Booklet Review by Jack Falt
There are five elements to Career Mastery™. (Telos has a long list of words and phrases they have trademarked.) These are: get active, get connected, get informed, get focused, and wake up. The booklets describes each of these elements. It discusses the role of personality type in career mastery and then describes each of the elements in more detail. These include a simple graphic for each one as well as personal anecdotes. Each element also refers to specific exercises in the last part of the booklet.
Each of the 16 types has one page describing how each of the five elements are to be considered by that type. There are some career areas suggested. The order in which the types are presented is by groups of types according to their temperament, using Linda Berens Temperament Matrix™. The interaction styles are listed as well as the dynamic order of all eight cognitive processes.
The last third of the booklet consists of worksheets related to the five elements. The proactive portion has a couple of pages to help people look at what they want out of their careers. The knowing yourself and connecting with others element is more extensive. There is a list of values that is more complete than in Martin’s previous booklet. There is a long list of work environment preferences which is new. There is a brief look at work styles based on the Strong Interest Inventory six areas. The importance of networking is given on two pages, listing strengths and pitfalls of varying aspects of this part of the process.
The third element looks at identifying options and gathering information. There is a long checklist of specific steps people can take to gather more information. It also points out how the sensing-intuiting dichotomy plays a part in how people tend to go looking for information. The fourth element is decision making and setting goals. It looks at the four methods of information gathering (introverted and extraverted sensing and intuiting) and tough and tender minded ways of making decisions. The fifth element puts it all together. It has checkoff lists for each of the four elements forcing people to consider a number of points that they might not ordinarily think of. These points that are missed are often type related so this checklist is very useful to insure that nothing is missed.
In comparing Martin’s two booklets you can see his own progression in how he perceives the best method for people to charting their career paths. The previous booklet is sound but this booklet takes it up a notch and emphasises the need for more depth of thought in the process. Neither of these booklets is meant to be used on their own without the help of a trained facilitator. The previous booklet gave more detailed information about the Myers/Jung theory. This booklet assumes that has already been given. The details in each of the 16 types helps people proceed through the process in a way that capitalizes on their natural talents and also prods them where necessary in their less developed areas.
This is an excellent booklet, but taking into account your other resources I would still keep the older version as well. People who have not a background in Linda Berens’s methodology may find this booklet seems to have skipped some of the steps, but her other booklets will fill in the gaps. They fit as modules in her Self-Discovery Process™ program.