or stuck. Senior executives in companies go on ‘leadership retreats’ to rethink their strategy and approach to leadership. Sometimes you need to do that for yourself. Wherever you are in your career, it makes sense to give yourself regular opportunities to regroup, take a step back, assess your situation, and be intentional about what you want to do next.
You may also wish to rebalance or reframe your priorities, responsibilities and even the moral commitments you have made to others, including loved ones, alongside your own needs and aspirations. How are you able to reconcile what you want and need with what others want and need from you?
This new book, co-authored by Kiran Chitta and Nomita Nair, aims to help you structure your thinking and plan your way forward, whatever your situation.
Our aim is to equip you with a practical and psychological framework for your management of your career, which we refer to as Career Craft. The framework will help you to reflect on where you have come from, where you are now and where you are going. We ground this process in our own honest appraisal of the world we are in.
The book has a simple structure. We tell a story that will cover the why, what and how of Career Craft.
Section 1 covers the ‘why’ of Career Craft. We explore the challenges and opportunities that the world of work represents for working professionals, especially those in particularly formative periods of their working life or experiencing important career transitions.
Section 2 covers the ‘what’ of Career Craft. We share an overview of the core practices and skills which underpin career self-management. This is explored and brought to life with a series of case studies. These are a series of very short stories inspired by our own experiences and research.
Section 3 covers the ‘how’ of Career Craft. We share specific ways in which you can develop your own ability to manage your own career, throughout your life.
This is not a prototypical career self-help book. We do not offer sugar-coated prescriptions.
This is a practical book with depth, that challenges some of the usual assumptions and prevailing discourse on careers. If you think you would benefit from the combined perspectives of a psychologist and lawyer, with over 40 years of combined experience in professional services, consultancy, leadership development, and coaching, spanning the UK, the Middle East and Asia, then this is the book for you.
It is a realistic guide to building and managing your professional identity which reflects the lived experiences of working professionals, rather than the often untethered fantasies of much popular career self-help literature.
You can buy it directly from our publisher Troubador, or from other online bookstores, as a paperback, or eBook.
Comments