Aligning My Passion and Career
When what you are deeply passionate about, what you can be the best in the world at, and what drive your economic engine come together,not only does your work move toward greatness, but so does your life. Simply put, when you are deeply passionate about what you do, you move toward greatness.
In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins explains, “For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then, you might gain that rare tranquility that comes from knowing that you have had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time here on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.”
In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins explains, “For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then, you might gain that rare tranquility that comes from knowing that you have had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time here on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.”
I recently made a major career change. I was an engineer by education and by work experience; having experience in a variety of companies, and doing very well according to those around me. During this time I had received my MBA, adding another lens to analyze everything around me. But as I developed and grew as an engineer, I started to lose my sense of learning – and therefore my personal growth – for my career. Being one whom is eager to learn, I try to find learning experiences in everything I do. In getting into the medical device industry, I read every biology book I owned, dozens of cardiology books from the library and a few books that a medical school friend had in order to gain a foundation and basis for my career there. The problem was that I was not able to apply this learning. I found that I was stuck in a problem that many companies are dealing with, that 70% of Americans feel unfulfilled in their job. Instead of going through the motions and living unhappily, I used the same engineering principles that I have been trained in manufacturing, and analyzed my situation and process.
In defining what I truly wanted out of my career, I had to start with a baseline. Not the baseline of my career, but the baseline for my life. I looked inward to see what really motivated me; what mission and purpose did I have in my life, which would drive the fundamentals of every other aspect – including my career. I found that my drive was learning and the application of that knowledge. I wanted something that would challenge me technically, using my engineering background. I also wanted to do something which could directly impact the P&L of a company using the skills learned during my MBA.
After deciding the baseline of the career scope, I mapped ways I could get to that position through the knowledge, skills and abilities which I currently possess. I tried to map the steps to get to that end state, the career paths available to me and the gaps which would need to be fulfilled to get to that next or final state. Marking a general path through speculative research was good, but without true interaction and conversation, it was just that – abstract, third hand information. I needed fewer degrees of separation, so I went to my network and contacted any and everybody to learn about their job, any positions tangent to them, recommendations from them and necessary foundations (knowledge, skills and abilities) needed for each. Interviewing all levels of workers from associate to directors and presidents. This was a wonderful process, which grounded the steps which I would need to take. It gave me a deeper background of the positions, companies and areas I was interested in. In talking to each of these contacts, I not only found possible paths which could work for me, but learned through the informational interviews that most career paths are not linear.
Through the informational interviews, I found that most people who loved their job, had a similar mindset to myself, a diverse background, and a series of calculated moves in which fulfilled them personally. Each of the steps taken by those individuals I talked to drove to exceed the limits of their current position and it led to their next opportunity. Some of their greatest experiences, learning and growth were in unknown territories like: start-ups, new divisions, smaller companies, different roles, lower salaries, different fields/industries, different locations and others. What I found was each transition was a new growth opportunity and a new expansion of their personal mission. The mission in which they passionately drive. Each change made, both successful and unsuccessful, gave further clarity toward the alignment of career and personal mission. This is what I was searching for.
Through the processing of searching introspectively, I aligned career and personal goals and gathered detailed information about my interests. I was able to jump to the next stage in my career. I am happy with that change. In changing and reflecting upon my career, I aligned and could further develop the passions of learning and growing. Upon starting this new path, I was told that there was excitement in my eyes and voice, as I spoke of the change and transition.
-thePonderingNick
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