Career Stories And Resources

By Dr Charles Margerison
Psychologist

Introduction

Amazing People Worldwide’s (APWW) eLearning division, develops engaging, person-centric professional development resources and career stories that add unique value for individuals and organisations seeking self-development and to help them in finding their purpose in life. These notes outline the process and the benefits.

Purpose – APWW has developed quality digital learning resources and inspirational life stories, authored by Dr Charles J Margerison and further developed by a Learning and Development Team at APWW. .

Explore how Amazing Achievers can help individuals to improve their lives by learning to use various principles. We can help convert research into personal action plans. We do this through life learning lessons that enable the development of personal strengths – powered by the real life stories of Amazing People.

The Stories

We have reviewed the life stories of over 500 amazing people, to identify themes which we can all use for our own personal development. They include entrepreneurs, doctors, musicians, scientists, engineers, architects, explorers, spies, teachers, writers, politicians, and many others.

Some of them, such as Andrew Carnegie and Thomas Edison – the mega rich industrialists, had little or no formal education. Some technology entrepreneurs, like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, left college without qualifications to follow their business dreams. Other high achievers, like Indira Gandhi and Marie Curie, were well educated. So, there is no particular one pathway.

With a focus on the psychology of career self-development, we look at key character aspects associated with achievement and success. In particular, we focus on what amazing people did. These key aspects are reflected in both their words and deeds.

The principle message that we see emerging is that each of the amazing achievers were the authors of their own career. Before they led others, they established their own leadership plan. In doing this they:-

Identified their areas of interest.
Focused their efforts on those areas to gain skills and experience.
Developed objectives and gave themselves permission to implement them.
Persisted despite setbacks and difficulties.
Gained support and developed networks to coordinate work activities.

The Resources

Our suite of professional development resources supports action learning, to exploit key skills including problem solving, communication, teamwork and leadership, in an innovative and powerful way. Via first-person avatar videos and audios, combined with tried and tested materials, you can learn from the world’s most amazing people.

An overview of our various career resources can be viewed HERE.

However, in this document we will be taking a closer look at the Margerison Communication and Problem Solving Resource (CPS) as an example of the type of work we do.

CPS For Achievers

Developed and implemented by Dr Charles Margerison, founder of Amazing People Worldwide and co-founder of Emerald Insights, the world’s leading journal publishing company, and Team Management Systems.
Has been successfully used in numerous global companies over the past 30 years including Shell, ExxonMobil, ICI, HSBC and Hewlett Packard.
Introduces learners to the 5 BIG SKILLS required, that enable powerful problem solving and communication, and to be effective at both the technical and people management levels.
Introduces learners to the application areas, crossing the bridge between the technical and the emotional issues.
Can be used time and time again for work projects, on both an individual and team basis, over a huge range of professions and industry segments.
Supports and enhances a vast range of areas including leadership, talent management and teamwork.
Explores these skills within the context of the work and achievements, of some of the world’s most amazing people.
Provides sharp-thinking problem solving skills to inspire every learner to produce great outcomes and secure success, within a framework that is easy to use.
It can help organizations to function more powerfully, and can also improve efficiency, saving both time and money.

Key Features

DISCOVER how to solve problems powerfully and effectively
WORK more effectively
SAVE time and money.
UNDERSTAND how amazing people achieved great success

Amazing People like Ray Kroc, Walt Disney, Coco Chanel and Henry Ford, all had one thing in common. They were all effective communicators and problem solvers! These outstanding achievers identified their unique talents and developed them to produce quality outputs that still exist today.

The CPS FOR ACHIEVERS resource includes:-

CPS For Achievers – Core Module
CPS Support Modules Overview & 10 Support modules
CPS Four Application Modules Overview & 4 Application Area modules

Case Studies

Aviation Industry – When a serious technical problem occurs during a flight, the captain and crew have to work very quickly to discover the reason for the problem and solve it. A major Australian airline (TAA Trans Australia Airline) recognized that the Margerison CPS Model and resources could provide a logical and systematic process for teamwork, and therefore included it in their flight crew cockpit resource training.

Chemicals Industry – The transport of chemicals from the factory to farmers can be dangerous and requires high levels of safety. To reduce accidents and improve the process, a team working for ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries), an international chemical company, were asked to gather information and introduce a new approach for transport drivers. They chose the Margerison CPS Model, as it provided a way to guide the investigation and develop new processes and procedures.

Engineering Industry – Ensuring that precision products are produced to high quality, as well as on time and on budget, requires effective teamwork at all levels. It was decided by GKN, a major company in the industry, that a common language of problem solving was required to achieve the necessary results. The CPS five major skills of Enquiring, Diagnosing, Proposing, Co-ordinating and Summarizing were recognized as essential by GKN. Therefore, team leaders throughout engineering production factories were trained in the system, which enabled them to have more confidence at team meetings.

Finance and Banking Sector – The fast pace of change in the banking industry has required numerous team project groups to develop client solutions. The Margerison CPS Model was chosen by three international banks as the foundation for their team training (including Lloyds and Natwest). That enabled team members to have a common understanding and utilize proactive thinking skills for their project work.

Oil and Energy Industries – The refining of oil for use in our cars, in planes and in industry requires very high levels of safety to avoid explosions and other critical problems. The Margerison CPS Model has been used widely by teams of people in companies such as Shell, Burmah Castrol, Mobil Exxon and others, to ensure that people have a shared language of understanding, to help resolve problems in a quick and effective manner.

Summary

The understanding of amazing people career exemplars can help people to clarify their interests. The important thing is to give people the opportunity to share and compare their views with others. It is this discussion above all that enables people to identify their preferences and make choices. Identifying and recognizing character strengths and the skillsets required to succeed in any role is key.

Career choices are a dilemma for many. For example, there is a recognition that to succeed in medicine, accounting, engineering and other professions, will take up to five years to qualify. This is followed by many more years of practise in order to develop the requisite skill levels. Therefore, the career choice decision is one that will determine one’s lifestyle and level of wellbeing.