How to re-calibrate your Career for Continued Success
The beginning of the year is when many professionals take stock of their careers and explore opportunities for career advancement. Many senior level executives, particularly those with at least a bit of “runway” left in their careers, mull over what to do to remain professionally competitive. Taking some time to periodically gauge one’s career performance can be beneficial for identifying whether one is setup for sustained career success, or in need of career retooling.
By retooling, I do not mean a wholesale career overhaul or change of career (that might not be a viable option for most senior executives at this stage in their careers). Rather, the focus here is on career re-alignment or re-calibration: figuring out how to remain competitive, how to sustain meaningful professional contribution, and how to maintain a valuable personal brand.
The following are five steps to consider if you find your career in need of retooling. Despite the executive focus of this post, the advice below can also benefit professionals at all levels:
1. Go back to basics: Think back to some of the qualities you worked hard to acquire as you began your management and leadership journey. Many of those qualities (as well as tips and techniques you learnt) might not seem so important now but they might still be beneficial to your performance. For example, early in my career, I learnt to effectively use a host of productive tools (including to-do lists), but over the years, I neglected these practices and for some time struggled with managing my increasingly complex schedules and priorities. Returning to these often-simple tools has allowed me optimal time management. Another vital habit that I had to re-adopt was reading. As a young professional, I read voraciously, but my reading slowed significantly as my career grew and I got busier with work and life. I have since rekindled this passion, albeit with a greater reliance on audio books during my commute.
2. “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” to borrow the title of an excellent book by Marshall Goldsmith (I highly recommend it). While this might seem like a contradiction of point number 1 above, it isn’t. Many of us assume that the habits and practices that got us to our current positions are the same ones we need to advance further, or to maintain professional relevance. That kind of thinking can be problematic because the business environment as well as the requirements of our roles change over time. For example, many technology executives got their advancement into management largely because of their technical expertise. However, technical expertise becomes relatively less important the higher up you go, while business acumen and people skills become progressively more important. It also bears remembering that the brands (personal or corporate) that survive best are those that continue to demonstrate value to, and as perceived by, those they serve. It is important to gauge how you are providing value to your organization, and what else you need to do and or know to continue increasing your value generating capability there or elsewhere. Thus, we need to adapt our focus and developmental energy to the changing demands of our roles, and in line with emerging business needs and trends. This ties in directly with the next point.
3. Maintain a learning agenda: Identify the skills and competencies you need to remain effective and competitive. These are typically industry or domain related competencies, as well as the more universal “soft” skills that you know (and or have been repeatedly told) you need to acquire/improve upon. Focus on two to three items at a time. Take advantage of the myriad of learning opportunities available, including industry publications and events, conferences, webinars, podcasts, etc. Business partners and vendors are also a good source of information. Volunteering to speak at professional events, or authoring expert opinion pieces, can provide you the motivation to research the topics on your learning agenda. Over the years, some of the topics that I had on my learning agenda have been topics that I have subsequently had the opportunity to speak on at conferences and industry events.
4. Take care of you: The life of an executive can be stressful — long days, filled with grueling schedule of events, mind-numbing flow of information, and often stressful interactions. This can have long-term adverse effects on one’s physical and mental health, as well as family life. To perform optimally (and to live to enjoy the fruit of one’s labor in good health), its important to maintain a healthy lifestyle that incorporates good diet, safe supplementation, regular exercise, and decent sleep habits. These are all important for staving off premature physical and cognitive decline and ensuring optimum performance. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) exercise routines can help time-crunched executives maximize the benefits of exercise in the smallest time possible. Also, I have found Dave Asprey’s Bulletproof podcast and his books to be great resources for health-related information.
5. Be Grateful: You’ve come a long way. Be grateful for the opportunities you’ve had, and for the people who have supported you along the way (family, mentors, colleagues, friends, etc.). It is easy to get caught up in the race to the top (and the struggle to survive there) while failing to see and enjoy what you have achieved along the way. Gratitude can be therapeutic, calming, and at the same time, invigorating. It can be a mild remedy for stressed minds. Remember to appreciate what you already have even as you aspire for more.
Active career management is essential for continued career success for professionals at all levels. Use these steps to keep your career on track and to improve your value-generating capability in an increasingly competitive business world.
