NEW
SUCCESS FOR SUCCESS
By Adele M. Scheele, Ph.D.
Career Coach
For the first
time in our working history, we are asking so much more of ourselves.
Not only what we can learn, what we can do, how we can progress,
but what we should truly be doing with our lives. We crave to have
our interior yearnings made congruent with our outward manifestations.
We want purpose in our working lives not just for ourselves. We
need to make a difference. We can.
But to do it, we have
to give up old modes and behaviors that still haunt us. We have
been acculturated by the very institutions we have relied on to
lead us out --all of us, scientists and professionals, no matter
whether we are deans of universities, directors of governmental
agencies, or in private practice. I have been keenly interested
in how we succeed at what we want to do the most, and I’ve
interviewed so many accomplished people in dentistry, science, management,
the arts as well as practicing professionals. From mapping their
lives, I’ve divided the world of professionals into two groups:
Sustainers vs. Achievers. While it is more true that most of us
slide between these poles at different times in our own lives, looking
at the extremes will help identify the mindset that either captures
or frees us to realize our dreams.
First, let’s look
at Sustainers – us when we are just doing our jobs well and
waiting for recognition, waiting passively for rewards, praise,
raises, promotions. Those of us who are stuck in the Sustainer mode
feel stuck, frustrated as we wait for our managers to recognize
our best efforts and then give us financial and emotional rewards.
And when waiting doesn’t work, and it absolutely doesn’t,--
it makes you invisible to your superiors, just the opposite, ironically,
of what you had hoped for –Sustainers then become resentful
for not being selected when others who have done less or are newer
are given opportunities instead. We may complain and grow cynical,
but we slip back trying to do better at our work.
Why? When we behave like
Sustainers, we act like the good students we were in school, waiting
for specific assignments that always came, for our teachers to grade
our papers and exams, and then automatically promote us as they
always did based on just grades. We never had to learn how to petition
them or position ourselves. In fact, we regard that as brown-nosing,
illegitimate, cheating – contemptuous in our moral sense.
What we have learned, in addition to any content, has been system
dependence. And that has unconsciously depleted us.
Now, consider the behavioral
patterns of Achievers. Instead of only doing work well and waiting
passively for reward, Achievers not only do well (just as Sustainer)
but also actively seek both recognition and opportunity. Chances
to do more interesting or advanced work depend on the recognition
of others. Achievers learn along the way to tell others about the
work they’ve done, what they’ve learned from their position
or clients or research, and what they feel they are ready for as
their next career steps as well as for those on their team. And
they take the risks to get there.
Achievers learn that
to advance their careers, they must build contacts and alliances
with others because it is these connections that give them a better
perspective on their own work, to provide them with different approaches
to dilemmas, to illuminate them for what is possible, new, relevant,
important in their work. The more information and people they know,
the more they are valued. Contacts or networks release them from
a feeling of dependency, emboldening them. Sharing professional
ideas and experiences becomes a source of support, a way to expand
the nature of their jobs and their own potential. Actively seeking
vs. passively waiting are poles apart and represent two different
world views.
Why aren’t Sustainers
like Achievers? Not what you’d think: they are not smarter
or better educated or from better families or luckier. They have
broken out of the trap of being just good students and have developed
skills for success over their entire work lives. Here is the key
to each of these skills. You’ll see where you already have
excelled and where you might yet venture. Know that these are developmental;
we are never done; we are always in stages of exploring and creating.
Developing Personal Courage
#1. Experiencing Doing:
The courageous skill of building a wardrobe of behaviors and roles.
This very skill pushes out our boundaries of who we think we were
when we were young. Only by continually learning or experiencing
something different, something advanced, do we sense more opportunity
and gain self-confidence. It might be doing something physical,
like mountain climbing or piloting a plane or learning to ballroom
dance. What Achievers report is that they stop worrying about what
others think and they learn to trust themselves. It might be something
more intellectual, like learning another language. And it might
be more professional like joining a dental association and proceding
beyond the first level of engagement of only paying dues and coming
to meetings; volunteering for a committee, chairing it, running
for office, expanding that role to a state or national level changes
how others view you and how you view yourself. The idea is to put
yourself in front of others and risk the comfortable status of being
invisible. If the idea of public speaking, for example, is threatening,
then take up some short-lived activity like improvisational acting
or join a speakers group in where you feel safe enough before your
own peer group or group of interest, civic, religious, political,
professional. If you think of the metaphor: life is a party, then
you see both roles. The guest, ready, willing, waiting like a Sustainer
takes only a minimum amount of courage. The host, however, requires
thinking for the group, who to invite, to connect with, to entertain.
