Don't get left behind. Here are 5 reasons why you should be paying close attention to where you're career is headed.
Reason #5 So you'll know what skills you'll need to sharpen now so that you'll be ready when the time comes to move up. What if the job of your dreams presents itself... but it floats before your eyes, as you drift off on a rudderless dingy because you weren't prepared? If you have a vision of where you want to go, you can get on the right projects now, get the right mentoring now, and take on the right job challenges now that will have you ready to climb on board at the right time.
Reason #4 So you'll know what people you need to start meeting with now so that when that incredible job shows up -- inside or outside your organization -- the right people will know that you're ready to take it on. Nothing worse than seeing someone else snag the job you wanted -- not because they were smarter than you, but because they knew who needed to know them and what they wanted to do with their careers. And while you were sitting in your office or your cube toiling away, "working hard," all by yourself, you got passed by.
Reason #3 So that when a job comes your way, you'll be able to evaluate it intelligently. It's best to know what you're getting into and why. Who wants to wake up the morning after taking on a new job or project to make the horrifying discovery that it was the wrong, wrong, wrong choice? Why be a take-what-they-give-you person if there's a chance that if you sat down and thought about it you would know whether the offer is the right next step on your pathway?
Reason #2 So you'll have an answer when your boss asks you what you want to do next. That way you might keep your job in the next layoff or get the next promotion or high-profile project when it comes up. I was talking with a client last week who said that in his last meeting with two senior people from his department, they asked him what he was thinking about for his future. He immediately said that he wanted to move into an expanded role within the next 6 months so that he could add to the skills he already had. He went on to say that within the next 18 months he saw himself taking on significantly more responsibility (yes, a promotion) within the organization. The bosses were impressed and responded by getting him on track for those upgrades.
Reason #1 So that you can be your own free agent and lead your life rather than having it lead you. Because if you don't know where you're going, any road will do (thank you Lewis Carroll and the Cheshire Cat). A friend once said to me, "I know how I got here, but HOW did I get here?" She was referring to the 5 jobs she'd taken (some in the same company) over 8 years that had gotten her nowhere. Of course it was precisely because she didn't "know where" that she ended up "nowhere." If you don't want to wake up one day saying, "What the h___?", get some direction.
(C) 2009 Denise Brouillette, San Francisco, CA. All Rights Reserved.
Denise Brouillette is the president of The Innovative Edge LLC and The Women's Edge in Leading.
