All tagged Career Management
Stability is a pipe dream. We long for it and yearn for things to be normal, for things not to change.
The reality is that life doesn't quite work that way. The fact of the matter is, as I discuss in today's episode, that we're always in transition. Accept that idea and we're liberated.
Near the end of Crypto.com’s SuperBowl commercial earlier this year, in which Lebron James goes back in time to talk to his 17 year old self, the younger Lebron asks his future self what’s most on his mind:
“Is the hype too much? Am I ready?”
He’s looking for reassurance, of course, some certainty that the choices he’s about to make, the risks he’s about to take, are the right ones. Valid concerns for a 17 year old.
From a young age, we're programmed with the idea that we'll grow up to get a job and do our work. But we don't often consider what that means.
Why are we doing what we're doing? What are we trying to achieve? As I discuss in this episode, it has to be about more than the money - whose mission are we serving?
Risk is a hard concept to really come to grips with.
I mean, we intuitively understand that everything we do comes with some measure of risk, which we accept as a normal part of everyday life. For example, crossing the street, driving a car, or getting on a flight entails risk, but we don’t generally give it too much (if any) thought.
Getting advice is important.
From a young age, we’re taught (or at least should be) that it’s OK to ask for help, that we don’t have to figure out everything on our own, and that there are others who’ve tread our path before. So it’s not a weakness to reach out and ask for guidance. It is, in fact, a strength. I wholeheartedly agree with that.
At the same time, not all advice is equal and it’s well worth remembering a few basic things.
Sports allegiances are, for the most part, irrational.
When we root for a team, we do so for reasons that typically have no objective basis. And on that emotional basis, we become “supporters” - and, for those of us who take our support seriously, proceed to entrench ourselves in the traditions of the team.
This month's topics focus on personal war stories and observations.
Today's episode focuses on career management and specifically the fact that we cannot outsource our career management to others within our organizations, no matter how good or strong they might be.
In my old firm, we had a mentorship system whereby every individual was assigned a mentor at least one, if not two, levels up from their position. The role of the mentor was not just to provide day to day counsel but also to help guide the development of their mentees, and represent them during the performance appraisal process.
