What Got You Here Wont Get You There - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

What Got You Here Wont Get You There - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career The Fact is … You have to keep learning. You need to continue adapting. Your Career Depends On It The modern definition of a career is changing. In the past you could work at the same job year-in and year-out. You could put in your 20, 30 or even 40 years of service. Then get the gold watch and retire. Knowing you did your best work. Today that definition has changed. In order to stand out in your career you need to adapt, learn and grow. The concept of a career has changed. Yes, most people will still work 20, 30 or even 40 years. However, it will be the rare person that can do that at the same company and even rarer in the same role. You need to stay current so that you can always do your best work. It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ~ Charles Darwin What Got Your Here It’s not all bad. The mentality and modus operandi of workers and the job creators have changed. Just 20 or so years ago if you said you were in consulting or that you were independent there was a stigma attached. Today it’s almost fashionable to state loudly and proudly that you are a solopreneur. That you are a member of the Gig Economy. Note: There have always been indepdent contractors, consultants and solopreneurs. It has only recently become more widely accepted as a career choice. Won’t Get You There This is changing for the better. Your ability to do almost anything from anywhere is a modern reality. In the past you almost always needed to go to an office. Even if you weren’t working with a team or were working on creative and mentally intensive efforts … your “boss” expected to see you in the office. The good news is that the world is changing. Most would say for the better, but some are leaning back towards “office hours” as a way to stay connected. This trend will continue for a while. Eventually it will reach a balancing point such that you may need to physically check in periodically, but generally you will be paid for and recognized by the work you actually deliver. Unlearning is the New Learning In order to stand out in your career you will need to unlearn a lot of things you were taught along the way. Part of the act of unlearning involves new learning and perhaps relearning. The futurist Alvin Toffler may have said it best. The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. ~ Alvin Toffler The time you spend today to understand how you learn will pay big dividends to help you grow your career â€" this is true for employees and solopreneurs. What men want is not talent, it is purpose; in other words, not the power to achieve it, but will to labor. I believe that labor judiciously and continuously applied becomes genius. ~ Edward Bulwer-Lytton Remember … What Got You Here Wont Get You There By keeping the idea in mind that you will need to continue learning and adapting you will be ahead of the curve. A lot of people (myself included at times) rest on the current success. There is nothing wrong with taking a break, but makes sure your break has a plan to get back to the task at hand. Growing your career, your brand, and your reputation. In fact, a great break for me always includes downtime to read, research, travel, and otherwise just catch up with things I don’t typically have (or make) time for on a regular basis. When you keep this in mind you will be able to keep moving forward and getting ahead. Even if, and especially when, it’s hard. Labor  on. Your career depends on it. Keep learning. Keep Unlearning. Repeat. What Got You Here Wont Get You There - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career It’s probably not a surprise to you that you need to keep learning throughout your entire life. While the mode and pace of learning will change over time it is critical to know how to learn, unlearn and relearn. As I wrote about in this post Unlearning Your Way to Success there is a need to stay on your toes and reaching for that next learning opportunity. The fact is that  after your formal learning days have ended you get to pick and choose what you learn. Of course, there are some nuances to this based on your chosen field. But, with so many possibilities today if you aren’t passionate about something … get out. The point I’m trying to make here is that if you are passionate and committed to a chosen field you will need to create a path for continuous learning. Simply put … In order to get ahead, stay ahead and accelerate your career you need to make the time and spend the effort to develop your learning path. Charles Darwin had it right. He is credited with being the  creator of  the theory of evolution. But, what he actually said is more apropos to the concepts and implications  of lifelong learning. By making a commitment to oneself which is both personal and professional to commit to the efforts required for lifelong learning. It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ~ Charles Darwin Work is Evolving The nature of work and the concept of working is changing. It is evolving. What Millennials have realized is that there are no more “jobs for life” and that the need to re-invent themselves is a requirement for career success. Those that will stand out the most in their careers will figure this out early and be able to adapt their From some research that Dion Hinchcliffe of Adjuvi recently published he has made an interesting analysis on the need for skills that are more personal, culturally aware  and that require more Emotional Intelligence (EQ). This was interesting in that for so many years the human element was almost beaten out of the job role. It seems that is changing and it’s about time. What his researched shows is that there are more human elements in the top traits technical and business executives look for when they are hiring and promoting. Technical Teams are looking for these following two traits (among others): Ability to innovate at scale Ability to disrupt self Executive leaders of organizations are looking for these two traits: Entrepreneurial inclination Understand the User Experience I took these to be much more focused on the personal aspects of a given role. This is part of the evolution of work. Where the human element has become important again. Where the job satisfaction of the person involved is at least as important as the need to complete the task itself. What men want is not talent, it is purpose; in other words, not the power to achieve it, but will to labor. I believe that labor judiciously and continuously applied becomes genius. ~ Edward Bulwer-Lytton Millennials are at a critical juncture here and from what I’ve seen have been able to take advantage of their ability to quickly capture, process, analyze, synthesize and act on information. I believe Millennials have realized that what they have learned in the past may form a foundation for future skills, but I’ve also seen Millennials discard old information like yesterdays newspaper and move on to new ideas and concepts. Millennials have realized that they need to keep working and learning … and also unlearning … in order to adapt, survive and succeed. Which leads to the title of this article … what got you here won’t get you there. I believe Millennials have begun to embrace this idea and are setting themselves up for a whole new kind of workplace success. I’m looking forward to the next generation workplace and I suspect it will bring on a new level of productivity and job satisfaction. Partially because it will embrace the human elements, but also because there will be a more dynamic workforce. Millennials are at the forefront of this effort. And, I expect there impact will be felt for many years to come.