by Vin Bittencourt | MBA Bites S1 Episode 1
Here's a universal truth about money and work: most people have jobs, some people have careers, and very few people have a true calling. What do you have?
If you are to find purpose, prosperity and meaning in life, you have to aim at a career at least. A career will give you financial security and tradeable skills, whereas a job is mostly a dead-end venture with limited opportunities for learning and growing that most people have to keep up.
While it’s true that most rewarding careers take years of experience and education, the digital economy offers plenty of opportunities that requires certifications and some sort of specializations. So, mostly, what you need is a game plan to jump into a career track that gives you flexibility, opportunities for learning and growing and, obviously, a high earning potential.
But more than a game plan, every professional must operate with the three must-haves of career acceleration:
The right company
The right boss
The right projects
Your growth and earning potential is directly related to the quality of the people and the quality of projects you touch. Essentially, that’s what it is. And while most people complain about how unfair the system is or why they’re not moving along as fast as they wanted, the reality is that one of these three pillars is probably not in place, either is the wrong company, the wrong boss or the wrong kind of projects, based on the person’s individual attributes, personality, talent and skills, and the things he/she is capable to contribute towards.
We’re experiencing the digital divide, the age where artificial intelligence and software dictate the future of work. Estimates reveal that over 50% of today’s jobs will cease to exist or get completely transformed in the 2020s. So when it comes to manage your career, hope is not a method and luck is a not a strategy in the professional world of the machine age. You gotta take control of your career and search for the education and the experiences to advance. If you don’t, you risk becoming a fatality.
On a digital based economy, companies want to maximize relationships instead of transactions. They’re less focused on selling things and more focused on connecting, while exponentially growing their user bases and market share. With digital platforms/software and relationships at the cornerstone of value creation, the only thing between you and unemployment is insane people, communication and innovative thinking skills. And that’s something which requires a career plan, because only a career plan helps you build the education, skill set and knowledge not only to participate, but thrive on the digital economy.
So your goal is to become a word-class professional. Why? Because only as a world-class professional you’ll get access to career accelerating projects that create a winning portfolio of successes. While everybody else does day-to-day/admin stuff that usually leads nowhere, world-class professionals engage in high quality, high visibility projects that really move the needle in organizations. The fastest way to grow anywhere is by bringing tangible results. High quality projects is the vehicle for that. But those are rare, to find such opportunities, you need to build solid relationships of trust and mutual respect that allow you to compete for resources internally and be able to connect with people on an emotional level, especially those in positions of power and influence, who can steer great projects your way. In other words, this approach demands you become a world-class professional.
But how do you become a world-class professional? In general, world-class professionals are people who master skills into five distinct domains:
People and political skills
Thinking skills
Communication skills
Leadership skills
Technical/Domain level skills
People and Political Skills: As mentioned, people and political skills are necessary to connect with others in general and build relationships for access to the winning projects. It requires self-awareness, emotional intelligence, a deep-seated understanding of who you are and where you’re going as an individual. More than anything, it requires fit, so you can operate with authenticity and get meaningful opportunities to shine by using your unique strengths, passions and talents.
Thinking skills: The ability to deploy conceptual, analytical, critical thinking to constantly look at the big picture in search of opportunities and solutions to new problems. Innovative and creative thinking are more practice and experimentation than innate talent. But you gotta make a habit of looking at things with a critical eye. Amid fast growing technological and competitive changes, great companies look for people who are capable to deliver on innovative solutions, who can use common sense and operate with a fair degree of autonomy. Gone are the days where bosses told collaborators exactly what to do and how to do it. The most interesting jobs of today demand your capacity to look at the big picture and find your way in.
Communication skills: Includes superior writing and verbal communication. But mostly the capacity to articulate thoughts clearly and concisely, plus the ability to tell great stories, narratives that impact, connect and persuade. Cross cultural communication, empathy and active listening are also key competencies to develop in the age of globally remote, cross-functioning, diverse teams.
Leadership Skills: Regardless of role or position, the most interesting companies look for ownership's mentality. They expect initiative from collaborators at every level, plus capacity to drive change collaboratively, while being self-reliant and responsible. Eventually, career growth demands that you become a leader of people, but before you get to lead others, you must learn how to lead projects, coordinate resources, achieve outcomes efficiently and independently. In other words, you need to hone your leadership competencies.
Technical/Domain Level Skills: The last domain competency of the world class is technical expertise. As much as it’s important to be multifaceted and versatile, at some point you’re going to have to build domain technical expertise in this hyper specialized landscape of today. Being IT, database management, marketing, finance or design, the technological and competitive environment of the digital age demand expertise. And while companies talk about diversity of experiences, everyone hires the person with the project experiences that are closer from what the role demands, including industry, technology, process oriented skills that are not easily transferable.
Takeaways from this article and related episode
Most people have dead end jobs that don’t deliver on financial reward and growing opportunities. To find those things, you need a career.
Your career growth depends on the quality of the projects and the quality of the people you associate with. Fit is everything. Be part of an environment that relies on your specific skills, traits and behaviors is critical. The three must haves of every career acceleration are (1) The right company, (2) The right boss and (3) The right projects (for you).
Companies are too busy fighting for survival in the digital age. Therefore, the responsibility to manage your career is yours. Luck is not a method and hope is not a strategy in the professional word of the machine age.
To take control, you need a game plan to become a world-class professional. Only as a world-class professional you get access to career accelerating projects. To get there, you better up your game on these five domains: (1) People and political skills, (2) Thinking skills, (3) Communication skills, (4) Leadership skills and (5) Technical domain expertise (preferably in a fast-growing industry).
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