Recipe for Career Success – The Top 15 ingredients

As the graduation season began across the world, I was asked to leave a comment on a post on LinkedIn.
What advice that I would give to the Class of 2022? From a perspective of an executive coach who has been a Global HR Leader in Fortune 100 for more than 20 years, here is my recipe for career success. This recipe applies to anyone at any level, class of 2022, and at different career stages.

1. Find out your purpose and why of work (Purpose)

We spend a reasonable amount of time and our life at work. How does it align with who we are, what makes us feel the joy, and what makes us happy? The first step is to find out why you work. Don’t tell me that I work to earn money. What motivates you inspires you to wake up every day from bed. To help others, change something, feed the intellectual capacity, create something new, and find solutions for others? What is your cause? Environment, world happiness, fight for hunger.

Whatever it is that feeds your soul, find out that cause, the motto, and then find ways of linking it to what you do every day. How is a tiny contribution, a small task that you’ll complete, will be tied to your purpose and existence in the big picture?

2. Define what does success mean for you (Success)

Over the years, I have realized that success may mean different for everyone. How do you define success for one year, five years, or ten years? Over the years, in line with how your values change, the definition of success may also shift over time. It is to lead a team, be famous, earn seven figures, have an international career, break a record, be the first person doing something, have a family with kids, and travel worldwide. What do you want to achieve when you think of your success?

3. Explore what options you have (Alternative Paths)

There may be alternative ways to fulfill your purpose and reach success. So what options do you have? Our self-doubt and fear of failure may often limit us from exploring all the possibilities or taking steps forward. So what if you’ll be successful and have all the resources available for you? What is possible for you.

4. Get out of the comfort zone / continue to grow and learn (Growth mindset)

Once you settle down in a role or are hired by a great company, it is easy to get comfy. But, without realizing it, you may find yourself in a comfort zone. You start to complete projects so quickly on autopilot. And then, without realizing it, you get complacent. And it might be too late. So, find ways to get out of your comfort zone to fight complacency. Even if it is frightening, continue to stretch yourself and find ways to learn new things and expand your horizon.

5. Take the most challenging roles (Risk-taking)

Go after the most challenging roles or projects that people may say are career limitations. Those roles are the ones that will provide you with acceleration for self-growth and, eventually, career growth. Take businesses that are more difficult to grow or turn around. That will help you think differently, keep your mind sharp and keep you at the edge. And sharpen your skills.

6. Work very hard and smart to get results (Result orientation)

Nothing comes easy. When people look for successful role models, they will see only shiny success. However, people will make many sacrifices to achieve that, not just work for work. They work smart to produce results.

7. Never give up (Resiliency)

There will be times things won’t be that easy down on the road. Problems will occur, unexpected challenges will arise, and challenging people may get in your way. People may say that it is impossible.

My answer is never to give up. Instead, showing resiliency, finding different solutions, and still showing a can-do attitude will provide you more power and be ahead of the rest.

8. Connect to a diverse network of people (Networking)

One of the pitfalls is that networking is a waste of time, and it is not actual work. In contrast, having and tapping into a diverse network is one of the essential criteria for success in your career. It will provide a diverse sponsorship, diverse perspective, and insights for you to approach challenges. It is also an opportunity for you to select various mentors to tap into multiple experiences more effectively.

9. Build relations (Interpersonal relations)

You’ll leave an impression on with everyone you interact. Getting the results and competing for the tasks is not sufficient. Building long-term relations is essential. One of your peers might end up as your boss or your most important customer in the future.

10. Manage uncertainty (VUCA to BANI world)

The VUCA terms have existed since the early 90s by the US army. It stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. It has been adopted by the business world, especially after the 2008 crisis. Now since the inception of COVID19, the new term used is BANI. A brand new acronym to describe the world stands for Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, and Incomprehensible.

So how do we keep walking? How to navigate through an uncertain period?

As the crazy world keeps turning around and around, as new crises emerge, a straightforward piece of advice that I would give is to keep your focus; focus on the things you can control. What can you control? You can manage your response, behavior, and actions.

Remember your big canvas, recognize your purpose and strengths, and believe in yourself. Then, make a baby step forward, then another step afterward.

11. Accept the fact that you don’t always choose your boss (Manage Up)

We don’t always get the chance to choose our managers. Sometimes we may have the opportunity to work with great leaders, and sometimes not. We may find ourselves in an environment where all of our peers gossip about our manager’s in-capabilities. And suddenly, it becomes a toxic environment that starts to poison us and drain all the energy we got. Well, remember, no one is perfect. Try to see and focus on the half-full side of the glass. What can you learn from this environment? What is a strength that your manager has? What is it that you can learn from this experience?

12. A career is not linear sometimes; you’ll wait at a plateau (The Plateau)

You may find yourself in a parking lot or moving from one lateral role to another. It might get boring, you may feel frustrated, or the game becomes unfair. How do you tackle those times? Well, find ways to continue to learn; what are new opportunities? Maybe spend some time to get a new hobby, tap into a new network. Who knows that this new network may present itself as a new bright horizon and a new life.

13. Take an outside-in perspective (Big Picture)

What are the new trends? Where is the world going? What’s happening in your country? What are some of the newly emerging technologies and new careers? Try to project what the work-life will look like in 5-10 years. And where are you? How are you going to keep updating your skillsets and your knowledge? How will you keep yourself updated?

14. Find your ways not to get burnout; there is no work-life balance, but there is a balance. (Balance)

As an executive coach, without exception, almost with all my clients, the topic comes to Work-Life balance. Especially after the pandemic, with the remote/hybrid work, it becomes much more challenging to be productive, and it becomes easier to burn out. You must allocate time for yourself to charge up your batteries during the busy day, the week the months to come. There is no work-life balance, but there is a balance. Everyone’s solution is different; what works best for you? What feeds your soul? What cheers you up? What type of activities, sports, hobbies, or people do you use to make the time fly away that fulfills your energy?

15. Stay close to your support group (which could be your family or your best friends)

Throughout your journey, you’ll meet a lot of new people. You want to surround yourself with whomever you call your family during good times and the bad times. Those who will be the people who are standing with and for you. Celebrate your success and be with you whenever you fall or have those terrible days. Then, life becomes more fun and shiny.

Know what you want and don’t want, get out of your comfort zone, be humble, invest in yourself, learn, grow, work smart, rest, and surround yourself with your family/friends. In the end, all will work itself.