Making Careers Count

Every once in a while, I believe it’s important to bust some of the prevailing myths of what goes into building careers. Just so we are all on the same page of what was, perhaps, reality in the past but could now, very well, be myth. These are in no particular order of importance but for your consideration.

Myth 1. People own their careers. From a time when the Company owned everyone’s careers, we have moved to the other end where people began to own their careers – and, sometimes, confusion reigned. Who decided job choices? When business demanded, did we end up telling our team member ‘not to apply’ to a job and, at the same time, counsel them that “their career was in their own hands!”. The reality is, and always will be, that careers are far too important to be left to either one, but have to be carefully “constructed” by employee and employer – if one were to look for a win-win. A career is a sequence of impact points and a well-managed career could take the individual to the prime of their potential.

Myth 2. Careers are just jobs strung together. It’s no secret that the architecture of a career is a series of incredible life experiences. Of which, the job is a key part, but only a part. The context, the market, the country, the team, the larger social purpose – all these are key ingredients that make each role a life experience, giving the employee holistic growth, in addition to vertical or economic growth.

Myth 3. Shifting jobs gets you growth. This is true to a certain degree. The greater the life experiences, the richer the tapestry of our careers. However, making each experience count is as important as having that experience. Hence, you want to ensure you stay long enough in an organisation to make an impact, and see the ups and downs. Staying long enough in the organisation also gives you credibility and the confidence to experiment and drive long-term value creation. The trick is to get a variety of experiences without having to change organisations.

Myth 4. Job descriptions matter. Interestingly, no longer. Jobs are a patchwork of impact points. They are merely the canvas on which you would need to paint. In a VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) world, each job is a combination of the past, the present and the future. And success comes to those who see each part of their job for what it is. The future is experimentation –  to do what is needed today but also to dabble in what would keep your job relevant for tomorrow. The job is constantly evolving, and with it surely, must the organization and the job holder.

Myth 5. Line Managers matter. They do. No doubt about it. However, line managers matter less and leaders matter more. And they may not, necessarily, be the same. In a day and age of information overload and a digital way of doing practically everything, the line manager is no longer a ‘director’ or even a guide. The line manager today, exists to support, to clear the path, to expand the canvas. Real jobs don’t depend on the line manager, real jobs depend on the vision we have of our jobs and the colours that our imagination can bring to paint on the canvas that is the role.

Myth 6. Careers breaks are career limiting. All experiences can build your career. What a hiatus is in one space can be a launch pad in another space. Agile is in, fixed is out. What’s agile and fluid doesn’t break, but merely flow around and collect even more and varied experiences. In an age when school and college dropouts have founded some of the most iconic companies, the mainstream might well be the ‘breaks’ in one’s career. In the world of the future, growth will come from discontinuities – not in salary or job title but in experience and skill sets. And “career breaks” might well become the secret sauce to accelerate career trajectories.

Myth 7. Curiosity kills the cat. Today, it’s the non-curious cat that could face extinction. It’s no longer skills or expertise that’s of value, as these can either be acquired, bought or outsourced. It’s the ability to keep learning and growing that matters most. The biggest life skill we can gift our children today, is the gift of curiosity – and the confidence to ask, “Why not?”

In the end, its important to remember. It’s not about career speed or velocity – it’s about longevity and impact. We all usually trudge along at similar paths for the first half of our careers. Trajectories get different in the second half – and winners are those who shape the first half wisely – building the base for a great second half.