Belma McCaffrey is the founder of the Work Bigger program and the author of the book, How to negotiate without losing friends, fans or job offers.
At Work Bigger, Belma helps her clients redefine what they call work so they can find their mission and lead with purpose.
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BELMA McCAFFREY’S CAREER JOURNEY
Belma went to college not sure what she wanted to do upon graduation. She decided to attend Syracuse site unseen and reluctantly chose communication as her major.
After she graduated, Belma took a position working in media. After a couple of years, Belma started to feel lost and began to question why she was doing what she was doing.
Always looking for more meaning and impact in her life and career, Belma moved around in the “media world” to various companies including a stint at Conde Nast. Eventually, Belma decided to head to business school in order to expand her knowledge outside of media.
It was in business school where Belma began to come into her own. She began to answer the questions that had followed her through her career in media, such as defining her mission.
While in business school, Belma noticed other students struggling with the same questions she was now starting to answer for herself. She decided her mission was to help others resolve their career issues.
A CAREER COACHING COMPANY FOR WOMEN
Her mission led her to co-found Bould with two of her business school classmates. Bould’s mission was to help young female professionals overcome roadblocks in their careers.
With Bould, Belma and her partners hosted events and workshops to teach women how to negotiate for a raise, how to build a personal brand and how to overcome confidence issues.
These workshops and events eventually turned into career coaching. Belma knew from her personal experiences the power of coaching but also noticed that younger professionals struggled to wrap their heads around the concept and the benefits.
Besides just the expense of hiring a career coach, Belma found there is a stigma attached to career coaching especially by young professionals.
This stigma tends to disappear with more experienced professionals because they can see the benefits more clearly. Being honest, they can also afford to hire a coach.
When you’re younger you have this mindset of being able to do things on your own, you think you can teach yourself.
As Bould was beginning to transition into a career coaching company, Belma, and her partners began to transition as well. They began to notice they each had their own separate missions and reached the difficult decision to close Bould.
BELMA’S WORK BIGGER CAREER COACHING PROGRAM
One of the greatest benefits of hiring a coach is becoming self-aware. Belma’s experiences with coaching taught her many things about herself as well as helped her learn the right questions to start asking.
She carried these lessons over into her Work Bigger program.
The Work Bigger program is as 12-week program design to help young professionals who have realized the traditional career path is not for them and they are looking to transition their career.
Belma developed the program from a workshop she ran at Bould. Once Bould officially dissolved, she used the workshop to help one of the Bould clients transition their career. During these coaching sessions, Belma refined the program into Work Bigger.
THE SIX-STEP WORKING BIGGER CAREER COACHING PROGRAM
1 – Identify your mission
Blema is big on mission, so it’s no surprise this is where the Work Bigger program starts. Your mission starts with your understanding your values. From there Belma encourages her clients to identify their interests and activities they are naturally drawn to.
To determine your interests, Belma suggests considering the books you read or the podcasts you listen to. Both are easy starting points.
Belma also helps her clients identify their skills and the work environment or tasks where they feel energized. It’s the intersection of your values, your interests and your skills where your mission lies.
2 – Tell your authentic personal story
Once you know your mission, you now need to tie your mission to your personal story. This is where you need to connect your past to your future.
As you develop this story, Blema recommends you develop an ask as well. The ask is essentially being so clear on your mission that people know exactly how to help you.
This is very similar to what Olivia Gamber and I discussed during our interview.
3 – Develop a powerful personal brand
Belma considers your personal brand to be how others perceive you and your mission. When you walk away from a conversation do people know what your mission is?
Belma helps her clients be as specific as possible about their mission. She coaches them to be laser focused and if necessary leave out groups of people who can’t help you achieve your mission.
4 – Develop a Connections Strategy
Belma is not a fan of the word networking. It sounds too much like work and can be very awkward. Blema prefers to help her clients build a connection strategy.
Your connection strategy is aligned to your mission and dependent on your personal preferences. If networking events are not your thing so to speak, don’t attend them. Instead, invite individuals to coffee for example.
5 – How to properly sell yourself
Belma tells us one reason we feel so awkward about “selling ourselves” is because we are usually doing it without understanding our mission.
Tying your mission to your job search is an easy way for you to sell yourself without feeling bad about it.
The final step in the work bigger career coaching program is negotiation. Fortunately, Belma has written a book on the topic.
HOW TO NEGOTIATE – WITHOUT LOSING FRIENDS, FANS OR JOB OFFERS
Belma is very passionate about negotiation. The guide provides a framework to help people who may struggle with confidence during a negotiation to get to the ask.
The guide starts with shifting your mindset from insecure to more confident. Belma tells us that usually, we approach negotiation with fear. This fear is driven by being perceived in an unfavorable way.
Belma helps her clients understand that making the ask is actually a very powerful and important thing. It actually makes the other person respect you more for it.
Circling back, awareness is key to negotiations. Being aware of what you are looking for what you what to achieve, and developing a plan to help you understand the needs of the other person.
THE BEST WAYS TO CONTACT BELMA McCAFFREY
Web: belmamccaffrey.com
