Raise the Bar on Your Career
By Gordon Miller, Executive Career
Coach
“We all have the ability to be
somebody greater than who we are today. For twenty-five
years I thought of myself as a sales manager or general
manager type. It didn’t occur to me that I could
be anything else. Why should it? I had talent for
that kind of work, and enjoyed success in those arenas.
But once I became comfortable with the idea that I
didn’t have to do sales, in fact, I could branch
out into something totally different and exciting,
the barrier that I had set up began tumbling down.
(Take note: the barriers were those I had set up.)
No, I didn’t become a rock star (because I can’t
sing and I quit taking piano lessons when I was seven),
or a basketball star (I’d need a tall ladder
to be able to dunk), but I did become an author and
a career coach. And I’ve never been happier.
Raise the bar. Decide that you’re going to be
somebody, do something different, engage life in a different
way, expect more of yourself. You don’t have to
accept mediocrity. A great line in Richard Bach’s
Illusions says, “Argue for your limitations and
they’re yours.” You don’t have to
be a checker in a grocer store (unless you want to be
---and that’s fine, too.) Aim high---you probably
won’t become a bank president next week, but if
you raise that bar a bit at a time, you’ll be
surprised at how high you can jump.
I tell my clients to think two levels ahead. If you’re
trying to move your career forward, think not only about
next week, but next year as well. Imagine you’re
playing a chess game. You only move one piece at a time,
but if you’re a good chess player, you’re
thinking at least two moves ahead, and they’re
all contingent on what your opponent does. Knight to
bishop four may work unless…unless… Be prepared
with a countermove. If you know the opposition (the
business world) and understand the current job market,
you’re prepared to make some killer moves.
Invest in self-training. If your excuse is lack of time
or money, all I can say is, get the money and find the
time. It’s your career and your life. If not now,
when? Some training will cost money, but there’s
a lot of it on the Internet that’s pretty inexpensive.
Check out ask.com, type in on-line training, to see
what I mean. Don’t have a computer or Internet
access? Go down to the local library and use theirs.
Take classes. Buy books (lots of used ones out there).
If you’re sitting still, you’re actually
going backward.
What are you best at? Though you’ve got to be
flexible and adaptable, you want to identify your real
core competency. Red Adair (is he still around ?) used
to put out oil field fires, and that’s what he
became known for. He could be a concert violinist for
all I know; what he’s become known as is a guy
who can put out oil field fires better than anyone else.
Period. What can you do?
Finally, be able to work well with others. If you look
at people who have been successful, you’ll find
that most of them know how to go along to get along.
If you’re ever going to get a GSD (Get Stuff Done)
degree, working well with others is an absolute prerequisite.
You’ll find out (if you haven’t already)
that you sometimes need help to get stuff done. Since
the best somebody to be is a somebody who can get stuff
done, you darn well better know how to ask for, and
offer, help. I don’t care if you drive a trash
truck, paint houses, or you’re the chairman of
the board, if you don’t learn to work well with
others, you’ll never have the kind of success
you deserve.
You’re not limited by your past experience, nor
limited by your degree or lack of it; being somebody
is a decision. Your decision. Take the time and energy
to explore the possibilities.
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