Don’t Play Pinball With Your Career

Many of us probably began the new year with a resolution or two designed to improve our lives. And for some, that commitment involved getting into better physical shape. Doing so without doing ourselves harm, however, required that we learn at least the rudiments of good exercise philosophy. We had to learn what exercises to perform as well as when, where and how to perform them if we were to realize the gains we sought.

The same is true with our careers. As I describe in the first module of the Career Fitness System (Chapter 4 in Work Strong), building a healthy career requires a knowledge of the principles of career fitness. These principles ensure that the actions you take don't waste your time, don't inadvertently undercut your success, and do actually reinforce the strength, reach and endurance of your career.

The fact that there are principles of effective career self-management also makes two other points absolutely clear. Think of them as the philosophical foundation for a healthy career.

First, career self-management isn't a conglomeration of job search activities. It involves those steps, to be sure, but your career is much larger and more strategic than the search for any one job. So, career self-management incorporates a body of knowledge and set of skills that enable you to perform the actions necessary to achieve a rewarding experience in the one-third or more of your life you will spend in the workplace.

Second, you can be an expert in your profession-you can have an advanced degree in your field-and still be unsuccessful in your career. While academic distinction is obviously necessary for career success in higher education, it is not sufficient. If you have any doubt about that, check out the HigherEdJobs group on LinkedIn where there are over 100 comments discussing the disconnect between holding a Master's degree or even a PhD and holding a job.

In today's world of work-whether it's in teaching or research or administration or any other field-the key to success is to be an expert in BOTH your field and in the management of your career. Unfortunately, only professional athletes and some performing artists can afford to employ agents to do that latter task for them. For the rest of us, that leaves only two choices:

• We can educate ourselves on the principles and practices of successful career self-management

or

• We can turn ourselves into one of those shiny little balls in a pinball machine and watch our career be pushed from pillar to post by outside forces beyond our control.

I recognize that it's more than a little presumptuous to suggest that well educated and heretofore successful professionals now have to go to school all over again. Perhaps one way to view it is as yet another step forward on the pathway of lifelong learning.

Thanks for reading,
Peter