Where Do I Go?

I am often asked, in career discussions, “where do I go?”   

My thoughts are that life is full of hard choices, you will not make all the right decisions, all you can do is choose the best path and never look back.  

We are often very focused on moving up.  Sometimes without thought of, “am I ready?”  It is like building a house - if we do not spend enough time building a great foundation, eventually the house will crumble.  

So, where do I go?

I feel that our careers are sometimes like a poker game.  What cards do you hold to get ahead (win the game)?  Think of your five cards as: education, experience, performance, potential, and relationships.  How do you measure up against your peers in each of those five areas?  If you do not have aces in each area, it will be harder to win the game (get promoted).  

In today’s world, education is not just the degrees you hold, it is accreditations, certificates, executive MBAs, technical certifications, AND all the current online content and coursework.  The definition expands daily.  And the key here is continuous improvement and development in this area.  Self-check question, if you feel under educated compared to your peers, you may want to amp up your learning plans.  

Experience in the world today is more about expansion and diversity.  Are you well-rounded?  Have you been a technical specialist and managed a team and managed a P&L and worked in different industries or roles?  If so, you become more valuable to any company you work for.  What can I do?  Ask for new experiences, volunteer for projects outside your area, find mentors NOT in your functional area.  

Performance would seem self-explanatory - but you would be surprised at how many people overlook this.  How do you perform against your goals?  Your manager’s expectations?  Your peers?  Your perceived potential?  If you are not at the top in each of these areas, time to step up.  

Potential.  Often discussed and often hard to quantify. This is where EQ and IQ intersect.  Do your supervisors see you in a larger or more complex role?  Do your peers respect and admire how you work with others?  Do you have the ability to learn more, do more, and be more?  Does the senior team “see you” with the ability to have a role two levels above where you are?  These are discussions we have about our talent and potential.  Every company may have a variation on this definition.  How do you know?  Ask.  Take some folks to lunch, individually and ask them each this question, “if you could pick two areas for me to focus my development on, what would they be and why?”  Please do not be defensive and view this feedback as gold.  If you ask ten people this, you will start to see how the world views you.  

Relationships.  The world is built on relationships.  Corporate America is built on relationships.  Your company is built on relationships.  Your success is built on relationships.  I am seeing a trend here.  The point is to not undervalue your time and effort spent working on your relationships.  A quick exercise: look at the top 20 people that are important to your success and list them.  Now give each person an A, B or C based on solely the strength of your relationship.  If they are not all As - you have some work to do. 

So, where do I go?

The answer is self-discovery. Take inventory of your five cards and look to improve in areas you can.  Challenge yourself.  Use others to gain feedback.  Build your foundation.  

Together.  We.  Win.  

PS: For any folks early in your career, I wish someone told me this when I was just starting out.

Dave Harmon
People Division
“Kindness is Currency”
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidharmonhr

Look for us on: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram,  Facebook, The Muse, Glassdoor and Gannett Careers