“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining”.― John F. Kennedy

I have always believed in this philosophy espoused by JFK, rather than the slightly differing (not opposite) philosophy of ‘Why fix it if it ain’t broke?’. I am realizing the truth contained in it all the more as I meet several executives / clients in my new avatar as a Leadership & Career Coach.

The literal meaning of the quote is: fixing a leak is best done when the weather is good. By dealing with the roof in a timely manner, it’s not an emergency the next time there is rain. Engineers would call this preventive maintenance. To me, this quote is about doing things in a timely and proactive manner. Former CEO of Southwest Airlines used to say that good times are the best opportunity to prepare for the bad times. He always planned for “at least two crises every decade, and we’d better be ready for them…We manage in good times so that we’ll do well in bad times.” Too many people let success blind them to looming risks on the horizon.

Applied to ‘managing one’s own career’, I’d like to drive home the importance of intentionally and diligently manage your career even when you are not looking for another job. One’s long term career success hinges on one’s ability to actively manage your career simultaneously alongside delivering top performance for your current employer. A big mistake that many people make is to think that your career management is the job of your manager. It is not.

Let me share my top 3 tips about how one can proactively manage one’s career

1. Invest in yourself and continually sharpen your saw: Learn job-related skills, soft skills, stuff related to an alternative career if you want to do a career switch. Don’t be complacent – read books / blogs, watch videos, follow thought leaders online etc. No matter how high you ascend on the career ladder, never let your ego get in the way of learning something new. Among others, becoming I.T. savvy about applications in your job and overall in your industry is a must for one’s personal development. In short, ensure you STAY RELEVANT.

Experimenting with and putting into practice what we learn will likely involve failing. An appetite for (measured) risk taking is needed. Failing in itself can be a great teacher. We can also learn from others’ failure and we can help others learn from our own failures. Do you agree?

2. Nourish your network: Jobs are temporary. The average tenure of jobs is reducing fast. Yes, you need to do well in your current role. However, don’t spend day in and day out on your job alone. Take care to be connected to your profession on the whole, beyond your job and company. Strengthen your connection to your professional network. Your network needs to be Open (not everyone need know each other), Diverse (across hierarchies and demographically diverse) and Deep (not shallow but quality relationships based on trust). Networking is a FORM OF CAREER INSURANCE & requires nurturing on a continuous basis:

a.  Invest time and effort to build the relationship(s). Be genuine when you offer help. People can easily see through a self-serving approach.

b.  Be a giver, and be genuine and authentic in your giving. “Being interested in others is the first step in being interesting yourself” – Dale Carnegie

c.  Connect (introduce & refer) people in your network with one another.

d.  Leverage the amazing power of Social Media. No shame attending webinars & learning how to leverage power

e.   Within your organization, find out those (including your boss) who might influence decisions regarding your career progress and plan how you can, legitimately & ethically, make yourself more visible to them (letting them hear about your contributions, volunteering for roles in projects close to their heart etc.) so they become your Sponsors.

f.   Time is precious. Hence pick and choose the forum and people carefully. Avoid wasteful networking. Use the 80/20 Pareto rule to narrow your networking focus.

g.   Two critical things re: networking which I emphasise to my coachees –  i.     Incorporate networking goals in your daily/weekly routine as it suits you. Don’t lie dormant waiting for the tables to turn and only come to life when you need something from others.

 ii.     Networking is less a matter of Skill than of Will. It does not require a gregarious extroverted personality. As an MBTI ‘Introvert’ (am not a networking expert), I can safely attest to that. To my fellow introvert friends – since you aren’t constantly talking, this should make you good & observant listeners, and better able to pick up on (more) non-verbal cues. You will thrive in one-on-one conversations and you can forge truly meaningful connections with a small number of people. Play to your strengths understanding fully what you can excel at and where your limitations are. Find a balance that works for you.

3. Know yourself well and have a career plan with SMART goals

a.  What are your core values, your key motivators? Dig deep to find out. Are you seeking deeper experience, a title, social validation, or is it work-life balance that you are after? Are you driven by money or power? Use the 5-whys approach to try and get to the root motivators for yourself.

b.  Then ask yourself: What do you want to have accomplished in 10 (or whatever your magic number is) years? Then work backwards, step by step, till you come back to “What does my next job/assignment need to be?”

c.  When you are ready to review after 5 years of experience, ensure you do not end up with 5 times ‘the same one-year experience’ i.e. you did not learn much.

d.  Nothing is cast in stone and this plan / career strategy needs to be reviewed periodically as the environment around you changes, and your ‘motivators’ change (if they indeed do).

A friend of mind mentioned to me that one of his early career mentors had advised him thus, about the frequency of career milestone review – “Career is to be reviewed only periodically at milestone stages. The ideal is end of 5 years (you get to understand yourself better), end of 15 years (you have made efforts to reach where you are in a chosen direction), end of 25 years (achieved some significant and visible milestones & end of 40 years when you are ready to sign off in style…Watching every year may make you needlessly focused on short term objectives and getting obsessed with it”.

While I fully agree with the last sentence, the numbers 5, 15, 25 and 40 are illustrative and may need to be reviewed in the light of today’s VUCA environment and your own situation. Recently, Alibaba’s CEO, Jack Ma offered valuable advice re: how to approach one’s career at different stages of life from age 20 to age 60.

e.   The ultimate goal is to love what you do and be good at it. But not all of us are lucky enough to find that precious balance early in our careers. An appropriate mix of perseverance and realism is a good concoction to handle this.

f.    In most cases, you’ll come up perhaps with a range of choices rather than one answer i.e. your preference will be that you should be doing one of 3 – 4 things in your next role. Be realistic since what you actually end up landing will likely be a blend of your aspirations & some serendipity, based on what opportunities come knocking.

g.    You must look at having a few sounding board(s) beyond your immediate circle of friends and colleagues. These could be professional coaches and other senior experienced professionals – People who will commit their time and thoughts to understand you and help you ‘find course’ &/or ‘course-correct’ at various times in your career. Many experts have talked about having your ‘personal board of directors’.

Having said all of the above, of course, you have higher chances (sorry, no guarantees!) of your career going the way you want it to, if you display solid job performance in your current role. Do not ignore that.

So, as you sit back and enjoy/ bask in the glory of the sunny days in your career currently, make sure that your career preparedness ‘roof’ is maintained in proper order to protect you from the bad weather that you will no doubt have to ride out at some point in the future. After all, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity’ – Seneca.

Wish you all the best in your respective careers. As always, I remain open to assist, coach and partner you in your personal career quests.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.