Fulfillment and joy of working is lost or has waned considerably to the point of losing your effectiveness on the job and marring your credibility at work. The result: you perpetuate you existence in your organization. Have you considered a career change?

Young urban professionals or yuppies end to be too mobile in their early years of working.  An informal survey, among professional recruiters and HR practitioners, reveals that the first 3 years of a yuppie’s career is seen to be unstable. Majority of younger yuppies that have just started working have a tendency to jump from one organization to the next, or test other field of professions until they settle down to one, at least 3 times every two years. However, for those who stayed and progressed through their careers tend to become jittery after 5 or 7 years on the same job or profession. Hence, you’d commonly see yuppies or young professionals that have degrees in business, engineering, or medical technology, yet are pursuing an entirely different field.

What is the implication of these things to us? How do we move from one career to another? Is fulfillment foremost in our career goals or money?

Your thoughts are much appreciated.  Let us hear them out.

While it is true that we work for money as our primary objective, but this should not be the end. Career counselors and Industrial psychologists agree that money is not an excellent career motivator. You should be able to wade through this stage as early as possible. Planning your career path is imperative if you want to succeed in the long haul and earn your mark on top of the corporate ladder.

So, how do you plan your career? How do you proceed?

Here are 3 surefire steps to take in career planning:

• Project where you want to be 10 years from now. Set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound) career goals. If you are currently a Marketing Staff now, you might want to consider becoming a Marketing Manager 10 years from now. Then start setting, and writing, those career goals and objectives.

• Build your core competencies. Your core competencies are special job skills and knowledge that make you effective and efficient in your job. Develop them. Learn new things about them. Learn new technologies that will make you more competitive. If you are aiming at climbing the corporate ladder, then better start acquiring those core competencies required to be successful in your chosen expertise.

• Expand your influence. Develop your leadership and people skills because top jobs required these skills.

Plan your career, don’t just take another job! Take heed to what Lawrence J. Peter has to say:

If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else!

Now, have your say please.

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” ~Winston Churchill

This post has been sitting in my draft box for quite some time now. Honestly, I find it hard to ‘bounce-back’ coming from almost two weeks of sickness. Work filed up, and tons of commitment needing my immediate attention. Again, I feel the need to rise-up to this occasion and take charge, and I think that is how good business leaders will do. They consider setbacks, failures, and frustrations as allies. These do not discourage them, but rather they rise to the occasion. They put their hands, heads, and hearts to the tasks until they accomplished their objectives. Who would forget Winston Churchill, ‘who brought England to its finest hour’ and put an end to World War 2 with his resiliency when the other nations’ leaders failed to act to stop the Nazis: Never give in –never , never, never, never, never…never give in! Or when he addressed the British people in a BBC radio broadcast (February 1941) and at the same time sending his message to the American political leaders of that time: We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire…Give us the tools and we will finish the job. The rest is history.

Okey, sounds like I had an overdose of the book (huh ^^) –A Leader Becomes A Leader: Inspirational Leadership for a New Generation by J. Kevin Sheenan.

This book comes out in an age where most of us prefer to browse the web than sit down in the comfy of our favorite couch to read. Albeit, it captures best the need to reawaken our generation on the fundamentals of leadership extraordinaire.

This book supports my treatise, that you cannot take leadership apart from management. Sheehan will convince us in each page that you cannot simply manage without leading. You have to do both. He exhaustively covered all types of leaderships in different areas: from the sports arena to the spiritual, the likes of Michael Jordan, Gandhi and Mother Theresa; from the social activist to the scientists, the like of Martin Luther King Jr and Einstein; from the military to politics, the like of General George Marshall and JFK; from music and the arts like John Lennon and Bob Marley; from the business leaders of the past and present like Walt Disney and Bill gates; among others.

The book draws principles and values from the lives and leadership of these known people, some even unknown, like the Unknown Rebel of China, and throws them to us for inspiration and easy reflection. It made me reflect on the important issues in both my business and personal affairs, and I came out inspired, ready to rectify my mistakes and strive more to give my best at what I do now.

Let me say this honest disclaimer, this is not only a book about inspired corporate leadership, but it is also about effective personal leadership and being the best that you can be wherever and whenever you are.

My take and yours

I will always be student of management and business leadership, in spite of leaving the corporate world. Though I lead and manage now in a different arena, I will always carry own with this in mind:

I learned this, at least, by my own experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined; he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. HE will put some things behind; will pass an invisible boundary… [And] he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness.

If you have built castle in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them. ~Henry David Thoreau as quoted from A leader Becomes A Leader.

Related Posts:

• When A Leader Becomes A Leader: A Young Professional’s Perspective (Part 1)
• Know Thyself: Foundation of Corporate Leadership
• Starting Low, Hitting High

Kovach, who studied the lives of those who made it to or near the top, found that this is normal transitional period. The thing to do at this point is slow down. She offers the following advices:

1. Give up a competitive orientation for cooperative one.
2. Develop interpersonal rather than achievement-oriented skills.
3. Replace an emphasis on substance with one style.

Accompanying those three are the following points of learning:

1. The team is more important than the individual.
2. Merit alone will not carry you to the top
3. You must be tolerant of the failings of others.
4. There is a time to lower your own visibility and Management idea of the week.

You might want to take heed on those practical advices and slow down a bit. Take the time to rest, and contemplate on those things that matter most in your career and/or business. Slowing down does not mean to lag behind, but actually putting on spaces between your paces to renew your stamina for the long haul. Run your course like a winner does in a marathon, not in a sprint; for your career life is not a 100-meter dash. Doing this, you will see your goals in a fresher perspective and with a renewed vigor.

Ask Recruits About Their Expectations

For today’s employers, knowledge of a recruit’s expectations can determine how well you retain him or her. According to over 5,000 surveys conducted in 2006 regarding job satisfaction, Gen Y Hates Their Jobs pinpoints that 60 percent of Gen Y was dissatisfied with their positions. In 2008, we have no idea how worse it could be that’s why it is important to speak to the graduates. The opinions of Gen Y will determine the turnover of your organization within the next ten years so you need to prepare. Ease the tension of recent grads by listening to their concerns related to expectations, job satisfaction, and career development. With knowledge of all of these factors, you can create a career track program within your organization to assist new recruits.

Create A Career Track

If you are aware of the recruit’s needs, you can develop a career track suited for them. Assisting in their development will not only leave recruits engaged, but creates opportunities to mold leaders. A successful mentor program can instill lasting loyalty in recruits. Your mentors can work with new recruits to achieve their career objectives with your company. Analyze the career opportunities available, then allow new employees to evaluate which opportunities fit their strengths. An innovative employee develops their weaknesses with assistance from their employer. With this in mind, you can strengthen the character of your employees by helping them achieve their career objectives.

Offer Advancement Opportunities

Gen Y’s want to know where they stand in an organization. Announce advancement opportunities to the most qualified candidates. Gen Y’s want positions with prominent responsibilities. Place Gen Y in positions that fit their abilities, education, and skill to encourage professional growth. What would you do to encourage professional growth in your recruits? Gen Y’s needs are a bit complex to employers; learn about the needs of recent college grads then prepare to acquire talent for your company.

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This article is a guest post by Tahjia Chapman, writer for CollegeRecruiter.com through the courtesy of Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.