HOW TO TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR CAREER

Imagine your career as your favourite car model. Which car will it be?

Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, Nissan, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Bentley, Honda, Subaru, Fiat or Mitsubishi.

In order for you to claim ownership of that car, you have to take responsibility of what happens to it. This means taking it for a drive, and good maintenance so that it can serve you well over a long period of time or for the purpose to which you acquired it for.

In the same way, driving that car will give you a sense of ownership and knowledge as to when the car needs to be serviced and by whom. For it to maintain its state, you will need to procure the services of a professional mechanic so that they do not take shortcuts and cost you more in the long run.

Whether you want to believe it or not, your career is your responsibility; you are in charge of it 100%. It is easy to think that somebody else ruined your career but you always have a part to play in it. Yes, things may not always go as expected but it then gives you the choice of how you will react to the unexpected bump or pothole on the road to your career success.

Your career will only go as far as you want it to.

Think of your career process in this way:

The buy: this is the decision you make that includes the model of the car, the features and the price you are willing to pay to own it and drive it. This is the decision that you make on the profession you will take, the amount of time and work you are willing to put in, in order to succeed.

The car: your career

The keys: your initiative to keep going and be intentional about your journey.

The driving licence: your qualification to get that job.

Scratches and dents: the conflicts you will encounter with your colleagues and bosses; you can either decide that they are too expensive to ignore and do something or you can decide it was a small hit but you will keep going.

Major accident: this is a place you do not want to be, yet it is a reality. Picture drivers with road rage who end up exposing other road users to unnecessary dangers and risks on the road because of their sense of entitlement.

In the career context, it is when you make a mistake that could likely cost you your job. For example, poor performance, gross misconduct, gossiping, rumourmongering, becoming a threat to others, negligence, and unacceptable behaviour in the workplace. Many times this can be avoided by continuously practising professionalism in the workplace, exercising emotional intelligence, respecting authority and maintaining professional boundaries.

Service and maintenance: Your car will need to go for full service after a given mileage, often between 5,000-10,000km. These are the continuous development initiatives you take on to polish your skills: the courses, trainings and certifications you bag along the way to make sure you stay relevant in your profession. Additionally, this involves the people you meet in your career journey who you engage to help you as support warriors, to keep you accountable, they are your bosses, mentors, sponsors (people who have a seat at the decision table and can have certain influence to fast pace your career), the professional help or learning that you partake. All this is part of your professional and personal growth, your skills, and networking learning opportunities.

The tyres: when the treads of the tyres are worn out, it’s time to change them. This will be your way of changing strategy in order to see or get different results. Whatever you are doing is not bringing you the expected results and you must therefore be intentional on what you want to see change to get the anticipated results.

Bumps on the road will automatically call for you to slow down; this helps you think deeper and give you a chance to change direction where need be.

Potholes will probably hurt a bit, but will help you become more resilient: when you are taking the wrong direction and a major blunder happens, it calls for you to slow down in order to recover. Certain potholes are bad enough to damage your car. There will be incidents and circumstances that will pull you back really hard; think of retrenchment, receivership, end of a contract or getting terminated. You have to go home and regroup so that you can be better prepared for the next opportunity. Just like if the car has a broken part, you will need money to replace the parts and time for the repairs to be done.

A missed turn: ?this means you have to drive a bit further. It is a missed career opportunity that will drive you to work a few more seasons before your next one comes. This could be a promotion or job opportunity you did not pay attention to, so you have to work a little smarter to be a great candidate for the next opportunity.

Stop signs: Meaning that you have to wait until your turn to keep driving. This is the time to think and reflect on what is going on. What is working, what is not working and how you can improve the situation.

U-turn- This calls for a change in the direction you were driving.?This means a total change of direction or transition of your career. It is probably that time when you discover that things are not working out and decide that it is time for a major change. This can come with a lot of uncertainty; it is important to think through the process before you make your career change or transition.

Fuel infiltration: When you drive into a petrol station and the attendant puts contaminated fuel, which may be mixed with water or paraffin, automatically your engine light goes on (typically the tap symbol on most dashboards) or the car will jerk on the road. This is when you make those mistakes that feel like there is no turning back, they feel expensive, irreversible but can be resolved with patience and the right skillset or mentorship. These are the lessons that you take with you after a hard hit but can either make or break you. You really have to make the decision of what it will be.

The drive- being your career journey

The right and left turns the different directions you have to take in order to arrive at the various destinations that represent the different seasons of your career.

Car wash: It always feels nice to drive a clean car, so think of this as your professional outlook, personal hygiene, your integrity, ethic and etiquette in the workplace. People want to be around someone who is professional, presentable, considerate, courteous and can be relied upon.

The Car sale & upgrade: It is very exciting to drive a new car! The same applies to when you change jobs to a better one or get a promotion to a position you deserve and have worked so hard for.

What stage of driving are you in? Do not give up! Think about your career journey as a process. It is in the process that we grow, we learn and change our habits. Embrace each process and consider it as a stage of maturity.

Whatever the model of your car, it is only as good a drive as your habit of maintaining it.

?

?