We have all heard the stories, from our friends, family and quite possibly out of our own lips. About the company that wants, needs and demands more. More effort, capability, performance and results. Demands from an overworked and stressed-out boss who has the time to portion out work, but not to provide the feedback and development to help achieve the outcomes.
It is easy to fall into a trap of complaining about the unfairness of this situation, but if you allow yourself to do so, Robert Scherzer Lead your Career you will be missing out on a great opportunity. The opportunity to take charge and lead your career.
Face it, the business environment is tougher than ever before. Global competition and tight credit markets require companies to be on a constant quest for improved productivity to stay competitive and fund future growth. Increased productivity usually means fewer employees doing more. It is not driven by some evil conspiracy to torment employees and make them miserable. It is simply a fact of business life in the new millennium. The sooner you accept this fact, the faster you can exploit it to your advantage. When you get lemons, make lemonade.
This quest for productivity and ever increasing demands on employees provides an ideal backdrop to lead your career to a desired outcome. No longer do you have to wait until someone retires or quits to create an opportunity to get ahead. The constantly changing environment provides the perfect platform on which to build your career. But you need a plan.
Do not wait for your boss or someone else in your company to chart your career objective and development plan for you. You could be waiting a very long time. And it makes no more sense to abdicate the responsibility to lead your career than to lead your family or any other aspect of your life. C'mon, it's your career. There is no one else qualified to lead it but you.
Do not take a half-step in the hope that you can "manage" your career. I hear this expression way too much and it does not convey the at-stakeness of the situation. No this is a leadership moment, your leadership moment, starting now. Stop complaining, get off the sideline and into the game.
Sure you are likely to stumble from time to time. Just get back up and move ahead. Watch how quickly you move past your peers who are waiting for someone else to do this for them. Teddy Roosevelt said it best- "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
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