Engineering Career Foundations: How to Future-Proof Your Career

"You can't build a great building on a weak foundation." ~ Gordon B. Hinckley

Foundations matter. In buildings, in roads, and in our careers. They are the strength that holds us up through the good times and the bad. The opportunities and the setbacks.

We don't have to be a civil or a structural engineer to see the importance of strong foundations in our infrastructure, but sadly it's something that most people neglect in their lives.

Too many people focus on external or surface level things rather than making sure what they are doing is coming from a solid base of values, focus, mindset, and intention.

If that's you, then keep reading!

Three Elements of a Strong Career Foundation

The image above visualizes the three key elements of a strong career foundation. I will share deeper details of each of these in turn in the future, but here is a brief summary of each one for now:

• Mindset - your thinking patterns determine your actions which determine results. Mindsets are like the lenses through which you see the world. If everything you do is self-focused and all about you, you're going to struggle creating meaningful relationships. If you don't think you can succeed, you'll probably be proven right. Becoming more aware of your mindsets and how they impact your career success can be a game changer.
• Career Clarity - do you know where you want to take your life and career? Do you know why? These are some of the questions you will want to answer in your quest for more clarity. To have career clarity, you don't need to feel like you have every step of your career mapped out for the next 20 years, but rather a focus on how you can have guiding values, principles, and desires you are shooting for which can inform your actions and goals.
• Personal Branding - this is all about communicating who you are and the value you deliver in a way that is easy for others to understand. This influences communication opportunities across documentation, networking conversations, interviewing, negotiations, and growing your leadership. How do you come across to others, whether they know you or not? You want to make that intentional, not accidental.

What Happens Without a Foundation?

Destruction, unhappiness, dissatisfaction, and chaos are the results of inadequate foundations. These are not things I've ever heard anyone say they want in their lives, and for good reason.

Sadly, without a foundation I see people who:

• Are driven by fear. They only see what the problems are and are seeking to avoid them. This means they have a hard time seeing and seizing opportunities
• Believe they aren't good enough. They don't think they can do it. They see others succeed and believe that kind of success isn't possible for them.
• Can't clearly communicate their value. They might see that they have value to give, but are afraid or unsure of how to share that with others in a way they understand.?
• Get frustrated and stop trying. They get apathetic. This is what really breaks my heart. They have lost all hope and resign themselves to not reaching their goals.

If anything in there sounds familiar to you, you have an opportunity to strengthen your career foundation!

What a Foundation Enables in Your Career

This is where it gets exciting. Your career foundation becomes a springboard for more success.

Here's just a few areas I see where a strong foundation can have an impact:

• Strong mindsets which help you see challenges as opportunities, ways to grow. You are in a positive frame of mind that helps you always move forward.
• Clarity in where you are headed which increases focus, motivation, and action.
• Confidence in your path - you know who you are and who you're becoming.
• A personal brand that clearly communicates who you are and the value you deliver.?

If those are things you want, then it's time to do some work.

Take Intentional Action

Do a quick self assessment on the current strength of your career foundation.?

To help you do this, you can look at the following questions:

• Do I have the confidence to upgrade my career?
• What are the most important things to me as I move forward?
• What are my greatest skills, strengths, and passions that could provide unique value to a potential employer or clients?
• Am I willing to do what it takes, and get out of my comfort zone to reach my goals?

If you can confidently answer these questions, great! If not, let's work on your foundation to get you to a place where you can. Identify one action you can take this week to help you improve your mindset, clarity, or personal branding!

Accelerate Your Career

If you're ready to accelerate your career and leadership further and want some help doing it, here are a few ways I can help when you're ready:

1. Get a FREE Engineering Leadership Guide - the Accelerate Your Leadership 90 Day Plan, specifically built for engineers and technology leaders (and those aspiring to become leaders in the future).
2. Enroll in the Engineering Career Accelerator - the exact system that dozens of engineers have used to go from confused to thriving in their careers.
3. Schedule a free call with me to talk about getting personalized 1:1 and group support on your goals.

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