The Career Strategy Framework

Labor Day presents an opportunity to reflect on our work and how we spend our finite time. Each of us has a choice to pursue the work we love and leverage unique talents in ways like no one else. It was this choice paradox that spawned my curiosity in 2006 and throughout my ten-year career at Microsoft. I found myself authoring a framework, leading career strategy workshops, and speaking at career events to help colleagues take control of their destiny. It was an unintended journey that chose me. On many occasions, after a workshop or talk, people asked me about "the book"; when would I write it? I laughed and downplayed it nervously, but they were sincere. There was even one colleague who offered to edit my draft content and help publish it. The notes and slides would remain dormant for many years until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.?

With the world and my day job on hold, I saw the opportunity of a lifetime in April 2020. I envisioned a kind of handbook that synthesized a set of laws of strategy and mindset to reach your full potential. I had been thinking about this for years. I would distill what I have learned throughout my career and the wisdom I gathered from books I read. The value prop was to save people valuable time with access to a set of mental models for navigating a career. It's not a quick-fix set of answers, but it serves as a catalyst for self-reflection and taking action.

I decided against a book but rather an online format that would align with how I build data and software - iterative, adaptable, and never done. It's never easy starting something you put off for many years. The pandemic was spurring thoughts of death on my unconscious mind. The thought of not sharing my ideas and experience to guide the future careers of my five kids was enough motivation to start writing. I flashed back to 2015 on my last day with my father with a notebook that I wrote down answers to questions and perspectives I wanted to capture before he died. Over many weekends, I translated raw content and new ideas into written form. The act of writing was therapeutic given the uncertainty of the pandemic. There were times I would stop, but then I kept on telling myself the primary audience was six people - my five kids and me. It did not need to be perfect. Coincidentally, I received a few LinkedIn messages from former Microsoft colleagues who were still referencing my content. I viewed this as a sign to keep going until I delivered a "minimal viable product".?

As a perfectionist, it would be easy not to share your work of art until you have dissected it to death. But if one person can find a nugget amongst the rubble to make them think harder about the work they do, who they are, and act as a catalyst for change, then I am good with that. The "Career Strategy Framework" content is available on my Teachable website and iOS mobile app at?https://coach.jamesgray.io/p/career-strategy-framework. Consider this a "v1" release of my writing and audio to describe the "laws" for reaching your full potential.?The content is a compilation of my ideas and those of other writers, strategists, and leaders that I admire.

The primary purpose of this post is to thank my former Microsoft colleagues who inspired me to think bigger. It's also a reminder that each of us has limited time to focus our labor on what matters most. That choice is freedom and power that no one can take away from you. Use it wisely and to your advantage. Work is hard, at times frustrating, but it defines much of who we are. I have always believed that reaching our full potential is the "work" we do in the workplace?and?at home.??

Thanks for listening.?

-James