Do you wake up every morning on time? Do you head to the shower and
prepare your body with a cleansing for the work day ahead?
Men, do you step out of the shower and faithfully put your razor to work, ridding your face of offensive stubble that began creeping up on you around 5:00 the previous day?
Women, do you faithfully set about the task of applying make up and styling solutions to your face and locks, not to mention, working the curling iron, blow dryer and whatever other machinery produced by modern man to ready you for taking on the day?
And after these laborious tasks are completed do you not all head for whatever room contains your clothing for the day, and don the appropriate clothing, taking time to make sure this tie goes with this shirt and these shoes go with this skirt?
Day after day, week after week, those with deadlines and commitments pull ourselves from soothing slumber and stumble into our hostile environment. Maybe we’re not fighting a dinosaur for our next meal, but we certainly face our share of challenges that can make facing off with a tyrannosaurus rex seem like child’s play.
Eight, 10, sometimes 14 hours later, we head to our cars, or trains or cabs or whatever conveyance got us to work, and we head home. Beat up, bruised and battered by the events of the work day, we walk through the door of our homes, shoulders slumped, hair a mess, make-up in dire need of restoration, stubble on our chins that we know tomorrow morning will have to be removed, yet again.
Finally after years of toiling for the fire-breathing figure who sits in the corner office, you are called into said office where the figure bestows upon you a great honor.
You can hardly contain yourself.
The moment you leave the office you begin telling everyone how they gave you a promotion. You call your spouse, your best friend, your children , your next door neighbor, your mailman, the guy at 7/11 that you always thought was a little strange. You tell them all, “They gave me a promotion” , “ I’m the head of ——-“ .
Oh,boy, oh boy.
Now, wait a minute, you! They didn’t g i v e you that promotion. You earned it by grinding whatever griss the mill required. You stayed late to finish the project; you fought bumper to bumper traffic to and fro each day, you showed up every day on time and took the lead when no one else would.
There was no grace involved by the powers that made the decision to promote you. They studied you, they watched you, and they knew by promoting you, based on your own hard work and self sacrifice, they would, in most cases, add to their bottom line. This is, after all, what the free enterprise system is all about. Is it not?
What a shame it would be to allow all that you’ve been through to go unappreciated because you felt it unnecessary to invest in a resume that shines adequate light on your accomplishments. That simple little form that lets the world know, “Hey, man I’ve been tried by the fire and not only survived, but thrived!”
There is a very high likelihood that someday you’ll leave your current place of servitude, and when you do, the next powers that you apply to won’t have the luxury of watching you grow into what you have become and base their decision on that when it comes to hiring you.
They will only have that all important document that you hand them.
So, when the corner office calls, will you be ready?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by Robert P. Poindexter: Blogger, Sales Executive and Sailor
As I read this, I thought promotion was not the direction it was heading. The first half sounds like drudgery and a long wait for appreciation for hard work. If you don’t wake up excited about getting to work and knocking another one out of the park, maybe you need a “Do-over.”
Do-overs are a career path’s best friend (other than knowing people in high places). When your career takes a left turn instead of right (or step back), you need to take inventory of what you like to do and what you are good at and make sure it still matches the job description. You may have to launch a do-over and leverage those things in a search for a new opportunity.
Many times, there is not a specific day or event that triggers us to do the inventory. We wake up some day and ask ourselves, “How did I get here?” The danger of not owning this process is sometimes, the process owns us. If you’re not performing in your job, the job may make a change for you (a.k.a., pink slip). Stay ahead of the curve and constantly evaluate if it is time for a do-over.
And if you’re too late and you’ve been shown the door, it’s still an opportunity–you must remember that (and you better have that resume ready). More on this: http://tinyurl.com/yzpgs8h
Thanks for your interesting insights, Jeff! I agree, staying ahead of the curve and ‘owning the process’ is key to creating your own, better future.
~Jacqui
This is so true! So often people exclaim, “I got a promotion” with a bit of surprise in their voice. They earned it and they were rewarded. Why are they surprised?
So the drudgery of daily toils pays off in the long run? 🙂
Nice post.
Thanks Erin for recognizing exactly what I was trying to say.
Your pal, Rob
I hear you! To Jeff’s comment, yep, there’s absolutely got to be purpose ‘n passion or you won’t have the perseverance to pull it off. And then there’s the reality of paying your dues, day after day. The Promised Land was a gift, but it required courage, sacrifice, and fortitude to claim it!
Thank you Susan, for taking a moment to comment. I love the correlation with the Promised Land. You hit the nail on the head.
What I love about this post is the reminder that we are the ones who drive our own careers. There’s an element of “grind” in all work, but the value in that grind is what we learn along the way–about our capabilities (knowledge and skills), our tolerance for stress, our political savvy, our toughness, and our value.
To Jacqui’s point, if we fail to recognize the importance of capturing on paper the assets that have accrued to us from our work, we will likely miss their affirming powers. After all, that’s what we need to keep going.
A great resume is essentially our own performance self-appraisal–not the one that gets us a raise but the one that gets us the career that we’re after.
Thanks for stimulating a great discussion. It’s all good!
~Dawn Lennon (@businessfit on Twitter)
You are exactly right, Dawn. Thank you.
What you’ve said makes complete sense. I wonder why people have motivation to get up and ready every morning but lack motivation when working on their resumes? It would be interesting to explore. Thanks for a great post!
You’re very welcome, and thanks for calling it a ” great post”. Your comment is spot on.