The Basics of a Successful Career

In it for the long haul?… why good preparation matters…

We all were 21 once and the indestructible to the world! I can’t count the amount of stupid things done by myself, which have been written off to experience. How any of us get through our younger years is a miracle in itself as the learnt lessons from these years spell out a hard fact! If we don’t prepare in these years for a sustainable career, we will not have one!

So, still in reflection, a brief yet candid reflection of my own twenty something experiences:

A)   Staying fit = Good move

B)   Joining the Army = Good move

C)   Studying Finance = Good move, could have being better

D)   Not embracing my passion after the Army = bad move

E)   Not developing my networking skills = bad move

F)    Not thinking long term career satisfaction = bad move

G)   Not doing a degree that stirs my passion = bad move

So laid bare, one can see how hindsight is definitely 20/20 vision and that its difficult to make a decision in the present, especially when you have just turned 20 and feeling larger than life itself!

I would like to share a story from a course I did after launching my second career in Finance back in the day when the Celtic tiger was roaring for all of Ireland! I was at a life-skills seminar by Ian McClean & Partners and Ian himself shared a great story about a President of a Merchant Bank who was in attendance at one of his courses. When finished the course presentation, the President of the Bank approached Ian and thanked him for the hearty presentation, which he found impressive. He especially liked the analogy of the career ladder against the wall, where you climb it one step at a time. He said that his father was also a President of a Merchant and made him join the bank as a Clerk with no perks or favours done for him. He went into the bank, worked hard and climbed the ladder like everyone else, one step at a time until some decades later; he reached the very top of the ladder! It was only at that time did he realise the ladder was not facing the right wall! Imagine a lifetime of work, success and acclaim with no intrinsic reward for the impact you have made on society? A life’s work spent on a hollow success??

As a youngster, we would argue that “well didn’t the banker get well paid for his troubles?” Sure he did, but money itself is not what makes us happy, it provides a medium for living. Currency is a means to travel life’s path, nothing more. Thing is, if you do your planning and stay committed to your happiness, you can get paid doing what you love, which is a win win!! You win by getting paid doing that you love and your employer wins by having a better and more committed professional working for the company. Society also wins by the increased positive impact given the “good cultural fit” of the employee to the role and organisation.

So, if I could go and do it again, I would change nothing! We all have regrets, no matter how perfect our plans are! Life tends to work on net outcomes with plenty of crests and valleys along its path. That said, there are things folks may want to think about now that will impact their future either way.

Passion – find out what interests you. Use social media to research your areas of interests and keep on going until passion is stirred in an occupation and/or discipline. Don’t think of it in best earning class, think of it in what makes you happy class!

Keep fit – fitness assumed is fitness lost in later years. Stay fit whilst young and it will stand to you in years to come. Develop a lifestyle of keeping fit through exercise, running/field sports and walking. Stay active always!

College – College is a must for charting your career path! Getting a degree will give you more flexibility than without it. A 25 year old genius with a secondary school education, an IQ of 160 and a coding ability that would make Steve Wozniak jealous will not get his CV/Resume past HR in most major technology companies; but the Philosophy degree holder, who partied through college will have a CV that gets an interview! Degrees matter regardless of what path you take! Try to marry your degree major to an occupation you are passionate about!

Networking – 80% of all major decisions in management are made based on the confidence of those presenting according to a McKinsey Institute study I read a few years ago. Networking consistently through meetup.com and social media is a great place to start to polish and practice your networking skills and build an active network for yourself that will last the pace of time! In technology, it’s estimated that over 90% of software hires in junior roles are done from personal networks. Networking will increase your career prospects, potential and effective development over the course of your career, the more you network, the more successful you will be!

All that said, whilst now is the time to be doing the above, make sure it’s all being done to support a direction that you love! If you love what you are doing, you will be happier and the world needs more happy professionals in love with their roles! Why not be that guy today! I will join you are the happy bar as I start my third career in technology and am loving every minute!

           

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.unsplash.com

www.businessinsurance.org

www.careers.answers.com

www.njstatelib.org

Credits;

Course by Ian McClean & Partners was delivered to the Irish Institute of Credit Management, which I then attended as an active member.  Ian McClean & Partners  

Yulia Vambold for the feature picture on unsplash.com

Mental Agility –Staying Fresh, being Agile!

Feeling the past to see the future.. One small step for man… One giant step for….

