10 Ways to Create a Career Game Changer

Many times, you cannot predict a career game changer, till after it occurs. Career game changers are often unforeseen paths that are hard to foretell, as they are a series of unlikely connect the dots. A career game changer can be categorized as a major impact or catapult to your career, which drives it forward in a significant way. 

Since you cannot truly plan nor predict a career game changer, I wouldn’t target your career development plan in trying to manipulate one. Career game changers often happen as a result of many variables aligning to create a unique scenario. Use your career development plan as your strategy to reach your career goals. And use your attitude and mindset in helping create a likely scenario, where a career game changer can be born. 

This blog discusses the story of my own career game changer that demonstrates 10 actions you can take to create a more likely scenario, in which a career game changer is the result. 

1.    Say ‘Yes’Often - The two biggest game changers for my career both started out by me saying ‘yes’. The first was saying ‘yes’ to a site assignment in Mongolia. The second was saying ‘yes’ to moving to our Canadian Headquarters. The second game changer would never have happened, had I not said ‘yes’ to my site assignment, as the person who opened the door for me to go to our Canadian Headquarters, I met while working in Mongolia. 

Career successes often build off each other; each one serves as a step to the staircase that will take you to your goals and sometimes, an event will occur where you gain several steps with one major success. 

2.    Always offer to help - My career game changer at site, came after I offered to lead the turnover of the Fire Water System, no one wanted to do it, so I volunteered. When everything went belly up during its start-up, right at the same time the safety inspector was coming to test its operability; a perfect storm was created. When I was able to solve the problem and get it operating in time for its inspection, was how I built my reputation at site and because of this I was offered a team to lead. 

If you are able, always offer to help. There is a strong reciprocal effect generated by helping others, and you’re more likely to develop a network of supporters. You don’t always have to wait for opportunities to show up at your door, many opportunities will be evident once you develop awareness for being helpful. By offering your assistance when you recognize a need, makes you more aware of what’s going on around you and develops your reputation as a strong team player. 

3.    Don’t run away from difficulty – When I offered to commission the Fire Water System, it should have been an easy system to turnover, just three pumps and a few manual valves; yet it quickly became a great challenge, as all 3 pumps were either damaged during shipment or inoperable. At the same time of having the fire water system down, the Mongolian Government Safety Representative was coming to site to oversee and check that we had an operating Fire Water System during Commissioning. If the official was not content with our progress, he had the authority to shut down the entire site. All of the sudden, the Fire Water System became top priority and got the attention of the Deputy Project Director on the Client side. When I was able to solve this difficult problem, some amazing opportunities were presented to me.

Many career game changers are a result of when you are truly tested with a difficult challenge and you succeed. With great success comes growth, increased confidence and tested experience. Difficult problems require perseverance to solve, don’t run away at the first sign of difficulty; ensure you follow through on all your commitments. 

4.    Follow through on all your commitments – I had committed to turning over the Fire Water System; that is what I agreed to do when I volunteered. For those who are unfamiliar with industrial plants, they all have a fire water system that is designed to put out a fire in an emergency. There are strict safety regulations in designing a fire water system. The system needs to be operational before any full system turnovers can occur during commissioning, therefore it was at the upmost importance to have this system operating before the Mongolian Safety Representative came to site.

We started with the Diesel Fire Water pump, on our eighth start up, the pump failed to start, after some trouble-shooting; all I could conclude was the pump would not start. I called one of the Mechanical Technician I had met earlier on the project to come and help assess the problem. He was able to isolate the problem to the starter on the pump. We took it apart and analyzed the issue and concluded that it could not be fixed and would have to be replaced. After getting very familiar with our parts department, I realized we would need to order the part because we did not have a proper spare. Working on an isolated job in the middle of the Gobi Desert, you are looking at several weeks for parts to be shipped and to clear customs.

One pump was down, we then moved onto the Electrical Fire Water Pump. Unlike the diesel pump, this one never started. I was able to isolate the problem within the Electrical cabinet, so once again, I got on the phone and called a couple of Electrical Technicians and both came to assess the problem. Unfortunately, they were not able to isolate or fix the issue and therefore they called several more Electrical Technicians. No one could figure out what was wrong.  We decided the Vendor needed to be brought in to assist with the problem. The turnaround to get a vendor representative to site was four weeks. Two pumps were down, now onto the third. The Jockey Fire Water pump started and operated, but unfortunately the pump seal was damaged in shipping and therefore could not pump per design. After all that, all three pumps were down, and the safety representative would be there within a week. 

