A couple years ago I left my career of 30 years as an engineer to pursue my dream to write and make movies. As I planned my new career I reflected on my experiences in my old career and felt I had some advice that would be valuable for others.
- Know When to Let Go and Move On
- When the People Who Work for You Look Good, You Look Good
- Maintain a Balance Between Your Career and Your Personal Life
- Learn to Accept Politics
- Seek Out Opportunities to Develop Your skills
- Learn To Care and Not Care At the Same Time
Know When to Let Go and Move On
I wrote an article Six Lessons for Planning a Career where I condensed my thoughts into six short lessons. Now that some time has passed, I have a few more suggestions based on my experience.
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then give it up. There is no point in being a damn fool about it” - W. C. Fields[/b]I do encourage people to persevere. Many people who succeed did so because they wouldn’t give up. There are times though, when you should give up. I got this right many times. After I realised that what I tried just didn’t work, and I dropped it and turned my attention to more promising opportunities.
There were times I got it wrong; very wrong. I fell into the trap of thinking “just one more time will do it”, “I’ve put too much into this to just give up” or “I must get this done”. I wasted much time and effort that I could have used more productively. It can be harder to give up than to continue. I am better at it now.
There were times I got it wrong; very wrong. I fell into the trap of thinking “just one more time will do it”, “I’ve put too much into this to just give up” or “I must get this done”. I wasted much time and effort that I could have used more productively. It can be harder to give up than to continue. I am better at it now.
When the People Who Work for You Look Good, You Look Good
Before you become a boss you are judged on the work that you do. When you become a boss you are judged on the work your subordinates do.
A boss’s job is to get the best from their subordinates. If you are the one that does all the work, people will see you as a failure, no matter how good the work is. You must let your subordinates shine. People need to see them doing good work. Letting them take the credit brings more credit to you.
I have seen many a wannabe boss stopped in their growth because they want to do everything themselves. I often fell into this trap, because I enjoyed the actual work more than the bossy side of the job.
A boss’s job is to get the best from their subordinates. If you are the one that does all the work, people will see you as a failure, no matter how good the work is. You must let your subordinates shine. People need to see them doing good work. Letting them take the credit brings more credit to you.
I have seen many a wannabe boss stopped in their growth because they want to do everything themselves. I often fell into this trap, because I enjoyed the actual work more than the bossy side of the job.
Maintain a Balance Between Your Career and Your Personal Life
Most people want to do this because they see their personal life as being more important than their career. That is how I feel.
But, even if your career is more important to you than your personal life, maintaining a balance is essential. To succeed you must always feel good about yourself. You will face difficulties and set backs in your career. If all you have is your career to define yourself worth, you will be lost. If you have a positive personal life you can make it through your career rough patches more easily.
This was a problem in my own career. With little else to fall back on, my options were often limited. Later in my career I made an effort to develop other interests. This gave me greater self confidence, and an escape from the problems I faced in my career. This helped me greatly when I had to make career changes.
But, even if your career is more important to you than your personal life, maintaining a balance is essential. To succeed you must always feel good about yourself. You will face difficulties and set backs in your career. If all you have is your career to define yourself worth, you will be lost. If you have a positive personal life you can make it through your career rough patches more easily.
This was a problem in my own career. With little else to fall back on, my options were often limited. Later in my career I made an effort to develop other interests. This gave me greater self confidence, and an escape from the problems I faced in my career. This helped me greatly when I had to make career changes.
Learn to Accept Politics
Every office has its “office politics”, but I worked in government and it is the “real politics” that I want to talk about. Over the years I heard many a colleague complain about “political interference” in their work. We live in a democracy and “political interference” is the people telling you what they want.
It is true that politicians can be corrupt, foolish or dishonest, but no politician will last long unless they are sensitive to the will of the people. They would not survive otherwise. Even in dictatorships, leaders cannot ignore the needs of the people forever.
Politicians deserve more respect than they get. Politicians may not understand the “technical” issues, but they know people. They can tell the difference between some one who is making a sincere effort to provide unbiased advice and someone who is lobbying for personal gain.
I never saw this as a problem for me, but I saw others become frustrated and angry because they resented politicians. It wasn’t good for their well-being or their career prospects.
It is true that politicians can be corrupt, foolish or dishonest, but no politician will last long unless they are sensitive to the will of the people. They would not survive otherwise. Even in dictatorships, leaders cannot ignore the needs of the people forever.
Politicians deserve more respect than they get. Politicians may not understand the “technical” issues, but they know people. They can tell the difference between some one who is making a sincere effort to provide unbiased advice and someone who is lobbying for personal gain.
I never saw this as a problem for me, but I saw others become frustrated and angry because they resented politicians. It wasn’t good for their well-being or their career prospects.
Seek Out Opportunities to Develop Your skills
Skill takes time to develop. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell reports that researchers have found that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to truly master a complex skill. That can takes years to accomplish. By seeking out opportunities to use your skills you will reach the higher levels of skill faster.
Early in my career I realised that writing was an essential skill I needed in my job. I wasn’t a good writer, so I sought opportunities to write. I started to keep a diary. I spent about an hour a day writing it. Now, 30 years later, I have spent over 10,000 hours writing. I continue to learn and develop my skills and I feel much more confident.
Most of this writing experience was with my diary and technical documentation. The major limitation to growth with these types of writing is that, by and large, they are not really intended to be read. While I feel the experience was useful, it is a different kind of writing than I work on now.
Early in my career I realised that writing was an essential skill I needed in my job. I wasn’t a good writer, so I sought opportunities to write. I started to keep a diary. I spent about an hour a day writing it. Now, 30 years later, I have spent over 10,000 hours writing. I continue to learn and develop my skills and I feel much more confident.
Most of this writing experience was with my diary and technical documentation. The major limitation to growth with these types of writing is that, by and large, they are not really intended to be read. While I feel the experience was useful, it is a different kind of writing than I work on now.
Learn To Care and Not Care At the Same Time
I believe that this is the essence of professionalism. On one hand, we need to care about the quality of our work. On the other hand, we cannot let ourselves become too invested in a particular solution. Both goals are needed if we want to be effective professionals.
If we want to be accepted and respected as a professional, we need to have high standards for the quality of work we do. If we develop a reputation for sloppy or incomplete work, people are likely to discount our professional advice. Therefore, we must care deeply about the quality of our work.
When an issue is raised, everyone will have an opinion. As individuals, we too will have our opinion, but we must not let our personal opinion override our professional duty to provide unbiased advice. When people see us take sides in a debate, they are likely to discount our professional advice. Therefore, we must not care about the particular decision, lest it bias our advice.
Many times in my career, I realized that people had discounted my advice, not because they thought I did bad work, but because they thought I had a personal agenda. While we must strive to be unbiased, we must also be aware that we can never fully achieve that ideal.
If we want to be accepted and respected as a professional, we need to have high standards for the quality of work we do. If we develop a reputation for sloppy or incomplete work, people are likely to discount our professional advice. Therefore, we must care deeply about the quality of our work.
When an issue is raised, everyone will have an opinion. As individuals, we too will have our opinion, but we must not let our personal opinion override our professional duty to provide unbiased advice. When people see us take sides in a debate, they are likely to discount our professional advice. Therefore, we must not care about the particular decision, lest it bias our advice.
Many times in my career, I realized that people had discounted my advice, not because they thought I did bad work, but because they thought I had a personal agenda. While we must strive to be unbiased, we must also be aware that we can never fully achieve that ideal.