Are you thinking about career endurance yet?
If your answer is no...it's time!
This week was exciting because I was privileged to speak to over 450 people during EPAM’s Learning Week. What made it even better for me is that this initiative that I helped bring to life in North America in 2018 (or maybe 2019) is still going strong.
Probably not surprising to all of you as newsletter readers, but the topic was focused on endurance. Usually, I talk about leadership endurance, but this session was focused on career endurance, which I think is critical for all of us, whether we are just starting in our careers or are close to winding down, and whether an organization employs us, we work as an external consultant, or are a business owner.
A few of the highlights from the session…
Be the CEO of your career. No one will (or should) care about your career more than you do
You can’t treat your career like a sprint all of the time, or you will run out of energy.
Your career endurance plan should include…
Being intentional about what’s most important about your career based on your phase of life
Creating a plan that sets you up for success
Showing Up to Run the Race…Every day
Navigating when circumstances change
Make sure you have a Career Board of Directors to help guide your career
Every day, you’re running a new leg of your career endurance journey, so you need to show up each day with the right tools, plans, support, and mindset.
Honestly, I didn’t have an endurance plan for my career for most of my life. I’ve only started thinking about it over the past several years. I worked my way up the ladder in the companies I was at, and I probably worked too hard for too long without recognizing the impact on my health and my family at times. I wasn’t always as intentional about what I wanted next until I started taking big leaps in 2016, leaving my long-time employer after almost 19 years to figure out what I wanted to do next.
If you haven’t recently considered where you are in your career or where you want to go, now is a great time to do it. Remember, the best time to have done it was in the past, but the next best time is today. You don’t want to wake up in 6 months or a year and wonder…why am I still here doing something that I no longer want to do.
If this topic interests you, I’d love to share it with your organization or talk to you individually about creating a career endurance plan. My thoughts on this topic can also be found in the book I published in 2022, There is No Such Thing as a Perfect Job: A Practical Guide to Loving Your Work Life.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about what career endurance means to you.
Thoughts for Reflection
“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” —M. Scott Peck
“The future depends on what you do today.” —Mahatma Gandhi
Announcements
📣 Are you signed up?: The April Leadership Endurance Round Table session will be \Wednesday. We’ll discuss: “I’m not sure I have the right people in the right roles. What now?” Don’t miss this opportunity to share best practices with new friends and colleagues. You can register for this session and future ones with this link.
Leadership Learning Content
Articles
When You’re Overloaded—and Delegating Isn’t an Option
“Many leaders think they should always be available. But too much availability creates more interactions and makes team members more dependent on you than necessary or ideal. With a bit more space, your team members will experience more room to act and this frees up time for you too.”
Podcasts
A bit lighter in topics this week…though the question of Who Am I is a pretty deep one.
If you missed past podcast episode recommendations, you can find them here.
Looking for other valuable resources we offer? Check out all of the resources here.
If you want other resources to read or watch, check out My Favorite Things list here.
If you missed this week’s daily content, you can find the notes here or see below for individual notes:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Friday:
You can also find additional daily content from me on LinkedIn.