When obstacles present themselves, never run away, follow through on all your commitments. If I didn’t stick with this problem: 

• I would have lost out on leading my first team; 
• I would not have gained the best mentor of my career; 
• I would have missed out on the biggest leap in my career; and 
• I would have missed out on the learning and confidence I built by solving this problem.

 5.     Think outside of the box – With all three pumps being inoperable and no way to have them fixed within the week prior to the Safety Representative coming to site; required me to think creatively and outside the box. With some research and many phone calls, I was able to locate a diesel starter for the pump in China. We were able to send a representative to pick up both the Jockey pump seal and the diesel starter within the week and had the Fire Water System partially up and running by the time the Mongolian Safety Representative was at site.

Regardless of your responsibilities, be creative, be insightful; especially if others have failed prior to you being assigned the task or if there is no obvious solution. If status quo isn’t working anymore; don’t be a broken record, develop your own solution and be persistent till you succeed.

6.    Take Risks – Saying Yes is part of taking risks but taking risks is more than simply saying yes; taking risks requires you to leave your comfort zone. I did not know who I would meet while working abroad in Mongolia, it made me nervous when I got on that plane, but the world has a weird way of rewarding those who leave their comfort zone and chose the road less travelled. 

After I lead the successful turnover of the Fire Water System, I was approached by the same Mechanical Technician I called to help assess the diesel pump and was asked to join their turnover team.  We were behind schedule and he needed to put a team together to push schedule. I said “yes” to his offer and with that answer, I got the best mentor I have had in my career, who is still mentoring me to this day. The team started from the Primary Crusher and moved through the process, turning over equipment and systems and solving problems that arose. We continued this for the next four months. I cannot even quantify what I learned during those four months; it was exponential.  Pre-commissioning was complete, and I was given the opportunity to stay through Commissioning and decided to stay for the rest of my contract. Once I told the Client I would stay, I was promoted to be an Area Commissioning Lead. In this position, I got to lead, schedule and train operators. We conducted full system turnovers to the Client.  

7.    Be kind and fair to everyone – You cannot put a price on integrity. Be kind and fair to everyone you meet; this should not take effort; this should be instinct. If you cannot treat others kindly, you will have a hard time having team members that want to listen and follow you. Being humble is an absolute requirement for leadership. 

When I was stuck and unable to isolate what was wrong with the fire water pumps, the first people I called were the people who specialized in the areas I lacked and each of them dropped what they were doing to come and help me. The reason they did this wasn’t because I asked them nicely when I needed something from them; they did this because every interaction I had with each of them prior to this incident, I was kind and fair to them. By being kind and fair to everyone, you create a larger support group and if you need their help, they usually come because they care and don’t want to see you fail.

8.    Be Visible – Being visible is an important variable to building a strong reputation and a name that sells. People need to see you being persistent, solving difficult problems and being the solution. If they witness these things, they are far more likely to speak of them to others. When you are in the early stages of your career, it is important that your boss knows that you are delivering results. You want to build your reputation as a ‘go too’person and be labelled a high potential, so you are offered more opportunities. This cannot happen if your boss (the person responsible for your next promotion) is unaware of your high performance.

My career game changer at site was extremely visible by both my leadership team and the Clients; therefore, when I solved it under a tight schedule, it impressed all the right people and I was promoted as a result. 

When you are delivering high quality results; you want them known and visible. This is not the time to be the ‘proverbial tree in the forest,’ if it falls and no one hears it, did it make a sound? You don’t want people questioning if you are performing, you want it to be visible and well known.

9.    Build a strong network – Those who value relationships tend to develop strong and loyal ones. By being kind and fair, you will be far more likeable. By delivering on your commitments till you succeed with the desired results, your reputation will grow to build a strong name. With a strong reputation and the ability to deliver, you will grab people’s attention, and this is how you will build a diverse network with a far business reach.

When you offer to help; when you say ‘yes’ to challenges and leave your comfort zone, you will meet more people. When you succeed in these challenges, you will impress more people, making your network stronger. Had I not gone to Mongolia; my second career game changer may never have happened. I met the person, who got me an assignment to our Canadian Headquarters in Mongolia. I impressed them; this is why they opened a door and helped me. 

10.  Become a Safe Bet - By showing discipline, following through on my word and seeing the job through till we got the desired results, I was able to gain the respect of my colleagues and some amazing opportunities were presented to me. 

If you want to be accepted as an equal, and respected as a professional, go out and get results. Do not run from your responsibilities at the first sign of difficulty.  I asked my mentor at site why he asked me to join his team when there were many other choices and his answer was “because I cared enough to see a project to the end, and he needed someone who would finish.” 

My advice is simple: look for opportunities to gain experience, knowledge and growth and be the solution. When you are the solution, you have become a safe bet and influential people will invest in you.