HELP! I WANT TO GET TO PEAK OF MY CAREER! Part 2
Truly every experience counts. We may not be where we really want to be but we must be grateful for where we are. I continue from my last post where i shared key lessons on the journey to getting to the Peek of your career ladder.
My faith is as the center of my being. I do not just profess to be a Christian, I believe with my heart and soul, in the gospel of the resurrected savior Jesus Christ so the Bible is a major part of my life.
I would be using two examples from the Bible — David and Joseph. These are people whose life teach so much about process and the power of embracing every experience.
David is a man whom God identified as a man after his heart. He also wanted to get to the peak of his career but he went through so much to get to that point. As matter of fact, he was anointed King very early in life just like some of us — “intelligent bright and heading for the top”. Joseph on the other hand is a spoilt rich kid that got sold to some prisoners and eventually became a Prime Minister in a country where he was once a slave.
Imagine David despising the entry level experience/position of killing the Lion and the Bear by saying “oh, I have been anointed King. I cannot do this kind of job”. I am supposed to be in the palace”
At the interview for the senior level role where he would be required to kill Goliath, he would have faltered. He would have been lacking in the key requirements for the role. He would also have found Goliath(his next client) impossible to deal with.
So yes, you may be in a forgotten primary school with students who ‘do not care’.
If you can think of a way to get those students to buy into that subject you currently teach, you most likely have the capacity to market products to HNIs (High Networth Individuals) and get their buy in, you can go for a sales pitch and get a client’s buy in too! You can manage a difficult Boss, a complex team etc.
It is required that a steward be found FAITHFUL! You are building capacity. Keep Going. That experience will count some day.
Let’s look at Joseph taking the Job as an HCC “Head of Common Criminals”, (Prisoners). A very distinguished role in the Prison Organisation. What has leading common criminals got to do with becoming a great leader he dreamt about many years ago?Everything!
If he had continued to be proud, rude and saucy, if he had taken the role causally, grumbling and complaining, he would have lost an invaluable opportunity to build his capacity and eventually take Egypt from Zero Economy to Hero economy, giving aid to other nations. He humbled himself and took the role of “Head of Common Criminals/ Prisoners” seriously. Alas! He was also building capacity!
The Prison experience gave him hands on experience in the ‘School of Hunger & frustration’, he learnt how to manage resources, manage people, give feedback in a constructive way and perhaps deal with difficult people (hard core criminals). If he had failed to manage this role, he would have lacked the capacity to manage an entire country.
It is required that a steward be found FAITHFUL! You are building capacity. Keep Going. That experience will count some day
You may just be a Front Desk officer and all you do is smile to the clients that come in, do not despise it. Do not take it with levity. Do your “Front Desk officing” with a bit if panache and class with a mix of excellence.
“Management is watching”.
It is required that a steward be found FAITHFUL! You are building capacity. Keep Going. That experience will count some day.
Can i ask another question? Do you know the operations of the organization? What do the people in operations do? What are the core values of the organization? What is the current market value of the organization? Who are the competitors in the industry? There is so much to know “ but you say — I am just a “Front Desk Officer”, I am just “ Customer Service Officer”. Do not despise the days of your small beginnings.
Another way to look at it is this- Have you observed the trend across a number of industries in recent times? More women are being appointed to Board positions. One of the criteria is to have a diverse experience and be able to contribute to a variety of topics. You are building your own wealth of experience for your Board room tomorrow such that when you speak, you would command a certain level of respect. Please stay the course.
Lastly and most importantly, you need to Master the art of being grateful for where you are whilst looking for more — Trust me, it’s an art and it needs to be mastered.
Every job has some level of autonomous part attached to it. You don’t jump out at the slightest sight of discomfort. If you do, you would be loosing out of learning an important life skill — tenacity, resilience that ability to remain steadfast through thick and thin.
Find a way to re-invent that role. Ask friends or check LinkedIn for people doing the same thing. Connect with them and ask questions.
Look out for the certification they have and see if it is relevant to your own unique space. If you can do this at your job, you will be able to do this in other areas of life e.g Marriage.
Dear Young career woman you want to get to the peak of your career? Your passport to the top, is your current role. Use it well. Own it. Add a bit of spark and panache to what you do. Be faithful. You are on your way! Keep going.
If nobody has ever told you, I BELIEVE IN YOU. YOUR JOURNEY. YOUR STORY.
I’m open for a chat anytime! Send me a mail if you have any career struggles. If i can’t answer your questions, i have grown my skill of getting the ‘Buy-in’ of friends and senior colleagues. I can bully them to help out! lol fortadullam@gmail.com is the email address. I would be glad to be of help!
Tchüss! Bis Bald!