We all would like to walk on the moon like Neil Armstrong and his Apollo crew but sadly, the nearest most of us will get is on a 737 airbus to our next work destination or vacation spot of choice! As we get older our dreams augment to a point where reality salvages what dreams are plausible to circumstance and leaves the rest for the garbage collector to remove as they are unassigned to our greatest variable, which is our reality! Sounds familiar eh? As we all reach that point, how successful are we in coming to terms with our “reality” and staying mentally flexible for best possible outcome each and every day??

I would wager a minority are successful in creating a yellow brick road of strongly focused thought that creates new opportunities through the axiom of mental agility. It’s no surprise many don’t given economic crises, redundancies, career, family and life. The average person has enough on their plate to last them a lifetime! Getting through it all is reward enough! I won’t argue that point as life can be very harsh for so many, but I humbly submit, we have more control over our destiny then we think!

Imagine a world where we get up in the morning, are filled with energy and enthusiasm about the day and nothing will stand in our way! We are a force of nature and nature does not step aside for life, she forges her own path! Mindset, health and happiness are great starting metrics to taking as much charge as one can over our future. Is one burdened by pressures they cannot reconcile to physical events and/or measurements? Is one in good health, bad health or anything in between and is that individual happy??

If you feel happy, are of a positive mindset and in good health, then you are well positioned to dream your future and plot a course for a longer term happiness that only you can make happen! With mind, body and purpose at a good starting point, becoming mentally flexible is about sharpening the mental pencil whilst at the same time living a healthy lifestyle that supports your aspirations and your mental agility.

So, we have a sense of where we are at from our self evaluation, let's get started on next steps:

Sharpening the mental pencil - IQ exercises like the workout on mensa.org or any IQ testing site is a must to regiment the mind into certain types of processing. Its a mental workout that sharpens deductive reasoning and mathematical ability. Doing it daily for 30 mins is a must, expect mental agility improvements after 8 weeks or so. After that, 30 minutes twice a week is enough to keep that mental pencil sharpened.

Free the mind - learning mindfulness was a big learning step in my own self discovery and development. I recommend it for everyone BUT be warned, there are allot of snake oil salesmen and women out there looking to sell you nothing at a profit. Be sure your mindfulness vendor is recommended and effective. If you are a good fit for it, you will learn it very fast!

Develop your focus constantly - Primary attention (full attention) doesn’t last long past 35 minutes at a time so keeping high level focus is a task best served with regular breaks from high level mental activity. A 2 min break to do something else or get a glass of water is all that is needed. The more you do that, the better regimented your mind becomes in being focused. This focus can deliver you to new heights of mental performance!

So, with focusing on your mind under way, lets think about good advice for the body:

Exercise - 30 mins a day, 3 times a week. In addition, a 20 min walk daily is a good addition to any exercise regime. A healthy body breeds a healthy mind

Sleep - Don’t skimp on sleep, you will never become mentally agile sleep deprived! 6-8 hours a night and try to get to bed around the same time every night. A good routine increases the benefits of sleep.

Food - Fresh food regularly taken in 3-4 meals of reasonable size is the best fuel for you. A good breakfast, a healthy dinner and an evening meal that is light is the best formula for good health. High fibre (apples/pears/green vegetables) should be part of the daily diet and junk food along with alcohol should be taken in moderation. You would be surprised how impacting digestion related illness is to mental acuity and overall wellbeing.

Eye Test – as we get older, our vision detiorites and those of use married to our laptops <<<cough!!… programmers, cough!!>>>, slight double vision can set in with accompanying headaches. Don’t strain your eyes and become distracted with headaches, get tested and use glasses if necessary.

Socialise - Call a friend, grab a coffee and talk about the weather. Small talk matters as it gives the brain a rest and embraces our group nature. We are social creatures!

Needless to say, our path to mental acuity and strong focus is an individual one. We don’t all sail in the same slip stream as each other! However, when we are mentally agile, our focus is a powerful tool in discerning our environment, the moving parts in it and the opportunities we have to chisel out our own future… If we surmise that our preparation, training and readiness for the life ahead of us is in place, we can then set about charting its course.

On a final note, we can do whatever we want within reason so why not build a career on a ladder that leads to happiness, loving without boundaries those closest to us and decades from now, leaving this world a slightly better place? That is what I have concluded in my latest career change where my passion has been ignited for technology. It embraces my mind in enjoyable detail and delights my intellect in problems that need to be solved! It’s also frustrating, hard and overwhelming at times, but where it’s easy to give up, my passion stirs me onwards and with it a new day is born with greater understanding and commitment! Why not join me and celebrate this marvellous innovation together, it’s our life, our focus and our dream!!..