Its focus brings the most rewards. Then expand that and imagine
that your profession or your organization or group is your party
and your role becomes host (title or no), how else would you act?
Experimenting with new
behaviors allows us to redefine ourselves, reclaim ourselves, get
to know and trust who we want to become. In the doing, we understand
that success is not an end in itself, an ultimate goal with tremendous
fears related to it and on which we stake it all, but rather of
process of moving, of growing.
#2. Risking Linking:
The risk-taking skill of connection to individuals, organizations,
and ideas. This skills is about taking a risk and making vital connections
to people, groups, and ideas. It is a search for concrete opportunities,
new directions, even without knowing what the end goal will be.
It is most needed when there is a longing for change in goals. The
term linking, of course, suggests connecting. The harder term is
risking. What we can more easily risk is time or money; but what
is the most critical is risking face: daring to meet others to brainstorm
an idea or even talk about a new position. Our own terror of being
found out not to be so smart as we seem, found out to be a fraud,
is so intense that we stop ourselves even before we begin. The term
networking is nothing simplistic; it requires a mutuality within
a professional circle. You have to be able to support each other
in good times in order to help or be helped in the tough ones. Such
linking extends beyond the exchange of cards or smiles. Often, the
way of linking best is done over volunteer professional work which
allows us to know and trust the other.
We can try risking linking
in a variety of ways: who we think to contact, who to have lunch
with, who to explore a project with. To try cracking your comfort
zone, then consider starting a Strategy Group. I have set up this
kind of brainstrust in many organizations and private groups. Some
groups have lasted one year; others have continued for decades.
It always works if you follow the structure. Here’s how:
Invite up to 5 others
who are interested in making changes or advancing. Ask them to commit
for at least 6 meetings, held monthly for two hours. Each person
will get a fifteen minute turn (actually timed) in front of the
group. Each fifteen minutes is divided into three parts initially:
five minutes of telling your accomplishments so that no one under
or over estimates you; five minutes of describing your dilemma or
goal in detail; and then five minutes taking notes of the group’s
advice, suggestions, contacts. Each member takes such a three-part
turn. The following months the first five minutes is for your progress
or lack of it; your dilemma and goal might stay the same over a
period of time. Your group will get better about giving you ideas
as you improve with them.
Some caution: everyone
gets excited at first but at some point in the process will be depressed
about not progressing as much as another. Know that it’s no
competition; each is there for the others. It’s about meeting
profound fears and a bit of timing. With commitment to practice,
you have the power to transform each other’s lives.
Developing Organizational
Savvy
#3: Showing Belonging:
The organizational skill of creating a more productive and interactive
division. Achievers are the ultimate team players: they actively
support the group they work for and create a more interactive, supportive,
and productive group, regardless of their title. Nearly unconsciously,
Achievers show belonging in the way they answer a call, talk with
a staff member, discuss a problem in a meeting. They send congratulations
to colleagues who have published an article or book, who are cited
by others, who brought in a new grant. They extend themselves to
those who are in distress, sharing resources and knowledge, showing
empathy. It doesn’t take extraordinary circumstances to bring
out feelings of belonging though they are spectacular. Often it
is demonstrated in the ordinary events of daily life: how you walk
into your office or clinic, who you greet, who in your own group
you praise or encourage. At meetings you have a chance to contribute
by validating or adding to a good idea another has suggested. In
projects, you could, midway through, call for a time-out to see
if there is a better way to proceed. At the end of a major project
or event, you could ask the group to tell what they are proud of
doing, what else they might like to do next, how they’d redo
the project if they had the chance. By not ignoring members of your
group, but rather in concentrating on them, you will raise the level
of involvement and fulfillment. Success demands a dual effort: opportunity-taking
and meaning–making.
#4 Exhibiting Specialing:
The organizational skill of demonstrating worth by enacting a special
and necessary role exceeding the scope of the job description.
Achievers are simultaneously the ultimate stars. They exhibit their
special talents; they demonstrate their worth to their organizations.
It requires more than just doing what they are good at. It often
extends beyond their job descriptions. It requires that they find
out what their colleagues may need and offering that skill.
This skills asks you
to look at how you hold yourself back. Think about what you would
be doing if only you could be doing it, and do it. It often clarifies
your own calling, that latent longing for fulfillment in some special
arena. If you see that you are also interested in promoting your
organization, start with marketing your own projects. You might
realize a new way to generate business or handle accounts, commit
to further research, or devise a needed system of handling cases.
