A 30 under 30 Generalist. Now What?
We’ve survived the bulk of 2021, feeling more stable now and seeking direction. Now What? Lets Explore together.
Hey Everyone,
So I achieved some really great things throughout the Summer and Fall of 2021. I was chosen as a GreenBiz Circularity21 Emerging Leader and Corporate Knights 2021 Top 30 under 30 in Sustainability. I also became a co-author in Our Climate Our Stories.
These opportunities have really energized me to seek my purpose, drive and passions even more. Someone recently told me how surprised they were that I was able to receive career recognition only after 2–3 years in the industry (in an awestruck and loving way). This got me thinking of how different our generation is from previous generations. Two decades ago you had to know someone who knew someone and network your $#% off to be barely noticed in your industry and sector. Now with the power of technology and our magnanimous internet, we can gain expertise, gain recognition, collaborate and tailor the paths we seek for ourselves. This is pretty revolutionary.
For me, I am slowly realizing that I am truly a generalist. We should definitely value our Experts and the work they contribute to our complex world. For instance, my friend is a surgeon, and I am beyond thrilled her immense expertise and skills can literally save lives. However, for people like me with one-million ideas and interests, a Generalist is the path forward for the future of work.
I personally don’t really talk about my work in Sustainability too often because I like to think my work speaks for itself , feel free to find me on LinkedIn. I rather enjoy my spare time (like this) sharing and exploring other career interests. So before I venture into other interests, I’d like to share with you how I am able to enter new industries and thrive.
1. Curiosity
Never let your curiosity die or falter. I would look at successful people or careers that I’d like to emulate and initially feel despair and anxiety but then I would transition towards curiosity. I challenge you to become curious about how others got to where they are, ask questions but most importantly do your research. We are in the age of technology, use it to your best advantage. As you become curious you learn about how attainable certain aspirations are. Then slowly they become less ‘shooting for the stars’ aspirations and more ‘shooting for your seat at the table’.
For instance, I was curious about being a public speaker. I researched what it took to become a public speaker, did I need an agent or just an update of my LinkedIn? I luckily had 1–2 opportunities come in from my networks, and that grew into contacts outside my network reaching out to me for more speaking opportunities. Now, I am a budding public speaker. I’m not an experienced orator, I’ve never been part of a Toastmaster Club but I became curious and took on the initiative to explore and believe opportunities would be in abundance.
2. Pivot
Whichever industry you end up in the key to being able to transition (not always smoothly) is to know how to pivot your skill sets, experiences and perspectives. A friend of mine is phenomenal at this, he could easily be a PR founder, Lawyer, Business VP and Politician all in one. If you look at those career paths what do they all have in common? The gift of gab. The ability to have strong verbal communication skills. That may not be what you’re seeking but the takeaway is to identify your transferable skills and explore where they can take you. For him, being a strong communicator means he can easily build networks and follow-up on his networks for future opportunities.
If you know you’re a Generalist and in the next 3 or 5 years you want to pivot your career path, strengthen your transferable skills so that the pivot into a new industry is as effortless as possible.
3. Public and Private
This may seem very ‘common sense’ but sometimes common sense is scarce so I’ll tip my hat into the ring. The skill sets, networks and experiences you have in your day to day 9–5 are your holy grails within the industry you are currently working in. However, it may be difficult to translate your projects and accomplishments when you try to enter a new industry. One of the biggest challenges public servants face wanting to pivot into the private sector, is having zero presence in the private sector marketplace to cushion their transition.
If I’m an Engineer in public service, and want to eventually work at Microsoft there are things I will need to do to ensure my public presence will make me a competitive candidate. This can be, maintaining a portfolio website of my skill sets, keeping up with my certifications, staying engaged in Slacks/Discords and Reddits that engage with my industry and lastly maintaining network within that industry. You can tunnel vision on your industry and forget to maintain your public presence that can display those transferable skills and truly help you when you do choose to pivot.
4. Initiative
Last but certainly not least and at times the hardest to have isInitiative. You have to be a self-starter who is driven. There are many people who are ‘interested’ in building career paths they’d ideally dream of but are they implementing actionable things to get those goals? Probably not. I could tie this into discipline but I’ll try not to because quiet frankly I’m not the most disciplined person. I’m aware of this so I use my project management, organization and initiative skill sets to drive me. To some that may display discipline in my public presence and that works for me, work smart not hard. Whatever your special admixture of skill sets is to get you going on those new ventures, keep Initiative as the key ingredient to keep you going.
I hope we all are able to take-on being a Generalist with more enthusiasm and look forward to the growth, failures and joys together. This is my testament to you, I’ll keep going if you will.
