27 September 2023

Forward facing: Career lessons that stood the test of time

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Bruce Kasanoff* lists some of the insights he has gained over a long career in business that have retained their currency over the years.


Every now and then I pause to ask myself: “What have I learned?”

After all, those of us whose career already stretches 10, 20 or 30 years should have learned at least a few very valuable lessons.

My own criteria are pretty simple: What insights have stood the test of time?

I’m not looking for today’s clever idea. I’m looking for insights that have been valuable to me — and others — year after year.

Here’s my current list.

Careers do not come with instructions.

There are no hard and fast rules, no simple formulas for success.

This is because you will work for — and with — other human beings, and people are complex and confusing creatures.

Plus, the circumstances keep changing.

Your job is to work well with other people.

Yes, they may be confusing, but figuring out how to interact with people is your number one career challenge.

It’s tempting to think your job is just to be an accountant or a brand manager, but it’s not.

Develop a skill that other people value enough to pay for it.

If you lack such a skill, do nothing else until you master one.

Don’t depend on one skill.

Once you have a valuable skill, people will want you to use it again and again and again.

If you keep doing this, you will eventually get bored and you will never increase your value in the marketplace.

So after you master one skill, learn another skill on the side, until people are willing to pay you more to use that one.

There are other forms of payment besides money.

You can also work for satisfaction, pride, ego, fame, mastery, enjoyment and intellectual challenge.

Don’t undermine your own value.

If you love your job so much you would gladly do it for free, it is best to not mention this to your boss.

Work two jobs.

Your first job is to help other people. Your second is your actual job.

The better you are at number one, the easier number two becomes.

Without confidence, most of your competence will be wasted.

Do whatever it takes to build self-confidence, even if it means confronting your worst fears.

Never lose perspective.

Your worst fears are nothing compared to what some people face each day just to find clean drinking water and enough food. Toughen up.

Be prepared for your moment of truth. There’s no way to schedule (in advance) your big break.

Wake up every morning with the understanding that lightning could strike, in a good way.

*Bruce Kasanoff is a ghostwriter for entrepreneurs. He is the author of ‘How to Grow Your Career by Helping Others’.

This article first appeared at Kasanoff.com.

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