6 Figure Career Management

“Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.”

Washington Irving, 1783-1859, Author

“We’re all f****d!”…… “We’re screwed…”…..”It’s all over”
 
That’s a series of statements I’ve heard in recent weeks when talking to people across the financial services industry about their career prospects over the coming year.

 Whilst the statements reflect the level of anxiety and nervousness caused by what we have seen in the markets, the banking sector and the economy in recent weeks, they are based on the (false) belief that your level of success is solely reliant on what happens in the environment. That you and your career are merely pawns in the events around you.

The truth is that your success is based on how you choose to REACT to what happens to you and the environment around you - not on what events do to you.

Over the coming months, you have two broad choices to make - are you going to act or are you going to be acted upon.  

a) Choose To Act

- You can decide not to be totally absorbed in all the bad news
- You can choose to seek out your own news by learning about the changing needs of your employers, your internal and external clients and the market place
- You can decide to focus exclusively on the outputs and the value you bring to your employer (and future employers) instead of just the inputs
- You can choose to be nimble and open-minded enough to modify, re-package, re-title and re-invent yourself to fit the changing needs of the market place
- You can choose to volunteer for tough projects, solve problems which have no obvious solutions and so make yourself irreplaceable
- You can choose to unlearn old behaviours and discover what is required to succeed in coming years
- You can choose to be proactive about cultivating and strengthening your network internally and externally
- You can choose to view every set-back in your job search as getting you closer to your goal
- You can choose to invest in yourself by reading widely, finding a mentor, hiring a coach or finding a new peer group to learn from 
- You can choose to use the current market conditions as a catalyst for personal change. To really think about what is important to you; what it is you really want to do over the next few years
- You can choose to listen to your gut instincts instead of your ego 
- You can choose to have faith and belief in yourself to deal with whatever comes your way

They’re all your own choices….

   b) Choose to be Acted Upon

Or alternatively you can choose to be acted upon:

- You can decide to watch and listen to all the bad news stories
- You can choose to talk and think constantly about problems to the stage where  you are a paralysed into inaction
- You can decide to complain and blame the economy, the government, your management team, the head-hunter and your neighbour’s cat 
- You can choose to coast along as normal and ’see what happens
- You can decide to retreat, keep your head down and hope things turn out fine and that you’ll be OK

Which of the two reactions do you think is likely to make you more successful? 
Which reaction is likely to make you feel good about yourself?
Which reaction is likely to make you a better person for others to be around?  

Your Field Work

Look at the list of actions above and ask yourself which one you need to be focused on right now.  Make the choice to start doing something about it in the next 7 days.

You and I know that all markets are cyclical.  But our careers and lives are also cyclical - just like the four seasons.  While some people may feel like they’re heading for a winter period in their careers, you can still be successful.  It just requires you to work smarter, be flexible and to take some significant action. Actions which will help you develop new skills, strengthen your character and position you well for the next ’spring’ season of your career which, just like the climatic seasons, always follows winter. 

Ultimately your level of success over the next 12 months will not be determined by what happens in the financial markets or the economy. Your overall success will be determined largely by how you choose to react to what happens to you and the actions you choose to take. Choose wisely….