If you can conceive of it and if you do it, you might change the
direction of your life. If you are bored with what you are competent
in, even expert at, refocusing your attention to your organization’s
challenges you might have a another success.
It is important to consider
the differences between men and women in relation to these skills.
While I have seen many successful people demonstrate them effectively,
I still see that women still find it more difficult to take risks,
demonstrate their talents, ask for advice from authorities, and
take active roles. The good student role is even more carefully
taught to females. Only recently has the world of work been truly
open for women to equally be able to demonstrate their talents,
enthusiasm, and interests and compete for opportunities.
Developing Professional Furtherance
#5. Using Catapulting:
The protégé’s skill of using higher ranking
professionals and contacts to launch and mentor the careering process.
Achievers turn some of
their professional associates and expert contacts into mentors and
catapult themselves to levels that they could not otherwise easily
achieve. They understand that this a two-part skill which requires,
first, the establishment of a significant relationship with a more
experienced person and, second, the carrying out of moves that are
taught or suggested by the mentor. This second part requires independent
effort and active participation but cannot be realized without the
mentor’s connections, expertise, and encouragement. The alliance
between mentors and protégés must be strong.
Like wished-for respected
parents, mentors guide us in how we present, position, and connect
ourselves. We need such experts in our corner to help defend ourselves
against attack and help us plan our best strategies for success
like career coaches. Mentors work in the same profession at higher
levels. As we move up, we need additional mentors at the top. During
our career, we need advice based on mentors’ life experience
to understand the political nature of work, the way our specific
system functions, and to provide clues that only veterans can know.
Identify people whom you respect who might be helpful to you, explain
why you admire them, and ask for specific advice. Find bonds between
you, values and interests shared. Remember, every successful person
needs to be needed, appreciated, and have their concepts carried
out.
The mentor relationship
is a two way one and requires that we respond and give back through
reporting our progress and our appreciation. The mentor-protégé
relationship is informal, even personal, and not bound by time.
It has no explicit contracts nor can it be overused. We can’t
continuously complain or not take any action. We call on a mentor
because we recognize our inexperience and need their counsel on
a specific issue, a negotiation, or on a career move for which we
want seasoned, reasoned advice.
Because we share our mentor’s connections and experiences,
because we are given entrée into their world, we become a
reflection of them. We need, therefore, to be aware that by excelling
we enhance them.
#6. Magnifying Accomplishments:
Highlighting skills and talents to bring recognition to you, your
organization, and your profession.
Magnifying Accomplishments,
is the culmination of the six competences, a synthesis of these
nontechnical skills. It is the supreme skills of displaying your
ideas and expertise not only inside your organization but within
your profession. It involves not only intense participation in your
organization but also taking on leadership positions in professional
associations, lecturing, and moderating panels before professional
and community groups, writing books and articles for journals, and
finally, becoming a mentor to others. This is the natural result
of successful careering when we are in a position to broaden our
accomplishments, collaborate with our colleagues, and make our expertise
and experience available to others following us. It is the highest
form of teaching. And through it, we increase our own knowledge
in the process.
The Learn-Do-Teach Cycle
of Careering
This three-part cycle,
Learn-Do-Teach, if followed through with a spirit of commitment,
insures a successful career. We all need to learn new things, to
practice and master them, and then to teach them to others. It is
the movement through the complete process that provides us with
perspective and understanding. It also provides us with a system
for involvement in our work and in our personal growth. Without
this kind of progress, we stay stuck as perpetual students, or dissatisfied
workers, or uninspired professors or administrators.
Each one of the six skills
is developmental; that is, each one is infinitely expandable. In
the most profound sense, we are never finished with any one of them.
But we do seem to move on from the first to the second and on to
the sixth in developmental sequence. Some of us will take our whole
lives to move once through all of them. But increasingly, more of
us will move through these competences, completing the cycle, and
then begin again. This return seems to be on a level more profound
than when we started out the first time. This anatomy of success
presents the hidden structure in the system of working and advancing.
It acts as a guide to make our own careers work in more satisfying
and fulfilling ways and to stimulate a thoughtful investment of
talent and aspiration toward realizing our potential.
We are each at a threshold, about to take new risks and experiences
to make our dreams come true.
©Adele M Scheele,
Ph.D. 2003
Contact information:
Dr. Adele M. Scheele, Adele@DrAdele.com
DrAdele.com
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