10 Career Intentions for 2010 | Career Planning
Guest Contributor: Susan Whitcomb is an experienced career advisor and the author of the best-selling “Magic Series” published by JIST, including Job Search Magic, Interview Magic, and Resume Magic, now in its 4th edition.
I love serendipity and allowing room for “Life” to intersect with best-laid plans. But sometimes I sway too far on the side of serendipity and don’t focus enough on clarifying the things I would like to create and achieve.
With a new year around the corner, I sat down to think about my intentions for 2010 and wrote up my personal list. Then I got to thinking about what a savvy careerist would need to be intentional about to create a career that is radically rewarding . . . here is a suggested list of “Career Intentions for 2010” you might want to adopt or adapt:
1. Be Intentional: That’s right. #1 on the list requires that you focus on being intentional. It all starts with awareness. What do you need to do to stay focused on your goals and not let the busyness and distractions of life take you off course?
2. Make Space for Career Management: Like exercise, it won’t happen unless you make space for it. Set aside time, at a minimum once a month, to evaluate where you are with your career plans and what adjustments you might need to make.
3. Find Out What Your Boss (or Boss To Be) Wants: It’s impossible to experience career success without intersecting your desires with what your employer needs. When is the last time you asked your boss “How can I help you be wildly successful?”
4. Share with Your Boss What You Want: Frame it in the context of company goals. For example, “Mr. Boss, I’m committed to helping XYZ Company continue on its course of success. Down the road, I see myself _____ [fill in the blank – for example, “contributing in a director role and coordinating new product launches that will allow us to be first-to-market in Web-based widget solutions.”] Then ask, “What would it take to make that happen?”
5. Leverage & Collaborate with Your Career Community: These days, it takes the cooperation and collaboration of teams to make real progress. Who are the key members of your career community—the people who can help you get where you want in your career? Who needs to be added to that community? How can you reach out to them, learn what they need, and deepen connections?
6. Know Your Value: Can you identify how you deliver a return-on-investment to your employer? If not, start thinking about how you can make them more money, save them money, solve important problems. This will allow you to become the “hunted” and not a “hunter” of new opportunities.
7. Know Your Values: Are you honoring your values in your current work? Do you know what your values are? Whether it be the ability to make a significant contribution, work with integrity, take risks, etc., knowing your values and living by them is the one thing you can always control during the day.
8. Don’t Give Away Your Power: If you’re in a difficult situation, don’t resign yourself to thinking, “I’m stuck. There are no options. This is the way it’s always going to be.” Instead, remember the saying “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.” There are always options you can take action on, even if it’s only reframing your perspective.
9. FAIL Forward: A wise soul once said that FAIL stands for “From All I Learn.” Make 2010 a year of learning, even in those places of unmet expectations and disappointments. Ask yourself, “What do I want to learn in this situation that will benefit my career long-term?” Likewise, identify what new skills, competencies, or credentials you want to add to your toolbelt in 2010.
10. Be an S.O.S. Worker: S.O.S. stands for Serve Others Selflessly. I’m not advocating being a doormat or a candidate for abuse. I am advocating that you “find the need and fill it,” without an agenda or expectation of a payback. Trust that it will come to you. Those who persevere, prosper.
Here’s to a year of prosperity!
Sources and reference: Sandbox Advisors
