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If you caught the credits for the film Bruce Almighty, you may have seen Kisha Barrett Willis listed as a production assistant. In 2001, this single mother of three quit her job as an administrative assistant, packed up her family and moved to Los Angeles, where she worked for three months without pay so she could have a shot at achieving her dream.
Wilfred Lucas, an executive coach, says Barrett Willis's move was motivated by passion. "Look for the passion in your life," Lucas advises his clients. "If it's truly a passion, you'll stick with it and do what you need to succeed."
Is Passion Enough?
Lucas says no. "Research has shown the best career is a mix between your passion, skills and organizational needs," he says. "You have to develop skills; you need to learn to be good at something. It builds confidence and that gives you the ability to take risks."
That's exactly what Barrett Willis did. For three years, she shuttled from Chicago to Los Angeles to take weekend courses in writing and film production. "At the time, I wasn't thinking about this as a full-time career," she says. "I just saw it as something I had to do."
While working full-time, Barrett Willis steadily built her writing and production skills. A film industry executive scouting new talent noted her commitment. "She was impressed I was flying from Chicago to study on the weekends, using my money and sacrificing the time," says Barrett Willis. "After seeing me in a few classes, she asked me to lunch." That led to a recommendation to Street Lights, a program aimed at helping African Americans enter the film industry.
Get Out There
According to Lucas, networking is the third step in achieving your vocational dream. "Most people don't understand the concept of networking," he says. "It's more than going to lunch. It's giving to get. You have to put something out there first."
So what can you do if there's some kind of work you've always wanted to pursue, but you don't know how to start? Lucas notes elements that are crucial to making the transition:
- Self-Mastery: Start with assessing what's important to you. Lucas uses a technique he calls the Wheel of Life, which helps clients identify what's important to them in areas like health, family, career, finance, religion and others.
"Ranking what is important in each of these areas helps you examine where you are right now and where you're willing to put energy," Lucas explains. "Find out what constitutes what I call your ‘walk the plank' values. You may have talked about wanting to work in this area or that, but unless you are so energized that you think about it constantly and are motivated to take action, it's probably a fantasy more than a goal."
- Build Skills: "Let's say you've always wanted to run a not-for-profit agency," says Lucas. "Volunteer in one. You need more than an intellectual knowledge to make a good decision. Try things out. You don't have to give up your day job to find out if this is something you want to do. Do this at a time when you're already employed and not really risking anything."
- Build Connections and Relationships: African Americans sometimes resist networking in the business environment. When advising clients, Lucas quotes a passage from Ellis Cose's book The Envy of the World: "Corporations are social bodies that reward those fully engaged in the game. To the extent we try to hold ourselves above that process, we end up losing."
Lucas stresses that networking isn't just socializing. "It's about building relationships of trust," he says. "That takes the investment of time and giving. Share your talents, resources and ideas first."
These techniques are just as effective in helping you move forward in the job you already have. "Whether it's changing jobs or developing further in your career, the process works," he says.
And what about Barrett Willis? "I never felt I made the wrong decision," she says. "I just kept my eye on the prize and refused to let anything stop me."
