Throughout
history, people had little need to manage their careers—they were born into
their stations in life or, in the recent past, they relied on their companies
to chart their career paths. But times have drastically changed. Today we must
all learn to manage ourselves.
What does
that mean? As Peter Drucker tells us in this seminal article, first published
in 1999, it means we have to learn to develop ourselves. We have to place
ourselves where we can make the greatest contribution to our organizations and
communities. And we have to stay mentally alert and engaged during a fifty-year
working life, which means knowing how and when to change the work we do.
It may seem
obvious that people achieve results by doing what they are good at and by
working in ways that fit their abilities. But, Drucker says, very few people
actually know—let alone take advantage of—their fundamental strengths.
He
challenges each of us to ask ourselves, “What are my strengths? How do I
perform? What are my values? Where do I belong? What should my contribution be?”
Don’t try to
change yourself, Drucker cautions. Instead, concentrate on improving the skills
you have and accepting assignments that are tailored to your individual way of
working. If you do that, you can transform yourself from an ordinary worker
into an outstanding performer.
Today’s
successful careers are not planned out in advance. They develop when people are
prepared for opportunities because they have asked themselves those questions
and have rigorously assessed their unique characteristics.
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