This obvious nugget of wisdom from Yogi Berra is a good reminder for those who maunder through their professional life without a plan and find themselves ending “someplace else.” As a career coach my role is to remind clients that planning at any stage of a career is a critical element of career design, and no matter where you are in your life, career planning can help you not only bring some control to your professional life, but also can keep you in charge of your career than the other way around. 

 

Although I often help my clients’ kids as they graduate high-school with their strategic career choices most of my practice is working with clients in the various stages of their career evolution to help them strategically, tactically, operationally, and transactionally in how they can get the best out of what lies ahead for them and what choices will give them a clear pathway to a happy future. 

 

Although many career decisions are often initially driven by where they can make the most money and how they can achieve a certain status in their company’s hierarchy, once they appreciate the entire calculus of career management and all the moving parts that can contribute to their “success,” no matter where they are in their life, clients often broaden their perspective of career management and become open to looking at variables they had previously ignored or were not aware of their importance (“unconscious incompetence”).

 

Similar to how a business is managed at a strategic, tactical, operational, and transactional level one can manage their career with a similar rubric. In this blog I plan to present what considerations are important for each level of planning. 

 

Strategic: In the strategic realm the most important factor in a career is engagement. What this means is asking the question, Is what I am doing interesting to me and engages me to allow me to do my best work? Also, where I am engaged is equally as important in terms of value alignment, what brings out the best in you, and what provides a nurturing and growth environment. This is a critical set of considerations before you do anything else because if you have arbitrarily—or willy-nilly—chosen a field of pursuit that does not engage your natural gifts, training, and curiosity, and are toiling in a place that does not nurture your spirit then you are merely doing your work in an affected, perfunctory way—as a mercenary for the pay it offers. 

 

This may happen because somehow you got seduced into a role that offered you rewards that may have appeared at the outset out of reach and you went for it (salary, title, location, promise of a big promotion, how well your friends are doing in that very area, among other seductions). No matter where you are in your career—and life—getting back on track is important even though it may initially scare you because of the uncertainty, possible career regression, and perceived setbacks because of its optics (how will it look on my résumé?). 

 

The other side of this strategic factor is that if you want to stay in a role that does not require management responsibilities or that, on its flip side, you want to go into management and shoulder responsibilities for running things. Although this preference may not be clear early in your career thinking through these options is an important element of developing a long-term strategic career plan. This plan can change if more compelling information comes to light as you navigate through your career, always making informed choices. 

 

Tactical: This area of career planning entails having some understanding of how to deal with the tactics you employ in executing the strategies you have already chosen. For example, if you have decided to go into management in your area of work some tactical factors that can affect the timeline and other details of that decision would be, how do you leverage existing opportunities to propel your career momentum into the next managerial role for you to move up. How you develop relationships within your current ecosystem to help your mission, etc. Tactics have to do with the blocking and tackling of the issues you face so that the strategy you have embraced becomes viable. 

 

Operational: Operational considerations have to deal with everyday issues that arise in your career: Dealing with passive-aggressive colleagues; knowing when to put in extra time when things go off-track; lending a hand, now and then, in times of difficulties to extricate your workgroup from crushing workload; etc.

 

Transactional: issues arise constantly and they can be dealt with if you have an overarching principle that defines how you want to manage everyday issues in navigating your workload. Principle-centered approach to these issues in dealing with them usually works best, so those around you know what to expect when such situations arise. 

 

 

1. Your Caliing: No matter where you are in your career listen to your own inner voice in what drives your happiness in the work you (want to) do. In my coaching practice I find that nearly 80% of those who come to me chose their path because circumstances dictated what path they should chose. These can include what their parents expected, what their friends had recommended to them, or what they saw as a worthwhile area to pursue because of the money in it. Rarely I find a client pursuing something because of their conviction and because of their independent assessment of what makes them happy.

 

2. Personal Mastery: Regardless of where you are in your career master the core area of your work and become the go-to person in the technical area of your responsibility. If you are programmer learn to be the best in what you do; if you are program manager learn what it takes to deliver releases regardless of what obstacles your program encounters, etc. If you learn to master the chosen technical area early in your career it becomes a springboard for your professional success regardless of what area you decide to migrate to later as you grow in your career.

3. Never Too Late:  Develop your strategic career vision early in life. Work with mentors and others who have attained a certain status in their profession as a source of inspiration for yourself. This is where you decide whether you want to have your own start-up (when things are right), go into management, or stay as an individual contributor. These decisions are not cast in concrete when you make them, but can act as your guiding force in how you look for the right opportunities and how you navigate through your available opportunities. Do not be beholden to these decisions when new information challenges your basic assumptions.

 

4. Open Your Mind:  As you develop your perspective on the options available to you do not be stuck by decisions made early if they now look less attractive. I recently ran into a client who had been in the senior management roles in large companies all his life, but as he became part of the baby-boomer generation decided that going back to being an individual contributor brought him the most reward in how he was able to add value in his current role. Although his compensation was not a problem in this role, he suddenly felt free when he realized that in this role he needed to focus only on his contributions and not to have to worry about the politics that he felt he could never control.

 

5. Find Your Sweet Spot:  Now matter where you are in your career find your sweet spot and enjoy your work. If a boss is toxic find another one or move to another company. If colleagues are playing games learn how to respond in kind and equip yourself with an ability to deal with such shenanigans. Do not run away from such problems because they will follow you.