After a six month sabbatical, I returned to a transformed learning organization, i.e. without a defined job. I had let go of my original position when I handed over the responsibilities to my sabbatical substitute.
These were ideal conditions for a fresh start with much curiosity. “Do What’s Right!” is the new credo for leaders at SAP. Just do what is right to make SAP better for generations to come. I am grateful that SAP gives the employees at SAP much freedom.
During the second Co-active coaching module on “Fulfillment”, I realized how vital “Life Exploration” was to me as a value. I applied that to my situation. In addition to the daily tasks, I switched on the discovery mode and explored two roles that interested me: a) product manager and b) agile coach. As a learning method, I decided to go for “job shadowing”, i.e. I accompanied colleagues living these jobs for a few appointments and agreed with them on time to reflect on the experience.
Many thanks to the colleagues who made this trip possible for me:
- Christian is a product manager at Fieldglass and participates in the SAP intrapreneur program SAP.io with an innovative solution for talent management. He had a prototype, and I had contacts with senior HR leaders. A win-win situation in which we both experienced exciting validation meetings.
- Joeri is an agile coach in the finance sector and supports a team that was newly formed. The team wanted to incorporate agile methods into its everyday life. It is exciting to experience how the team has built up Vision & Mission, Objectives and Key Results, and the backlog over several weeks and started its first sprints.
I like job shadowing because it doesn’t take much time, and the impact is high. To be proactive is, of course, required. It helped me to realize that I will be using the product manager mindset for my day job. Learning offers and services related to learning are no longer designed and developed as projects but as products. Moreover, I will build my profile at SAP as a team / agile coach. Now I can specifically look for learning content that will support me. And I am already linked internally to the right networks.
By the way, “job shadowing” sounds not so appropriate to me. It’s less about standing in the shadow of someone but about getting much more insight and clarity for my career development. So “Job Inspiration”, “Job Cheering”, “Job Enlightenment” would be better terms.
What’s your experience with “Job Cheering” or similar learning opportunities?
Picture by Felix: performance of the acrobatics group FeuerWer at Tollwood Summer Festival 2021 in Munich
