Six Weeks To Traction

Why does it seem that some people get 10x—or even 100x more career opportunities than others?

What do they know that you don't know?

How many of you are feeling this way?

An element of your past is lying on the road before you, blocking your way. There may be baggage from your past you’ve been carrying with you that isn’t serving you.

You are not clear on the role you want. You are struggling with direction. Your narrative is only your employment history, and that history is not getting traction.

You don’t have a team of people you can rely on. Recruiters, network connections aren’t responding. You can’t seem to buy a meeting. You don’t have anyone acting as your champion. There doesn’t seem to be anyone who is:

• Advocating on your behalf
• Sponsoring your candidacy for opportunities
• Speaking of your brand and capabilities to decision-makers

The help that is offered isn’t beneficial.

You never really needed a brand before. The personal brand was something for other people. You have always felt your work spoke for you. You don’t know what it is. You may have references but don’t know what they would say about you. You don’t know how to get your brand out in front of opportunities.

80 to 90% of your search time is spent looking for and applying to job postings. For you, the job posting is the start of the process. Truth be told, not much happens unless or until there is a job posting. You don’t have a strategy, and what you have isn’t working. It’s probably the reason you are reading this.

You are not clear where your current job is taking you. You do not have a clear line of sight to what you need to acquire, learn, change, build, add to achieve your career goals. What do you need to know, do and have to progress your career, build your brand, solidify your position and be the talent people want on their team?

The Story of 6 Weeks To Traction...

Richard Bucher, entrepreneur and career expert, shares the critical building blocks to help you build momentum and produce results in your career journey.

The 6 Weeks To Traction Workshop is focused on helping people who are intentionally choosing to change their career trajectory.

What is it?

6 Weeks to Traction is an immersive solution to a career dilemma. It is of particular interest to people who have been trying all they know to land the job they want or need, to progress their career, ultimately, to feel like they are gaining momentum and not getting the results they seek.

Why 6 Weeks?

You may know, if you were to decide that you were ready to engage in a fitness program, it would take a while before you would notice a change. It would take 6 weeks before you notice a difference, 6 weeks to start to see some definition in your shape and muscles. And so, like getting your body into shape, getting your career to the stage where you begin to see some results also takes 6 weeks – 6 Weeks to Traction.

WHY ENGAGE IN 6 WEEKS?

BECAUSE WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TRYING ISN'T WORKING

The answer is simple - because what you have been trying isn't working. All indications are that if you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you're getting. Further, if you are finding that your current strategy isn't getting you the results you need, you have probably also noted the emotional cost your situation is exacting on you.

It's emotionally exhausting and you take an emotional hit every time...

You apply for a position, and nothing happens.

You reach out to a recruiter, and they don't respond.

When you finally get an interview and are not chosen as the successful candidate.

It's like body blow after body blow after body blow.

With each progressive rejection, you lose a measure more of your self-esteem. Your emotional wellness takes another hit. You may start to feel edgy and short-tempered and find it increasingly difficult to cope with the stress of this process.

I designed 6 Weeks to Traction to get you in fighting form, build momentum and produce results. As with your body, you will not be in top shape in 6 weeks. You will, however, have developed new motor pathways, the seeds of new habits that will change your life.

With 6 Weeks to Traction, you will feel better, show up better, be more precise, more convincing, more engaging, have more of an impact on the people with whom you engage.

You will know how to foster and maintain meaningful relationships that will help promote you and your brand.

You will learn how to create marketing collateral that has people wanting to meet the person who created it and much more.

MY LIFE AND CAREER

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I am at a place of rebirth, renewal and reinvention in my life and career. Among the opportunities before me is getting in the shape of my life to meet what is coming next. I will be "coaching my face off," dramatically expanding my speaking engagements, hosting a retreat, doing media work, and adding a selection of short, life-changing courses to the menu of offerings available to my clients.

That entails renewing my commitment to and practicing daily fitness first in the immediate term. My mental health has suffered for not being in top form, as has my body. To meet the opportunities before me, I'm building the stamina to thrive through each day, to be energized by each task.

My home is undergoing a transformation intended to enhance the way we live today and well into the future. To get to that finish line, we have taken the heart of our dome down to the studs. Just this week, the process of rebuilding showed its first small steps. The vision of what will temper the day's chaos as we journey to the finish line.

A word about procrastination: I've been pondering this word of late. In conversation with my coach recently, I mentioned that a member of my A Day On Purpose team had offered me some guidance concluding it with, "…and stop procrastinating!" I shared with my coach that commonly when I don't have all the answers, I stop. I delay moving forward. Being on my own and running a coaching practice, you can appreciate this tendency can be problematic. Certainty is something life seldom offers.

As a result, I am growing the ability to "build the plane while flying it."

I bring the concept of procrastination up because I often hear from clients, "I'm a procrastinator."  I believe there is no such thing as a procrastinator. Procrastination is a symptom. It is a sign that there is a perceived obstacle on your path, getting in the way of progress.

If you follow me on social media or have heard me speak, you know I recommend when you hit an impasse and feel you cannot move forward, ask, "Who do I know that can help me with that?"

What Makes 6 Weeks To Traction So Effective?

Week 1 — Foundations

What is the baggage you are carrying that is no longer serving you? How is the weight of that baggage impeding your progress?

Before I even began, I started to doubt myself, and I would often wake up in the morning and think: "What if the structure I am building collapses? What if I'm not good enough? And what if I end up being the source of yet another disappointment for them?"

And then I realized what the truth was...

I was afraid that what I was building would fail. My fear of success was about having people trust me and the possibility of letting them down. 

