Career Management Defined

Over the last few years I’ve given hundreds of presentations titled Career Management 2.0.  I’ve done webinars which people from around the world have tapped into, to listen to Career Management 2.0.

I’ve thought about this for years.  Career Management replaces “job security.”  I’m sure career experts can give you a five, seven, or even twenty-one point list of what  Career Management means… if I had to, I could come up with long list, too.

But here’s the bottom line: I’ve boiled Career Management down to two things:

1. Networking, which includes growing your network and nurturing individual relationships, and
2. Personal Branding, which is simply how others would define you (or, whatever elegant definition you want to give).

I can (and do) talk for hours about this stuff.  I’m passionate about it.  When I lost my job in January of 2006 I still believed in job security.  I didn’t think that a guy like me would have a problem finding a new job. I did “all the right things,” and so somehow, someone owed job security to me.

Of course I was wrong.  And along my journey, I finally realized that the power I was looking for was only that which I would create. Where I needed to start is listed above… and it’s the exact same two things I still focus on today.

As we close the year out, take some time to let this settle in.  What have you done to strengthen your network this year?  What will you do next year?

What have you done to strengthen your brand this year?  What will you do next year?

If this is top-of-mind, you’ll have a fun career.  Transitions will come and go, but they’ll be much less painful, and shorter, if you internalize Career Management.