Your Career, Your Business

Your Career, Your Business is meant to be a self-help book that may be read selectively based on your individual needs or read from cover to cover. As a self-coaching handbook, there are questions in most of the chapters for you to ponder. I encourage you to pause at these points to reflect upon the questions until the answers come to you. The space after each chapter is provided for you to write notes in response to the inquiries. You will find the value of this book from those blank spaces. There is nothing more important than what shows up when you listen to your own thoughts—the insights that manifest when you reflect on your experiences and what you learned from them. My best hope is for you to be able to compile all your answers after finishing the book to create your very own career map. This will help you to navigate moving forward toward your goals and be able to make informed and astute career decisions along the way.

If you're reading this book, you might be SEEKING fulfillment, or satisfaction at work, or recognition of one's talent being unused or potential still to develop. You might be ambitious and strategic in approach and would like to position yourself for bigger things. Whether you're stuck and looking to jump start your career, doing well but want to fast track your career, or feeling unfulfilled and looking for clarity in your work life, you can coach yourself to success. Using SOLUTION-FOCUSED approach, the book presents opportunity for self-coaching to enable forward movement, especially when there's a sense of being stuck in career development. 1. It's a primer that engages the reader to act and do something. It's a call to action. 2. It's a self-coaching book that uses reflective questions or inquiries. It invites you to reflect upon, dig deep, and increase self-awareness and self-empowerment. 3. The language is simple and short (non-academic) with common-sensical (non-textbook), doable style of presentation but still refers to sources when necessary and available. 4. It is written from the voice of a friend and a perspective of a coach. The goal is for every individual who reads this book to clearly see what they offer to the world and for them to believe that what they offer has value. Start now to coach yourself to success!

Gina Cajucom is an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) who promotes better conversations in the workplace using ©Authentic Workplace Engagement (AWE). These are future-focused, progress-oriented, and co-constructive dialogues that need to happen in the workplace to break the self defeating cycle of attributing cause or casting blame. AWE emphasizes strengths and small steps toward progress using essential dialogues and touchpoint conversations. Gina's extensive experience working with upstarts, small businesses, and large corporations across industries, gives her the unique ability to see organizations in their duality. Top executives, owners, and major stakeholders are focused on the bottom line—productivity and profitability. People at the grassroots level, who grapple with work-life balance and career development, are either partly engaged or completely disengaged. Gina's strength and commitment is to work-life integration while contributing to bottom-line business results through leadership coaching. With over fifteen years of experience in human resources management (H.R.) and organizational development (O.D.), her stints in coaching emerging leaders and executives across industries awakened her passion for leadership development and work-life integration. This unique experience inspired her to help young leaders and professionals with their career management challenges within or without their organizations through Career Coefficient. A Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) in Canada, Gina completed two years of graduate study in MS Human Resource Management at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and has completed a Master's Certificate in Organizational Development (MCOD) from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. Her extensive training in co-active coaching techniques with the Coaches Training Institute (CTI) and Solution-Focused Brief Coaching with the University of Toronto, complements her undergraduate degree in B.S. Psychology. She currently contributes to the development of Brief Coaching in the Philippines in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Brief Coaching. She also volunteers her time with The Coaching Fellowship, helping young international women leaders of impact accelerate their leadership potential.