BLOG POST 3: Thank you for your many comments and questions. People continue to ask me why I am motivated at this point in time to write a book/blog since I’ve been retired over 4 years already. I wish I thought of writing my thoughts down earlier but life continues to teach and direct me.
The easy answer is that my eldest daughter got me thinking. She graduated college and began her job search in 2010. Now she is a pretty capable and bright young woman but as most new college grads realize, it is a very difficult time to get a job. After a frustrating few months we finally sat down, strategized, brain-stormed, role-played, and put an action plan together. By September 2010 she got a great job. She wasn’t lucky. She did the right things and it paid off.
This, of course, got me thinking. What I experienced in 1982 (during a very difficult economy) when I was looking for my first job out of college paled in comparison to what our young people are experiencing today. People in their 20s and 30s need guidance, practical and actionable advice, and a roadmap to present themselves in the best light. It is more critical than ever to stand out in the most positive and remarkable way. So, that’s the easy answer.
Now for the hard (at least for me!) answer. When I retired back in 2007 my Dad insisted that I get another job. He knew that I was not the type to sit around and relax for too long. I did keep my eyes open and I was sure that something would come to me. I didn’t want to go back to the investment world although I have no regrets at all about my previous career. I wanted to find something that I was passionate about but I also wanted it to be a lucrative endeavor.
And now, I must digress. As you might have gathered from my academic and career history, I’ve always struggled with figuring out what I was passionate about. Maybe that’s a blessing? There were a lot of things I liked to do and there were many things that I did pretty well but I wasn’t absolutely thrilled or excited about anything in particular. I was always a little jealous, perplexed, and in awe when I spoke with people who were clearly passionate about one thing. At least they had focus. I ‘wasted’ so much time finding my focus. I tried a lot of different types of careers and industries. Did I really waste time? That will be the subject of another posting. Note to File; it’s ok to be confused! You learn a lot from it.
I guess I did have a focus but it wasn’t that admirable. It wasn’t my deep passion. My focus was that I wanted to make money. Did that desire blind me? Can anyone give their budding passions any foundation if making money is the sole focus? Is that a bad thing? Is there a way to get to know yourself more deeply at that age so that your career will have more of a clear direction? There will be a whole chapter in the book about these questions but again, at the end of the day, I have no regrets.
So let’s get back to the hard answer. By 2010 my new career direction had still not come to me. I was getting a bit frustrated because I felt like I had a lot to offer but I demanded (in myself) that if I was going to spend any serious time on a new endeavor it must be very lucrative. And yes, I guess I would have to be sort of passionate about it!
Well, two things happened between the Fall of 2010 and the Summer of 2011. I call them my ‘Two Swift Kicks in the Head’. No, sorry, I won’t get into any detail at this point but what I will tell you is that those ‘kicks’ woke me up. They shook my core. They made me think about what was really really important. And I learned, and I’m learning. They set my life on a new path where the capitalistic biz-man Rob was more balanced with the caring and giving Rob. I want to give the latter persona more breathing room now because I finally realize at 50 years old that my passion was there all along! I guess the biz-man Rob enabled me to go with my passion for the future. Maybe? Or maybe I could have done both. Whatever. No regrets. I’m looking forward.
Over the Summer I asked myself to forget about the money and really think about what I liked to do. It came to me in a matter of weeks. I realized that over the years the work that I really enjoyed was helping people, coaching them, educating them on what worked for me and what didn’t, giving advice on their career directions. I loved strategizing and brainstorming with my team and our Executive Committee on how to best accomplish our business goals. And I would always profess that we will perform the best if we are doing something we like, or hopefully, love. Yeah…this could be a ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ moment but hey, I got the message finally!!
Rob
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Inspirational Robert!
As you mention, as a young person, you are confused, you don’t know what is available to you and you are unlikely to be sure of what you are truly passionate about. I found that the first part of my career was a series of choices and moves that resulted in learning what I did NOT want to do. THIS is an important part of development in your career. We have to endeavor to follow the paths we’ve chosen if only to learn this one thing; even if you do it several times over, the lessons you learn are innumerable. You get your first experience in respect, chain-of-command, professionalism, and presenting yourself to others along with a myriad of unexpected and individual gains. In short, learning what you don’t enjoy is just as important as learning what you do!
Being open to new experiences, especially those for which your educational path did not prepare you, is essential. How many people do you know that specifically or even generally chose their path in college and stuck with it? If you ask, more people are likely to explain that they “fell into” their roles, even those who appear to be truly passionate about what they do. Keeping your eyes and ears peeled for new opportunities, shadowing, cross-training and mentoring provides the young professional with considerable opportunity. Like much in life, you may find your passion when you least expect it!
Thanks for the great blog!
