Harvard Business Review published an article entitled Reaching Your Potential by Robert S. Kaplan in the July-August 2008 issue.
He urges all of us to seize control of our careers so that we are no longer the victims of what happens to us in the workplace, but rather the person in charge. How can you become the CEO of your career?
Kaplan suggests that we take three specific actions:
• Know yourself.
Start by understanding your strengths and weaknesses. Then, look at what you truly enjoy doing. This exercise can help you center your career on employment experiences that will enable you to perform that kind of work every single day. If you do that, even a bad day at work won’t compare to a good day doing something you can’t stand.
• Excel at critical tasks.
Take the time to identify the three or four activities in your job that make the greatest contribution to the success of your employer, even if that’s you. Then, focus your energy and talent as much as possible on doing those tasks and on doing them as well as you can all of the time.
• Demonstrate character and leadership.
Set yourself apart by excelling at your own work and by practicing good teamwork. Figure out what you can do to help your team and organization be successful and then do it. Almost every organization wants people who are willing to step forward and see their job as greater than the specific tasks identified by the job description.
