Here I am, sharing five critical perspectives towards career. These are as much of my personal experiences as that of several others that I interacted with.
1. Job Vs Career: Let’s get this right upfront – if you are looking to make a career, one must be there for a long haul. It is not just a job that one does and get paid for. It is much more than that! Career is all about making a difference, and leaving a footprint of your contribution. One must be greedy to look around and seize opportunities to make a mark.
2. Perceived Strength Vs True Strength: This is a little deeper insight; our qualifications and certificates label our strengths; which sometimes is true. But deep down, there are others strengths that we are endowed with, which need to be discovered and acknowledged. For example, a civil engineer is expected to be a good construction professional. However, in a particular case, the person may have a better strength in dealing with potential customers in construction business. For such a person, a marketing career may be a better bet than site engineering.
3. Play one level above–never a level below: A strong career orientation needs a person to always up the ante and perform at a higher level – in terms of thinking capability as well as responsibility. Trying to play too cautiously and taking up such tasks which guarantee ‘easy’ success may not help in the long haul of career.
4. Remove Compartments in the mind: “This is not my job” is a statement that a career-oriented person must avoid. Organizations expect a task to be done because it is essential for the organizational activity. By saying “this is not my job” you miss out on the bigger picture and operate in compartments. So long as there is nothing unethical about the expected task, one must be happy taking it up and adding value. In this process, you are not only making a difference but also expanding your competence.
5. Keep the onus and focus on self: One might vent out frustration by blaming so many others; but at the end of the day, you are responsible to undo and do the needful to steer your career forward. By maintaining the focus on self and owning up the actions and results, you will surely feel more empowered, which is critical to shape your career.
There could be many more aspects of career. I specifically highlighted these five because I personally experienced all of them and equally observed the need for these perspectives during my hundreds of career coaching dialogues.
It will be great to hear your views on these critical career perspectives as well as any of your unique thoughts on careers!
Note: If you wish to know more about our experiences of how we helped many managers develop their people management skills, and about our Certified People Manager (CPM) program, please do write to info@hrfootprints.com
