A 25-Year Career Share

When I was 16, I got my first job. I was blessed to meet many wonderful mentors, colleagues, influencers, and friends.?

25 years ago, I embarked on my career journey. Thereafter, I've had the pleasure and privilege to work with small and large organizations.

I take this work anniversary to reflect on what all the experiences have taught me and share these five perspectives.

A 25-year career to date. These are the five things that I have learned:

1. Know your motivations. Why are you in it? Why are you doing it? Are your personal and corporate purposes aligned? You need to be driven by something that gets you out of bed every morning. More than anything else, I am motivated by action, intellectual curiosity, my talents put to work, by doing the right thing for clients, colleagues, and the community in which we serve. And by doing that, I will have done the right thing for constituents, shareholders, superiors as well as for myself and my family. People may not be aware of what their motivations are early in their careers, but they will know what excites and energizes them. Let those things be the guiding principles of what motivates them. In some aspects, don't expect to be motivated every day to get out there and make things happen. You may or may not be. You cannot always count on motivation. Count on discipline.

2. Be YOU. This is the one I might have struggled with most. 25 years ago, I felt the necessity to blend in and be more ‘like’ others around me. It took a long time for me to realize that I am at my best, for myself and the company, when I am at my most authentic self; that I am at my most confident, productive, and happy, when I am me. And of course, the multiplier effect of us showing up as our true selves is significant. If a company hires the same type of person over again, it will be limited by the lack of diversity of thought, skill, and experience. If it hires people with different backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, genders, language skills, preferences and it tells them to “be yourselves”, the result is a multiplier effect that creates personal, corporate and societal benefits.

3. Embrace change. I said yes to every career opportunity put in front of me. The higher you climb an organization’s ladder each new opportunity is a steeper learning curve than the last. I got over the discomfort of settling into a new role at the same or new company/organization many times in my career and each time I benefited from the opportunity to learn, stretch, and reinvent. You can become a better version of yourself by embracing change.

4. Accept failure. Failure is just another opportunity to gain experience and grow. Recognize it can happen to you and anyone you know. Learn from it. This was another difficult one for me to internalize because failure was something I thought I couldn’t let happen. Yet, I’ve learned that by accepting stretch opportunities and assignments, things don’t always go to plan. Sometimes one will fall, but it’s how one picks themselves back up, dust themselves off, and learns from these experiences that create resiliency, experience and, ultimately, wisdom.

5. Winning is a team sport. Embrace the power of the group. Understand how a team can come together to deliver so much more than the sum of the parts ever can. Avoid gossip, toxic traits, and any negativity. Agreed motivations, develop partnerships, understand each other's strengths, and build trust. Build on you, your dreams and believe in yourself. Good teams always win in the long term, and they are more likely to enjoy working together.