Your Future Career Depends On You
All the work that you do requires decisions. You make the choice to go to work, at some level, what you’ll wear, and how you’ll arrive. Certainly, you’ll make the choice about attitude, commitment, and effort. What you do today and tomorrow will impact your future career.
In my business I will occasionally hear stories of, “I can’t” or “we can’t.” Not so long ago I was working with a client in a facilitated training event and someone responded to a question by saying something along the lines of, “We can do this, or we can do that, but we can’t do both.”
Honestly, I was somewhat surprised by the comment since this person was in a room full of peers and some senior management. Then it hit me, this person was reciting a thought embraced the culture. It wasn’t shocking to some. It was a belief.
Limiting Beliefs
My reaction to the comment was that this segment of the discussion was critical and I reconnected with opening comments of the session about how businesses change and succeed.
I took advantage of a comment made a few moments earlier and suggested that being average is easy, becoming better is hard. My intent was to solidify concepts connected with hard work pays off. A period was put on the discussion with, “It won’t be easy, it will be hard, and that is why we call it work.”
Culture is very interesting, because those deeply engaged in their culture don’t really see it any other way. They are limited by the idea that they “can’t.” Although they are trapped in the mind-set, they honestly believe that it is a truth that they won’t change.
Everyday Choice
Every employee who comes to work each day makes a choice. Your future career will depend on the choices you make today.
One mind-set is that you will do just enough to get by. You won’t work too hard or too fast. You’ll occupy space for the required impression of hours on the job and join the ranks of those who speak with pride about the hours spent.
Nebulous Measurement
In this mind-set the measurements and metrics connected with your job are fuzzy and are likely a spillover from the last person who held the same role. Or, now that this job is the combination of two previous jobs you can’t possibly overachieve.
You are often encouraged by others to do the least, or work within the effort of limitations set by everyone else.
Different Choice
You do have another choice. This choice is not directly connected with pay. It certainly is not directly connected by others who want you to move slower, at their pace, or to be patient and put in your time.
Today the most important choice you make about your career is not about on-the-job tradeoffs. It is not about I can do this, or I can do that, but I can’t do both. It is more likely about finding a way to balance both.
Here is the reality, when you don’t, someone else will.
Your Future Career
This is true for organizations and it is true for individuals. In many workplace cultures, this part of story is never told. Across time, the culture of effort and productivity has leveled itself to the output of averages.
When every day is embraced as an opportunity you’ll make the choice to do enough to get by, or you’ll do more than what is required because it may be the last or only chance you’ll get.
This may be the most important decision you’ll make. It will determine the future of your career.
– DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
