Create Your Own Professional Luck: Manage Your Career Like a Business

Create Your Own Professional Luck: Manage Your Career Like a Business

Today is St. Patrick’s Day so you’ll probably hear a lot about luck. And while you may need a four-leaf clover to help you win the lottery, when it comes to your career, no leprechaun or blarney stone will help you rise to the top. Instead, you must create your own professional luck by actively managing your career.

You might see yourself as ‘only an employee’, but this view is very limiting. When you see yourself and manage your career like a business (think “Me Inc.”), you are more likely to seek opportunities for professional growth, development, and success. But how can you manage your career like a business? By adopting the time-tested habits of successful businesses: mapping out goals; focusing on strengths; building a strong brand; adapting to change; and surrounding yourself with knowledgeable advisors. Let’s discuss each of these in turn.

 
Create and write professional goals

We all know that setting professional goals can help us achieve them, but so too can writing it all down. 

Can you imagine a business without goals or a written business plan detailing how their goals will be achieved? Lack of focus, lack of control and disorganization would prevail. Successful businesses develop business plans and commit these plans to writing. 

By managing your career like a business, you must set and write out your long-term and short-term goals. Pick big, audacious hopes for your future and then develop smaller goals to help you get there. Setting and writing down your goals can help you create a roadmap for professional success.

Focus on your strengths… and on yourself

Businesses that determine what they are good at, and focus on their competitive advantages, are formidable opponents. These are the organizations that stand the test of time.  This is true also for you personally: when you know your strengths, you can make the most of your talents. And when you are utilizing your strengths, you are more likely to be productive, engaged, energized, and make notable contribution at work. 

In addition to focusing on your strengths, to be successful professionally, you must also focus on your personal well-being. In Stephen Covey’s classic book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” habit #7 is ‘sharpen the saw.’ This means having a balanced program for renewal and growth for your: 

• body (through exercise, nutrition, rest, and stress management); 
• heart (by building strong and satisfying relationships); 
• spirit (by tapping into your values, finding inspiration and being of service to others); and
• mind (through reading, writing, learning and studying).

In the words of Dr. Covey “Renewal is the principle—and the process—that empowers us to move on an upward spiral of growth and change, of continuous improvement.” So, like a business, take a personal retreat… carve out some ‘me’ time for introspection and renewal.

Build a professional brand and an ethical reputation

Every business builds a brand and a loyal customer base to succeed, and business leaders know that a marketing plan can help them get there. But as individuals, we often think of “building a personal brand” as something only Millennial and Gen Z Instagram influencers do. As a professional, your “brand” is about a lot more than a website or a social media platform.

What are you known for? What do you want to be known for personally and professionally? 

Your professional brand is about your unique combination of skills, education, and experience that make you stand out from other professionals in your field. And as a managerial level professional particularly, much of your professional brand will relate to your interactions, leadership, and ethical reputation. Building an ethical reputation includes:

• Creating a positive work culture,
• Valuing and showing respect to yourself and others;
• Improving the well-being of your co-workers, and
• Developing loyalty among co-workers and customers.

As the famous Jeff Bezos quote goes, “what do people say about you when you’re not in the room?” Think about this and work to cultivate opportunities to build your brand.

Stay flexible

According to labour statistics, the average Canadian has a job tenure of eight and a half years. Given the length of our professional careers, this means 5 or more different jobs in our lifetime. You may need to change jobs to advance your career, so it’s important to stay flexible and be open to new opportunities. 

It’s also important to stay flexible while at work. If you’re known as someone who is forward-thinking and who can easily adjust, it can only help your career. People will recognize your leadership and your ability to adapt to change without panicking or causing stress to the organization.

Don’t go it alone

Every successful business has a group of experienced experts and advisors, who provide practical advice and support in specific areas of knowledge. If a business has a complex problem that needs to be solved, they will bring in management consultants. If they need to review, understand, and negotiate contracts with suppliers, they will consult their lawyers. You’ll need to do the same thing when managing your business like a career. 

Maybe this means seeking the assistance of a business coach who can help you create your personal brand and put your best professional foot forward. Or perhaps meeting with a compensation expert who can help you understand your value in the job market and whether your remuneration is competitive. Maybe you need to speak with a recruiter to better understand the skills and competence required for similar external roles in your industry. And when it comes to issues at work that effect your legal rights (e.g., signing a new employment contract, dealing with workplace conflict, responding to disciplinary action or an investigation, assessing your severance package and signing dismissal documents) it is critical to seek assistance of a skilled employment lawyer. 

Managing your career like a business can seem counterintuitive at first. But adopting this framework will surely help you to create more professional luck!

Consult a Professional

Advocation is an employment law firm that understands Ontario employment laws and can advise you of your rights. If you or someone you know in the Greater Toronto area needs legal advice about an employment matter, contact at 647-727-8836 or online to schedule a consultation.