The “It’s Your Career” series at Management Excellence is dedicated to offering ideas, guidance and inspiration for strengthening your performance and supporting your development as a professional. Use the ideas in great career health!
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During the past few years, I’ve talked to many 40 and 50-something professionals on how their perspectives and attitudes on personal and career issues have changed over time. Their insights are instructive and inspirational. Enjoy!
On Confidence:
- The sky is not falling no matter how big the problem is we will find a way to deal with it.
- I’m fearless on taking risks, because I know I’ll find a way to navigate through it and learn a great deal in the process.
- While the world has changed, people haven’t. If you’re good in working with and through others, there’s no problem that cannot be solved, no matter how new and unique it is.
On Failing:
- I’ve failed more times than I can count on my way to succeeding in my career. While it’s never the goal, it is a fact of life for anyone striving to achieve something.
- I long ago learned not to sweat the small stuff that made me a raving lunatic of a manager when I was younger. It turns out that most of our issues are small stuff.
On Striving:
- Success isn’t a solo sport. Others choose us to be successful and others help us along our journey to success.
- It’s a lot more about the work and the impact of the work on others than it is about the pay or the title.
- At the height of what I thought would be success…title and money, I was miserable. I had to learn to redefine success was for me, and it wasn’t title or money.
On Leadership:
- It used to be about what I wanted. Now it’s about what they need.
- To lead, I teach.
- I take more chances on people I truly believe in, regardless of the conventional wisdom around me. The individual is my responsibility, not some other executive’s.
- I give my trust instead of requiring people to earn it. It saves a great deal of time and eliminates the games.
On Effectiveness:
- I flail less, fail faster, teach more and help more and I’m more effective than I’ve ever been in my career.
- My need to conquer the world in the next quarter has given way to the reality that people and teams evolve at their own pace, not the pace in my mind.
- I used to be driven by fear. Fear of job loss. Fear of the boss lurking behind me. That stifled my creativity. I finally found my performance gear when I quit worrying about both of those things.
On the Future:
- My best work is still ahead of me.
- Every day is a great new adventure. Even the tough stuff feels more like fun than it used to.
The Bottom-Line for Now:
If you’ve got a few miles on you, take heart that you’ve earned the right to draw upon wisdom gained over time. If you’re just starting out, re-read these quotes and strive to realize them just a bit faster than the rest of us. You’ll be happy you did.
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An ideal book for anyone starting out in leadership: Practical Lessons in Leadership by Art Petty and Rich Petro.
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