Where a growing circle of business leaders comes to share, learn, and inspire organizations to put people first

Whirling Chief
Nº 130

Fold Up that Corporate Ladder, Hop on the Career Jungle Gym!

The median number of years that wage and salary workers have been with their current employer is currently 4.6 year (as per an Economic News Release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics). That median varies by age and occupation – the median tenure for workers aged 25 to 34 is just 3.2 years. Extrapolate that info and you see a person could have a whopping 10 to 20 jobs in his career!1

The majority of us grew up watching our parents work for the same company their entire careers and, for the most part, only advancing by climbing the proverbial corporate ladder.

Our experience is now entirely different.

The idea of career development today is more like a “jungle gym” rather than a ladder, as Sheryl Sandberg put it in her thought-provoking book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead , which I believe is actually a must-read for males and females alike in professional roles.

The traditional metaphor for professional and career development has been ladders, but that no longer holds true. The environment in which we live and work is evolving vastly, and requires us to adapt to ever-changing factors.

As traditional structures are breaking down, leadership and people management practices must evolve as well. In the business models, for example, we are slowly going from hierarchy to networks; in the governance models, from control to empowerment, dictating to collaboration; in the performance models, from planning to experimentation.

We need the same evolution for our people models.

The path to 21st century success is going to be fueled by our desire and need to adapt individually and collectively. Therefore, the idea of professional and career development will likely be driven by an individual’s passion, desire, and ability to contribute in meaningful ways, combined with an organization’s desire and ability to honor that drive in meaningful ways.

“A jungle gym scramble is the best description of my career,” wrote Sandberg, who attributes the metaphor to Fortune magazine editor Pattie Sellers. “I could never have connected the dots from where I started to where I am today.” Neither could I, because I always loved being a part of an organization. Yet here I am… ☺

You want to have a successful career in 21st century? Here’s how you may think of the jungle gym concept:

  • Anything is possible if you authentically connect to your heart’s desire.
  • You want to change careers? Make it so!
  • Many jobs require deep technical skills and, yes, you need to learn them. So, stay curious and get yourself signed up for alternative education platforms.
  • Love what you do and only do what you love; do not bound yourself to any task, environment, or people you do not love – that’s a dead zone.
  • Finally, and most importantly, find a way to create and share value. Remember: A majority of organizations are still managed through IR practices; only through value creation would you be considered for a different job!

1 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.nr0.htm

Date

  • 20 September 2017

Add a Comment

I just want to mention I am just new to blogs and actually loved this web site. Most likely I’m likely to bookmark your site . You certainly have terrific articles. Many thanks for revealing your website page.

Nice read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing some research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch!

Thanks for sharing excellent informations. Your web-site is very cool. I’m impressed by the details that you¡¦ve on this website. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for more articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the information I already searched all over the place and simply could not come across. What a perfect website.

I like the helpful info you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently. I am quite certain I’ll learn lots of new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!

Wonderful beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your website, how could i subscribe for a blog web site? The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast provided bright clear concept

Somebody necessarily lend a hand to make significantly posts I would state. This is the very first time I frequented your website page and to this point? I surprised with the analysis you made to make this particular put up amazing. Excellent activity!

http://www.repairloader.net/

John Deere Service Manuals says:

Hi, Neat post. There is a problem together with your website in web explorer, would check this¡K IE nonetheless is the market leader and a big component to other folks will pass over your excellent writing because of this problem.

Gadget World says:

You completed a number of good points there. I did a search on the matter and found nearly all persons will have the same opinion with your blog.

Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossips and web and this is really frustrating. A good web site with exciting content, this is what I need. Thanks for keeping this web site, I will be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Can’t find it.

I have been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all website owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the internet will be a lot more useful than ever before.

I haven¡¦t checked in here for some time because I thought it was getting boring, but the last several posts are great quality so I guess I¡¦ll add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂

You might also like reading: