By Ruth K. Robbins
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” — Albert Einstein
Surely everyone’s definition of moving forward is different, depending on their skills, opportunities, experience, and level of ambition. A sense of balance, too, is relative to personal definition and need. Yet Einstein’s sagacity seems to hold true as we contemplate both physics and people — in this case, the trajectories and vicissitudes of our career. Some way or another, while we cheer current job satisfaction or applaud the status quo of work/life balance, we also have to pedal faster or shake things up a little … at least enough to keep moving forward, lest we lose that equilibrium. We simply cannot afford nose-to-the-grindstone complacency in this new world paradigm of constantly changing technology and increasing global interdependence, where not keeping up could mean a spill.
Forward momentum could consist of:
- Periodically upgrading a skill (or acquiring a new one) through a course, either online or in the classroom.
- Attending an industry event or professional organization meeting.
- Solidifying your network through monthly social meet-ups, even when you feel overextended or overworked — perhaps taking someone out for coffee or drinks, even if you’re feeling a tad anti-social.
- Sharpening your online footprint (updating your LinkedIn profile periodically, sharing comments and “likes,” or contributing your thoughts and opinions in an online group discussion).
- Writing a short article or blog post (even if you’ve just plowed through an extensive report at work), for additional visibility.
- Attending or participating in an industry conference, even if the sticker price means you might have to volunteer some service in order to register at a reduced rate.
Test out your marketability
Even if you don’t want to move from what feels like a great (or even just status quo) situation, if you’re approached by a recruiter for a potential job opportunity, make it a point to go on that interview. Find out what you’re worth in the marketplace, and what skills gaps you might need to address if you were to take the next step forward.
Find ways to pedal forward, so you don’t beat up on yourself when you’re caught off-guard with a change of management or work status. From what I’ve seen repeatedly, clients are so much better prepared if they’ve been reaching out and trying to strengthen their reserves of people, skills, and ideas all along. Those who continue to explore their industry landscape are much more confident and primed to move forward if things do change for them (and more often than not, through no fault of their own).
Career management means forward momentum. Thank you, Einstein!
Ruth K. Robbins, has been a Certified GetFive Coach since the Club’s inception, coached at Columbia Business School in their graduate program and has been in private practice since 1992.
