On the other hand, frequent renewal of the job decision forces an individual to weigh alternatives and, if the present position is best, all things considered, to identify why this is the case and capitalize on it. The rethinking of experience or skill needs may call for a second look at work underway to determine if it is being exploited fully. This can bring a fresh approach to work and may well force a change in work methods, results, and timing.
Knowledge of the Enterprise
It is not enough to grasp assigned job duties. Growth lies in understanding what the institution-the business or industry or organization-is all about. What is its purpose? What markets docs it serve? What do its customers or clients value? This evaluation allows a view of one's work from an important perspective. It means a greater realization of what the manager above you does or should want and need. It means seeing your mission not only from your standpoint but from above and from the outside looking in. This new view invariably influences ways, means, and results so that these become more meaningful for the corporation. The successful career manager takes the initiative to find out about the total business. He can't wait until someone remembers to tell him about it. He does his homework with annual reports and similar documents. He asks questions and goes to informative meetings.
High Work Standards
When you renew your decision to remain in your position and study its contribution to your career advancement, looking at it from the perspective of market and customer values as if you were the owner-manager, your standards are changed and raised in subtle yet visible ways. Association with others doing similar work helps you adjust your standards to current professional levels as well. Meetings of trade associations, professional seminars, and the like all contribute information by which your standards evolve. Books in the field assist in the process. Improved contribution should be the result.
The Importance of Work Relationships
Relationships with associates, whether above, below, or at the same level in the organization, are the key to much of current and future success in all work efforts. Today's complex jobs demand contributions from many others besides oneself. A failure to obtain this contribution clearly limits one's growth.
Review and Reorientation
Each of us needs to sit down periodically and quietly evaluate where we are, what we have learned from our various experiences, and what the learning has meant to us. Is the measure of growth sufficient? Or have we let experiences wash over us without touching us significantly? And if we have made the most of our experiences, has it changed the target or the timing of our career efforts?
Flexibility
In spite of our best efforts to know ourselves and to set our career paths in reasonable directions, it often happens that new fields open up rather dramatically and unexpectedly. If we are managing our careers capably, we should be on the alert for such new opportunities and flexible enough to pursue them.
The Need for Special Help
When asked about their success, top executives frequently mention the contributions of former managers or associates.
These may have served as models. They may have aroused interest along certain lines. Perhaps they encouraged or discouraged the investment of effort in certain career directions. They might have held high expectations and displayed great confidence.
There are certain instances, moreover, in which individuals are greatly in need of help from others. Recognizing this fact early and deliberately seeking such help are important.
The uncertain man. Many men even of mature age are remarkably uncertain of what they would like to do with their lives. This uncertainty may arise because they have little talent or too many talents or because their energies are so diverted by personal defenses that there is little energy left for fundamental decision making.
Early in his career the uncertain man needs to seek the advice of professional guidance counselors or personnel placement specialists. He should be cautious about the qualifications of such people. But if their credentials are substantial, it's probably a safe beginning to follow their advice to a reasonable extent. As the career unfolds, periodic suggestions should also be sought.
This individual should investigate these professionals and talk to more than one to be sure he is on the right track.
The overly ambitious man. The overly ambitious man is even more dependent on external feedback. He is perhaps too confident of his own abilities; he doesn't want to live with his decisions; he wants to move ahead now, whatever costs may be involved. His relationships often suffer because of his vigorous pursuit of personal interests. He needs a strong manager with very high standards, one whom he respects and to whom he will listen.
The timid man. The timid man may feel he never knows enough or has had enough experience to be ready for more
responsibility. He needs to chose a boss who does trust him and who may push him ahead faster than he feels he is ready to go.
The inflexible man. A man who sees only one way to do things may find himself terribly limited by his narrow view. He needs to pick people to work with who are spontaneous and creative and who will refuse to accept his set ways, people who will in fact laugh at him if he persists in clinging to outmoded or inferior work methods.
Another form of rigidity shows up in the man who sets his career course and makes up a timetable as we have recommended. But as his work progresses, he becomes overly concerned if he doesn't meet his scheduled objectives. He must recognize that timetables and directions are only approximations and need to be viewed with reason. If such a man finds that after a year in one position he hasn't yet moved to a new one, he shouldn't make rash moves. He should put himself on probation instead and say, in effect, "From now on I'll be alert to opportunities. Nothing hasty, but within the next six or eight months I should make a move." It would be advisable for him to seek an unbiased third party to counsel him and verify his thinking.
In short, then, an individual can be his own career manager. But he does not function in isolation. He seeks helpful contributions: personal examples, work assignments, counsel and reactions from others. If he chooses to join an organization, he alerts himself to its promotion system and makes full use of it.
