Being typecast, although not without its virtues, is something most professionals largely want to avoid. Let's talk about how.

Make Subtle, Not Drastic Changes

Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Breaking free of a typecast role requires subtle enhancements of your current role and skill set rather than their complete abandonment. "Drastic change isn't likely to work for you and is bound only to make others uncomfortable," warns Connecticut consultant Ruth Sherman.

Be aware of what's going on at your company and seek out opportunities to make contributions. There are so many initiatives, think tanks and task forces within organizations that require expertise and imagination. Consider attending a different departmental meeting once a month for an hour.

"Make it your goal to continue to grow your skills, expand your interests and experiment with what you want, what you're good at, what you enjoy and where your talents lie," advises Gail Sussman Miller, personal and business coach in Chicago. Miller says that it's essential to plan to continually change roles. "As we move through our 40s, 50s and 60s, we can expect to uncover greater self-awareness and richer skills."

Keep Your Boss in the Loop

To break out of your typecast role you also probably need to enlist the help of your boss. As your interests develop, let the boss know of your desire for change and request to participate in different projects that would expand your skill set.

You may assume that your boss already knows what you've done in the past and what you want to do in the future. That's a bad assumption. Many bosses are so busy putting out fires and returning emails that they have no time to think about what each individual person on their team is doing. It's your responsibility to communicate your desires and needs to the boss.

Sending periodic emails is one method of doing this. But emails are likely to go unread. So Sherman suggests engaging your boss face-to-face. "It's incumbent on you to get out of your chair and stick your head in the boss's office," she says. Don't wait for your annual performance review to share ideas and get an evaluation of your work.

Don't Be Afraid to Speak Up

Some managers are reluctant to display their additional skills and ambitions because they don't want to be perceived as overly extroverted or aggressive. The culture, at least within many corporations, is to encourage "team players" and discourage "selfish" craving for recognition. But you can still highlight your accomplishments and skills without being seen as pushy or overly political.

The goal is to come to be perceived as someone who's open to both making and receiving suggestions. Try meeting different people within the organization whose work interests you and start a dialog. For openers, try something like the following: "I'd love you to come and talk to me about what you're doing, because I think that intersects with what I'm doing here." Eventually, it becomes a two-way street.

You should also be willing to let talk about your outside interests. People within your organization should be aware of your hobbies, volunteer work and other interests, says career coach, Douglas Campbell III. "People remember those kinds of things."

Conclusion

Next week, we'll conclude the series by talking about what you can do to help the members of your team from being typecast.

Wishing you career success,
Lauryn Franzoni
ExecuNet, www.execunet.com

MEMBER REPLY

The late Jon-Erik Hexum

Actors Who Died on Stage

By Glenn Demby [NOTE: Lauryn didn't write this piece. If you have comments on it, send them to glennd@bongarde.com]

I enjoyed last week's article about actors who died during performances.[SXC Feb 15, 2008] Here is another incident similar to the Brandon Lee death you described.

The show was Cover Up. It was about a fashion photographer who uses her career as a cover for espionage. Her "model" was Jon-Erik Hexum who died on set after fooling around with a prop gun, holding it to his head and pulling the trigger. Shrapnel from the blank penetrated his head. It seems blank guns are not to be toyed with.

I wonder how many people get injured or worse, die in the execution of stunts for our entertainment?

Sheldon Higginson CRSP
Arnprior Aerospace Inc.
Arnprior, ON

THE GREAT WHITE NORTH

Louis Riel: Celebrated leader of Manitoban independence

A Note on Canadian Civics

By Glenn Demby

In recognition of Monday's Presidents' Day holiday, SafetyXChange published a note wishing holiday greetings to our members inside and outside the U.S. Since Presidents' Day is an American holiday, I flippantly offered Canadian members of SafetyXChange a Happy Prime Minister's Day. I knew, of course, that Canadians don't have such a holiday. But I also learned some other things about Canadian civics from the members of SafetyXChange. One of the member notes I received came from Dave Bailey:

Glenn:

Just an update on what today (February 18th) is in Canada. We don't have a Prime Minister's Day. The Feds deemed this day "Heritage Day" some years back. It had no official statutory designation as a holiday. But Ontario just this year has deemed it "Family Day" and made it an official statutory holiday in the province. I don't what the other provinces do. The company I work for has had this as a paid day to their workers for years as we are a large exporter to the U.S. You might say our company is more in tune with the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln. (Slow shipments on this day!) As for Britain, I think you will find their celebrations are in April (22) as that is the Queen's birthday. Hope this email enlightens you guys a little on the "Great White North."

Thanks, Dave. The third Monday of February is also a statutory holiday in several other provinces:

In Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan, the holiday is called Family Day.

In Manitoba, the holiday, which just started this year, is called Louis Riel Day, after the Métis political activist who led an uprising against the colonial government and initiated the process that led to the founding of Manitoba as Canada's fifth province.

February 15 has also been a federal holiday, Flag Day, since 1995.

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