Alexis Senge JohnsonA friend of mine sent me a job posting today that he thought I would be perfect for. The way he copied the qualifications into the email, I couldn’t initially see what company the posting was for. The first half of the posting had me seriously intrigued and by the time I started reading the second half I was beginning to think that I was born specifically for such a role. While reading I just kept thinking “it’s as if these job specifications were created specifically for me and my background.” If you’re wise to the irony of my life, this is about the time that you should start asking me “what’s the catch?”
After sifting through all the information to get to get to the position title and company name, I learned it was in fact as if the job specifications were created specifically for me…because they had be in 2005 when I began carefully crafting the job in question to suit my talents when the company first hired me. Who knew that all these years later I would be reading the listing for a job that I pretty much hand crafted to into what it became over the course of my employment with that company. I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of the situation and remind myself that, although I loved getting to do everything this previous job entailed, I moved on so that I could expand my knowledge base and grow in my career.
Steve Adubato wrote an article for The Star-Ledger back in mid July entitled “The Best Leaders Never Stop Trying to Learn.” He wrote about how Pablo Casals, a 95 year-old Spanish cellist and composer, still continues to practice a day. When Mr. Casals was asked why he still practices so many hours a day after so many years of performing he replied, “because I think I’m making progress.” Mr. Adubato’s article is centered around the fact that those who wish to be the best leaders and make a commitment to being the best in their field.
In order for me to be the best in my field I knew I needed more technical experience. My background for two decades was as a performer or manager of performers, but my technical knowledge was limited only to items I had worked directly with in the past. Therefore, I left the job mentioned above in order to go to another company and work in a position that was dedicated to everything I was lacking knowledge about. My position there allowed me to later move forward to the job I have at this moment because my diverse background was just what was needed to handle everything that comes my way daily.
Mr. Adubato’s article brings the point home by saying that exceptional professionals “read, they research, they ask questions of others in comparable positions, they are curious, they take seminars, they go online and they are responsive to executive coaching.” Think of your career like a bike ride on a flat road. If you stop learning, growing, and peddling then you’ll stop moving. Your bike and career will come to a halt at some point because you can only coast for so long before the lack of propulsion allows everyone else to pass yours. It’s never too late to start peddling and bring your career back to life.
I’ve been peddling my career forward long before I even realized it.