By Dave Woods
Career greatness is the realization of optimal personal and professional productivity; the tapping of one’s natural competencies and passions in conjunction with learned skills and inherent inner drive. A close alignment in these areas leads to a fulfilling career, and a peaceful and productive life. It has been sought by many, yet realized by few. Many of us feel unfulfilled on the job, or feel underutilized by the system that employs us. It does not have to be that way.
The demand for financial leaders is great, which is good for our careers. The personal fulfillment aspect, however, tends to be the trickier part. If we choose to move up, or laterally, to new challenges within our careers, we need to look critically at all the opportunities, remembering to try to align ourselves for career greatness. This is difficult, but possible, and certainly worthwhile.
One of the benefits of aligning our careers with our passions is that we will be working within our natural capability set. Therefore, the work comes naturally to us and provides more satisfaction. Less energy is consumed when working on something that is interesting and within our capability. This results in more time and energy for the non-work passions we value, like family and hobbies. Working toward this career greatness taps into our internal drive to use our skills to their fullest, challenge our minds, and broaden our experiences.
So, how do you explore the concept of career greatness? First, start with an exploratory review of who you are as a person: determine your preferences, capabilities, values, and passions. Know your inherent personality and intellectual capacity. Once you explore yourself and your natural tendencies, look at your interests and create a comprehensive personal profile. Next, create the criteria, based on your preferences, needed to assess career opportunities as they arise. Proactively defining what a great role means to you is the first step toward realizing it. A word of caution: you must be brutally honest when evaluating your abilities and capabilities.
Proactive career management is only the start to career greatness. The broader acts of self-discovery, personal goal setting, and active definition of your personal legacy all help formulate the exceptional career...and the exceptional person. A definition of the role that your occupation will play in your life is critical. Will this role define who you are, and whether you are successful and happy?
Below are the basic steps to achieving career greatness:
-- Be proactive in your career search and personal endeavors, but start with your end goals in mind. Understand the role your occupation will play in your life.
-- Begin with a clear picture of your goals, within both your home and work lives. Goals that are in sync with your values and passions are most effective.
-- Prioritize your life. Create a clear set of values, and maybe a personal mission statement.
-- Think win-win when evaluating career opportunities, but be candid when discussing your qualities and the potential position. Create an environment of full disclosure.
-- Work with a prospective employer on the best way to structure the right role. Be open about how you like to work and how you can best add value.
-- Take the time to reflect and renew yourself, putting work and home life in perspective.
-- Live life from the outside in. Learn to become your own worst critic, and embrace the realities that surround you. Know your limitations, and act accordingly.
-- Coach others to recognize their strengths and preferences. Be a leader in the development of personal and business productivity.
You owe it to yourself and your family to align your career with your passions. Your family wants an effective and peaceful you. Also, businesses are starting to think along the lines of this perspective to find the next level of productivity after the recent wave of technology advancements. Businesses will be looking for more innovative ways to increase productivity from existing resources. As companies focus more on retention over recruitment, extracting the best from the current workforce is the challenge, and achieving your own personal career greatness is to the benefit of both you and your employer.
Dave Woods is an independent productivity consultant with Resoursecure LLC, and a business instructor at DeSales University in Center Valley. He can be reached at dwoods@resoursecure.com.
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