Career Advancement

Dr. Ismail Ndifuna is a blogger for Express Expertise

Very few candidates, employees or employers disagree with the statement that in today’s competitive job market and economy, it is advantageous for individuals, employees and employers to deliberately make effort to improve their job or work performance. Opinions differ on the approach to and the details of making the effort. One point is clear though. Successful career development requires deliberate investment. In his book ‘Tales of power’, Don Juan makes a distinction between a warrior and an ordinary person. The warrior takes everything as a challenge and braces himself to engage it upfront. The ordinary person takes everything as either a blessing for which he is thankful or a curse for which he needs cleansing.

Career advancement must be a deliberate intervention that should be systematically planned and implemented. Investments must be made in improving work or job performance to succeed as they must be made to prepare for the job or work. In his book “Your next move”, Michael Watkins counsels-”The path to the top will be built step by step through a series of major career moves and each time you make a change you have the opportunity to shine or stumble”. Both situations must be managed. When you shine you will be positioned for ‘greater things’. On the other hand when you stumble you may never recover. This is when you need to invoke the warrior in you. The development of innovative methods to make the investment towards career enhancement is therefore a worthwhile task for individual progress.

That is why for me, given a choice between ‘warrior’ and ‘ordinary man’,

I will choose ’warrior’. It is more honorable

So many potentially brilliant minds go to waste every year because they do not invest in personal improvements, let alone work performance.

It is not unusual that individuals go with the tide after they get that much searched for job and end up as mediocre at their jobs.  The tendency to give up after one trial or fall is also very common. Jack Canfield advises “falling forward” as opposed to “falling backwards” a situation that is usually awash with despair. That is why for me, given a choice between ‘warrior’ and ‘ordinary man’, I will choose ’warrior’. It is more honorable.

In the article “Making things happen in the work place”, Veer Songquan Deng uses the concept ‘rational persistence’ to describe the ‘calculated’ resilience one needs to go through setbacks or difficulties. Persistence is the art of moving forward even when you encounter inertia or difficulty. People who show initiative often encounter difficulties and setbacks along the way, so rational persistence (where you listen to, consider, and appropriately modify your direction depending on other people’s input) is essential if you want to achieve what you’ve set out to do. When you’re persisting with your idea, you’ll find things much easier if you learn how to manage change effectively – this can often make the difference between success and failure for a project

So choose ’warrior’ too. The investment will get you to the highest level of your career and you will achieve the highest of your career dreams. Career advancement is a by- product of consistent behavior. EE