Christine Riley Miller, Director of Sustainability at Samsonite
Apr 26, 2019
Christine was ready to step into a senior leadership role but she needed support in rebranding herself to prove her seniority, to overcome imposter syndrome and to advocate for herself with the C-Suite.
THE CHALLENGE
How do I articulate what I want to do next?
I have been fortunate to have had a varied career that spans four sectors and the full spectrum of skills from non-profit fundraising to sustainability strategy. I was in a job that took full advantage of my skills but when I decided to look for a new position, I struggled to identify the role that I wanted and the skills and experience I could both offer and develop further. Simply put, I had no idea how to articulate what I wanted to do next.
THE SOLUTION
Shannon very quickly identified the problem; I had to decide if I wanted to do non-profit management or corporate sustainability. Together we talked through the Dream Job Targeting worksheet and through that exercise, I realized, that if I was honest with myself, I didn’t want to do non-profit fundraising anymore. Rather, I was really energized by the work that I was doing in corporate sustainability.
"Shannon gave me permission, in a sense, to walk away and focus my efforts on finding a role doing what I really loved – developing and implementing sustainability strategies."
Understanding what I did and did not want to do enabled me to develop a much more targeted search for my next role.
I did not entertain inquiries from non-profit organizations about open positions, I delegated more of the non-profit related work in my current role in order to deepen my expertise in sustainability. This meant that I was able to add new responsibilities and strengthen my candidacy when sustainability positions that I wanted became available. Working with Shannon we made sure that my LinkedIn profile and resume reflected this and aligned with the positions I was looking for.
THE RESULT
In the role I was hired for, the head of HR said my resume was one of the best she’d ever seen. And I really credit Shannon for that the support and guidance and the tools that she provided. Every time I've looked for another job or I’ve seen a job opportunity that looks interesting I've evaluated it using that set of tools. It's been extraordinarily helpful in keeping me honest and on track.