Heather
Thank you Heather! Yes, all that time that I thought was ‘wasted’ early in my career proved to be very educational on many many levels. Here’s a small example but one that I will never forget. I was fresh out of college and got a great position in the Financial Development Program at Honeywell Information Systems. Only 12 people were chosen each year for this 2 year Program. We ‘FDPs’ would get 4 six month job assignments over two years with the intent of giving us broad exposure to the world of finance and accounting. We FDPs would also take graduate level courses in the evening, sponsored by Honeywell, to further broaden our knowledge. Throughout Honeywell the Program was seen as very desirable and as a result there was a low level of animosity amongst some other employees in the company. I tried to distance myself from any of this negativity, gossip, etc.
My first 6 month assignment, along with two other FDPs, was working for the head of one of the manufacturing plants in the accounting department. Yes, this is were I realized that accounting was not for me. I did, however, learn another important lesson. For some reason, my boss’ secretary was not wild about me. I wasn’t sure why since I didn’t have much interaction with her. I would keep my head down and just do my accounting work. After a while however it got to me and instead of continuing my polite and professional attitude towards her I transitioned to being a little cold and just maybe, just a tiny bit…., aloof. Wrong move Rob! I sensed that more people in the group (not the other FDPs) seemed to be gossiping a bit more and they would get quiet when I came around. My boss also didn’t seem as friendly. While my review at the end of the 6 month period was positive, this secretary definitely made my life a little more difficult.
I could have easily managed the situation better but I didn’t think it was important given her position and my position. And the fact that ‘she started it’! In case, you are wondering, I was 22 years old, not 7. Boy am I glad I had this learning experience early in my career! The importance of being humble, treating everyone as you would like to be treated no matter how they treat you, and never ‘burning a bridge’ is critical to long term success in your career. And another hint, maybe just common sense but I didn’t know it when I was younger, secretaries/executive assistants are very important gate keepers and can be very helpful to your efforts if they like and respect you. After having the pleasure of working directly with many administrative and executive assistants I realize they are critical go-to people especially on those days when everything is falling apart at the office and you need someone you can trust to take charge and get it done. Rob
Well done Rob. Time to pay it forward.
Great post. I think your whole concept for Create Your Own Luck is a good one – I am always looking for leadership advice and appreciate your honesty with regard to your own journey. Keep up the posts!
I sareched a bunch of sites and this was the best.
Thank you Erica!
Rob, you are 100% right about attitude, positive people have positive results.We must have POSITIVE VISION and not just day dreams to be successful.
Thank you Ralph! You bring up an important point that I didn’t realize until you mentioned it. Years ago I used to have a lot of very positive ‘day dreams’ or ideas about what I wanted to do. I would imagine my life if I accomplished a particular ‘day dream’. Many of them were about starting businesses that I would really enjoy. But it was just a dream and I quickly started thinking that it couldn’t work, it would be too hard, how would I start, where would I get money, etc. I didn’t force myself to strategize and find a vision of how it could succeed. Times were easier when I got out of college. Even though it may have taken 6-9 months, most young people got a decent job and started their careers. We didn’t struggle as much as young people today and as a result probably didn’t think as deeply as we should have about the best career for us. Yet this is a tremendously important part of career development. Instead, and this is not bad at all, just different, in my day we ended up getting a solid job, the money was pretty good, may not be something we loved but, let’s start life!
As you know, I’m a big proponent of doing something you’re passionate about. You’ll be happier and you’ll perform the best at it. Given the time it takes to get a job nowadays, I would encourage people to use this extra time to really explore their career ‘day dreams’ and strategize about how they can make it work with a ‘glass is half-full’ perspective. This could be a good time to take a risk and go with your passion or at a minimum, explore it in detail while you’re looking for that job that will pay the bills. You’ll learn a lot about yourself.
Not to be a cynic here, but I think the vast majority of people in this country really don’t know what they are passionate about until they’ve had enough life experiences to make a determination between what appeals to their character and what doesn’t. I didn’t know you back in 1982, but I’ve known you for the last 15 years. The person I first met 15 years ago is not the same person I talked with on the phone the other day. While your personality and character haven’t changed, your interests have. And the reason for that is that you’ve grown since then. By putting distance between who you were then and who you are now created perspective on the values that are important to you. You never “wasted” any time; you merely invested it. And now, you have an experiential basis to be able to look back on those investments of time that resulted in a return which, from what I infer from this posting, are the very ones you now treasure most. Ne c’est pas, mon ami?
Just a slight contrarian thought, that’s all.
Excellent points Brian. Thank you. Life’s experiences are necessary to truly understand what you enjoy the most. However, I believe there are ways to accelerate this self-discovery so that a person at the beginning of their career can understand their desires, interests and strengths a little more completely.
Please stay tuned for my blog post this week where I will dive deeper into this discussion.
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Thank you Greg. Rob