Navigating a Career? Some Qs/cues to accelerate (or jump start) your journey

There’s never been a more exhilarating time to consider a career in marketing. But in an industry filled with rich choices and possibilities, how can we focus on the career that we want, while keeping our skills refreshed, informed and relevant?

I’m looking forward to sitting down with Adweek’s Lisa Granatstein and GE’s Linda Boff at AdWeek’s NexTech conference this week to talk about how the rules of engagement are changing for women forging careers in technology and marketing. I’m sure I’ll be tapping into my own career journey, as I did recently when I met with 32 members of our AT&T Executive Women’s Leadership Exchange – a group of highly accomplished professionals who are part of AT&T’s premiere talent development program.

One of the many things we discussed: What it takes to successfully chart a career – a journey that for all of us is sometimes complicated, as both opportunities and challenges present themselves along the way.

First, it’s always good to be clear about your ambitions and career goals. Over the years, I’ve found that many people find it difficult to articulate what they want or, if they do, to pluck up the courage to tell others. But we can’t expect our supervisor and other advocates to know us as well as we know ourselves. However good a company may be at talent management, a boss may be too busy, biased, or uninformed to know what we truly want.

So we should all ask ourselves this question: “What do I want?” … and say the answer out loud. Practice your pitch, and then begin to tell the people that matter – loved ones, your supervisor, others in your organization and colleagues beyond it.

Next, we all need advocates. None of us can go it alone.

We recently asked Carla Harris, vice chairman, managing director and senior client advisor at Morgan Stanley, to speak at AT&T’s “Leading with Distinction” conference (one of our annual leadership development forums about strategy, leadership and culture). Carla is evangelical about the need to build a network of diverse and trusted relationships with people who, in turn, will be more motivated to amplify your strengths and advocate for you when the next big opportunity rolls around. Hear more about what Carla has to say (you won’t be disappointed). With Carla’s message in mind, I’ve learned over the years that it’s important to ask this question: Who can be my advocate and help me see ways to move toward what I want?

We’re all on a career journey of sorts, and it’s rarely (if ever) a straight line from ambition to dream job.

Carla also reminded us that being smart is not enough. We all need a plan, and the courage to use our voices, innovate and take risks in service of that plan. So another useful question to ask: What is my plan and what risks should I take to help advance what I want in my career?

Yet another question: Am I keeping my skills relevant in a workplace defined by near-continuous technology and business model shifts.

I’ve never stopped asking myself this question. All of us need to stay on a journey of continuous learning. To help my AT&T Communications Global Marketing Organization (GMO) team stay current in their knowledge and skills, we designed a comprehensive program this year on how to be – as we’ve coined the term – 21st Century Marketers. The program is one of many like it across AT&T, part of the company’s focus to keep our employees “future ready” by equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to stay relevant for a future at AT&T, and in the world’s ever-evolving job environment. Kudos to the GMO team lead by Deniz Kustu, for making this happen.

If your company has training resources, use them! And if they don’t, there’s lots of different courses and tutorials out there to help your skills stay current and relevant. 

We’re all on a career journey of sorts, and it’s rarely (if ever) a straight line from ambition to dream job. Like life, careers often twist and turn as we seize opportunity, confront complexity and overcome the obstacles put in front of us. There’s no one way to achieve success. But we can definitely take a step toward clarifying our career goals – and, importantly, enlisting others to help along the way.

But tell me what you think about these questions. And what else has worked for you? I’d love to hear from my fellow professionals out there.