Truths about finding career satisfaction
18 Apr, 2019
Ted Coss distills advice from executive coach and author Michael Melcher on managing your career.
I recently read an article in Fast Company that resonated with me – “Executive coach: 7 secrets to finding lasting career satisfaction” – and thought it might resonate with you as well. The author, Michael Melcher, an executive coach, has “walked the walk” when it comes to embracing change and making shifts in his career that may have seemed off-course at the time, but ultimately led him to where he is today.
Melcher earned a BA in 1986 from Harvard College, served as a foreign service officer for the U.S. government, earned JD and MBA degrees at Stanford University, worked as an attorney, and was the CEO of an internet startup. He’s also an executive coach, speaker and a writer. His background and experiences are impressive, but he didn’t take a “climb the ladder,” linear approach. I found a few of his seven “secrets” especially valuable:
Spend time each day working toward a career goal.
Melcher says to take an activity or a goal, divide it into its component parts, then spend 20 minutes a day or less working on it. He says that if you break up your tasks into “important versus urgent,” most long-term career development falls in the bucket of important but not urgent. Spending 20 minutes a day working on important-but-not-urgent tasks will help resolve this tendency to procrastinate, he says.
Don’t wait until you’re unhappy to make a move.
Similar to your health, Melcher says, it’s important to take preemptive steps to avoid problems later in your career. “We tend to only do something about our careers when we have a problem,” he says. Otherwise, “you coast along and hope that just being competent at your job will resolve it. But this is a limiting strategy.” Other companies want the best of the best, so keeping an open mind while you are still holding that top 10% ranking can only help your career.
Accept that career paths don’t follow a straight line.
My advice on this topic is slightly different than that of Melcher. While I do agree that career paths don’t always follow a straight line, I also think that one should be careful to ensure that their line makes sense. When individuals are considering specific opportunities, they need to keep in mind how that role will position them for the next step in their career. As I talk with candidates and evaluate their resume and career progression, I always ask myself, “Did that move make sense?” Sometimes it is okay to make a perceived lateral move if it positions the individual in a better segment of the market.
For example, I was recently talking with a Chief Commercial Officer who sees the future growth within the medical segment of the marketplace in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Typically, the ultimate decision makers on healthcare AI technology will be made by the leaders within the C-suite of the hospital systems. Since this individual did not previously lead an organization that sold to the C-suite, he felt he needed to add that experience to his background to position himself for AI opportunities in the future. While this move was a perceived lateral, he made the move with a forward-thinking approach.
As you evaluate what your career path is going to look like, keep these considerations in mind. You may not always know what will be next, but if you have a general idea of what your end game looks like, you can use these tips to help you get there.
