In my last article, I wrote about a class I have taught for many years at the Securities Industry Institute at Wharton called Strategies for Life Success. In that class, we look at the life you want to create, the values that will guide you, and how you define success. Starting in 2027, I will follow that class with a new program on building an outstanding career. Your career is a major part of your life. It is how you earn a living and where you will spend a significant amount of your time, so it also deserves careful thought.
You can’t plan exactly where your career will be ten or twenty years from now. You can decide where you would like to go and plan for the next three to five years. Consider the kind of work you would enjoy, the level of responsibility you would like to have, and what you would like to accomplish professionally.
One of the first questions I will ask participants in the new class is:
What must you begin doing now to significantly increase the probability that you will have the career you want?
Many people leave their career to chance and hope that good opportunities come their way. I would rather be as prepared as possible. If I get lucky along the way, that’s fantastic.
I approach this through something I call Me, Inc. I look at it as if you are running your own small consulting firm. Your company is buying your time and expertise, and you are responsible for making sure what you bring to the organization continues to be in demand. Just as a successful business needs a clear strategy, you need one for increasing your value and building the career you want.
The next question is, what will it take to make Me, Inc. highly successful?
What skills, knowledge, and experience make you stand out? Where are the gaps between what you can do today and what will be required for the career you want? Those gaps show you where to focus your development.
Some of that growth will come from your employer. I tell people to assume that their organization will provide about 30 percent of the development they need to move their career forward. The other 70 percent is up to them. Take advantage of the training and opportunities your company provides, and take ownership of everything else you need to learn.
That becomes even more important as your industry changes. The skills and knowledge that have served you well may become less useful over time. Pay attention to where your field is going and keep learning.
A practical way to do that is to create your own personal curriculum.
Decide what you need to learn and how you are going to learn it. That might include books, courses, conferences, or spending time with people who have expertise you want to develop.
You don’t have to do all of that learning on your own.
Mentors and other people you respect can draw on their experience, give you a perspective you might not have considered, and expose you to new opportunities. I have benefited enormously from people who have taken the time to guide me throughout my career. Those relationships take time to build, and they are well worth the effort.
Developing yourself will require an investment of time and energy.
I describe this as being willing to pay the price. Every significant career goal has a price attached to it. It may mean taking a difficult assignment, putting in extra hours for a period of time, going back to school, or making other choices that require something from you. You have to decide whether the career you say you want is worth what it will take to create it.
Another part of Me, Inc. is your brand.
In business, I tell companies to define the words they would like customers to use when describing them. The same idea applies to your career. If someone asked a colleague about you, what would you want that person to say?
Write down the words you would hope to hear. Perhaps you want people to describe you as trustworthy, knowledgeable, creative, dependable, or someone who gets things done. Whatever words you choose, they give you a standard to live up to. Your actions and the quality of your work should consistently support the reputation you want to build.
Over time, that brand becomes part of how people know you. It can influence the assignments you are offered, who wants to work with you, and the opportunities that come your way. You don’t get to declare what your brand is. Other people decide based on their experience with you.
As your career develops, keep checking that the path you are on is still taking you somewhere you want to go.
You will learn more about yourself and the kind of work you enjoy. New opportunities will come along that you could not have anticipated. Having a clear idea of what you are trying to create will help you decide which ones are worth pursuing.
These are some of the ideas I will explore in the new Building an Outstanding Career program at SII. My goal is to give participants the time and tools to take a serious look at the career they want and what they can begin doing to create it. I hope the questions and exercises I’ve shared here encourage you to do the same.
You are going to spend a tremendous amount of your life working. That time can provide far more than a paycheck. It can give you work you genuinely enjoy and a real sense of professional achievement. You have a great deal of influence over the career you create. Use it.
If you would like to bring the Building an Outstanding Career program to your organization, send me a note.
Organizations are expecting more from the people they bring in to speak.
Event planners are looking for a strong keynote, practical tools their audience can use, and a speaker who understands how much work goes into making the event successful.
John Spence has spent more than 25 years speaking at association events. His work begins well before he walks on stage, with careful planning around the audience, the organization, and what the session needs to accomplish.
Planning an association event? See John’s programs and approach.