The weight of this fear was the biggest obstacle to everything I wanted to do, and what I've learned is successful people use fear to build thoughtful, well-considered, and researched content vetted with people who have used it to achieve their success.

But don't get me wrong. I know overcoming your fears is about as easy as opening up a can of chicken noodle soup without a can opener... in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. So this is why in the first week, we will unpack the baggage that is weighing you down to discover why it is still with you, what it is hoping to give you, what it knows you need to learn. 

In the first week of 6 Weeks To Traction you will figure out...

• How to take what you've learned in the past, leave the weight and move forward.

Week 2 - Your Windshield

When speaking about our lives and work, much of what we say is often found in the rear-view mirror. In other words, the rear-view mirror speaks to what we have done, what we have up to this point in time.

Your past is a wealth of content with no known specific destination.

What I've had to process is my experience, knowledge, compassion and skills are passive elements until I know my specific destination and who I'm going to meet there. 

In other words, I was learning how to articulate who I was serving, why it's important, how I was contributing, and answering "so what, Richard?"

I truly believe that the world is waiting to see how you will use your gifts to impact your specific part of the world. 

In the second week of 6 Weeks To Traction you will figure out...

• How to turn passive elements like your experience, knowledge, compassion and skills into active elements.
• You will learn to identify where you are feeling called to take your gifts.
• You will learn who will benefit from your gifts and your wisdom.

Week 3 — Your Team

"You alone can do it, but you cannot do it alone."

The obstacles to success in your life often show up as insurmountable barriers, unsolvable problems, each with the potential to make you quit or, worse, not even try.

When I developed the idea for A Day On Purpose, it was just that; an idea. Being exceptionally creative, ideas are not a challenge for me. Execution, on the other hand, is another matter. As the details of delivering such an event began to show their face, I became overwhelmed. I could feel my heels digging in, trying to slow or stop my progress.

I asked myself my favourite question, "Who do I know that can help me with this?"

Almost immediately, as if by magic, my team began to appear. Through more conversation and a healthy dose of fearlessness, I built a core team, then expanded it to a fantastic group of caring, committed individuals who each embraced my vision, adding their own and their talents to what became an incredibly inspiring experience.

In the third week of 6 Weeks To Traction, you will figure out...

• Who is on your team?
• How will you decide?
• How will you reach out, and what would ask them for their support look and sound like?
• How will you deal with your long-standing reluctance to ever ask for help?

Start by believing there are actionable answers to each of these questions that will change your life.

Week 4 — Your Brand

What are people saying about you when you are not in the room?

To achieve your greatness, what do you want people to say about you when you're not in the room?

Think of your brand as something that creates a path ahead of you and builds anticipation for your pending arrival.

I want to be the person that people think of when they are looking to up their leadership game when facing a career dilemma. I want people to think of me, reach out to and engage me to partner with them in transforming their career.

I learned that posting to LinkedIn helps build a following to do that.

Media work helped expand an audience interested in my thoughts on my area of practice issues.

Collaborating with thought leaders in complementary areas expanded my reach still further.

Keeping another "yes" at the ready also has served my cause.

In the fourth week of 6 Weeks To Traction you will figure out...

• How to create a personal brand.
• How your brand can get you access into the private world of unannounced jobs

Week 5 — Your Strategy & Visibility

To be found, you must be seen.

To be understood, you must be heard.

To be respected, you must meet your world with authenticity.

To be trusted, you must mean what you say, say what you mean and do what you said you would.

To increase your visibility, you must have others pointing you out.

To breathe sustainable life into your visibility, you must be what people expect to see when they find you.

Among the challenges facing those seeking employment or career growth is anonymity. Those whose role is to decide who gets hired or who gets promoted are not aware you exist, or if they are aware, they lack critical pieces of your brand, your capabilities, and your impact.

Simply put, you are not visible.

My visibility was helped significantly by the CBC. My office administrator received a call from the Calgary Eyeopener's producer. They were looking to connect to a few people experiencing unemployment and wanted to know if we could connect them. When I called the producer back, I mentioned that I had been working with clients in transition for more than two decades, and if he thought a conversation with me might add another dimension to their story, I would be happy to help. That was the start of a year-long run of regular appearances on the program, contributing to a growing following and increased visibility.

For the record, I am NOT saying visibility for being seen is the goal. Dedication, hard work and loyalty alone will do nothing to contribute to your visibility. On the contrary, they are more likely to contribute to your anonymity. It's not about likes, views, shares, and selfies. It is about authentically bringing your giftedness to serve your world and sharing it.

In the fifth week of 6 Weeks To Traction you will figure out...

• How to create visibility via referrals
• How to get past gatekeepers using your brand
• How to get your team to contribute to your visibility

Week 6 — Your Trajectory

Traction leading to momentum requires consistent effort. Like getting fit, the results you seek, the changes in your body's shape, and your overall health require constant effort. You simply cannot have one without the other.

Your Trajectory involves being aware of your wake and where it is telling you and those following you that you're headed.

What impact have you had on those you have encountered?

What have you contributed to the aftermath of what those you've met are experiencing?

Think of a rower and the direction they face when rowing. That's right, and they face backwards. They face backwards to see where they are going. The wake their boat leaves behind tells them if they are on course.

Your Trajectory requires that you set a course to a destination to get crystal clear on where it is you're headed. If you can name it, you can claim it.

In the last week of 6 Weeks To Traction you will figure out...

• How identify your career niche
• How to know where you going and who is going with you

6 Weeks To Tractions shares the critical building blocks of every successful career trajectoy

Are you ready?

Your Path to Purpose alumni are making a bigger impact in their work, family, and community.