Credits/Sources:

Pics;

www.unsplash.com

www.nasa.gov

www.expertrain.com

Credits;

Hieu Le on Unsplash.com for feature pic.

Google – Godfathers of Big Data or Big Business

Have Google reorganised to be a financial conglomerate or are they still a big data pioneer looking to better the world at a profit?

I must confess (as a guy who gives my Macbook & iPhone pet names) to being fascinated with Google’s rise and dominance in the market place. Google is the wacky place where weird ideas come to life, transform into something great and change the world!.. well a little bit anyway!... So have the Godfathers of big data succumbed to the Corporate World and joined the ranks of low innovation cash cow companies that present a “safe bet” for investors?

It would appear the media fallout from the big announcement last week suggests that it has but one thing is still clear; Larry Page and Sergey Brin are still in charge. Their rising star Sundar Pichai is now CEO of Google inc and is getting the positive press he rightly deserves. Google clearly have some positive goals in the restructuring that are consistent with the Google way in my view. The reorganisation will see a holding company (Alphabet) oversee subsidiary groups like the profitable Google (Inc) and YouTube, which will all be segregated from its high risk ventures like Self Driving Cars and storing human DNA in the cloud. The segregation of Google’s core business and high risk businesses in spin off subsidiaries present a conglomerate type set up that is arguably similar to that of Warren Buffett's Berkley Hathaway group.

Whilst ‘Wall Street’ may be joyful at the greater transparency of seeing the profitable businesses not carry those high risk ventures that may change the world, the entrepreneur in me sees a greater benefit in the better use of valuable acquisitions (e.g. Twitter) that have a corporate identity, brand and culture, which should be developed, not dissolved into Google’s identity. The flexible nature of what is proposed by Alphabet/Google leaves me with the impression that not only are they looking to shore up their over reliance on advertising (90%+ of revenue), the acquisition ability of the company may diversify into new markets whilst protecting their core brand assets of Google, YouTube, etc. This will allow them to innovate as well as acquire in a safer manner.

Its also noted that Google management in particular has promotional limitations given the prior centralised structure where Page and Brin were the decision makers on everything and it ALL went through their office.. IF they are willing to delegate real power to these new companies that operate under their umbrella, they have a greater shot at retaining quality management they developed from junior roles into senior roles that subsidiaries will now have. It also frees them up for group strategy management which can become very cumbersome especially if you become diverted and start meddling in the operational affairs of subsidiaries. Page and Brin’s trust in their talent to manage their subsidiaries must be well founded and developed with real track records. A majority of senior management appointed from within increases company longevity once there is a giver culture environment present (team player, collaborative, value your peers in get stuff done, etc).

So, with innovation taking a different seat at the table, it is fair to say that even bullish analysts are buoyant at the changes due to the increased profitability view. I would be moderately impressed if they would see this move as part of a larger prize move on strategy by Google, which in my eyes has the following elements:

• Insulated and “profitable” company brands like Google/YouTube within Google inc can continue the revenue generation wonders whilst having their brands insulated against possible brand failures in the newer and/or high risk ventures.
• Google’s internal promotion culture can take a shot in the arm with the ability to promote executes into spin off companies doing more senior jobs they they would ever have gotten as the old Google. Talent retention at Google will increase.
• An alarming amount of Technology acquisitions are considered failures due to not meeting set goals, unforeseen integration problems and/or failure to create value in post acquisition settings. Google has not got a good track record on acquisitions, so they are rightly wary of them. Afterall, when bought, acquired companies are “Google”, which is a risky premise for Google’s brand should it all go wrong. The new structure mitigates that risk by allowing them to be a stand alone subsidiary as they were pre acquisition. They can be developed with their own brand, culture and business practices or if adding value to Google’s brand, they be integrated into Google inc.
• Google’s transparency and structure will give a better platform for M&A should they want to go down that road. That said, they are innovating internally just fine, which will also benefit from the new structure.

The internal restructure of Google has allot of important points that are being worked out all over the internet and beyond. The biggest thing Google need to remember is what made them great, what will continue to make them great and never loose sight of why they get up in the morning, which is to make the world a better place with their products, services and ideas. “Don’t be evil” for Googlers is about being ethical in achieving that positive impact on the world. If they stick to it, they may well rise under Page and Brin’s strategic guidance in this new structure as a revamped Google that will last far longer than anybody thought it would. What happens next?... thats anybody’s guess.. whats your opinion?

Sources/Credits

Pics;

www.searchengineland.com

www.digitalfirst.com

www.cnbc.com

www.entrepreneur.com

www.salon.com

Credits;