What Are You Building?

As a leader, I like to think of people as buildings.

I get excited to help construct the foundation for future career success.

How do I do that?

Mostly through leading teams.

When I look back at my career, some of my most fulfilling and significant accomplishments happened during managing people.

Leading staff/parent volunteers, coaching basketball teams and managing a remote team of 30 full-time employees.

The industries and content differed, but the people dynamics were very similar.

Just thinking about it gets my motivational juices flowing.

But beyond my personal sharing, this post is directed towards you.

What are you building?

At times you may feel directionless, confused or simply discouraged.

Despite your emotions, you’re working towards something.

Everyone reaches a career plateau where they tend to question their progress (it happens more than once in a lifetime).

That’s not a bad thing.

Unless you stay there…

It’s important to have a vision, then pursue it through practical steps.

• Do research on people who have aspirational roles.

• Upskill in areas that are transferrable to different industries.

• Get experience regardless if it’s your “end goal” or not.

Often we’re caught dreaming or waiting around for the ideal job to smack us in the face.

But it doesn’t work that way.

In fact, your next job won’t probably be your last.

In my example above, I keep my eyes open for opportunities where I can build people up through leading teams.

Sure, I have preferred industries, but I also don’t want to be closed-minded about exploring new ones.

Take for instance one of my offerings, new manager training.

I tend to work primarily with small to mid-sized tech companies.

Yet that doesn’t mean I work exclusively with them.

New manager training benefits any industry that employs humans!

So my answer to the question, “what are you building?” is…

Teams/people.

• Look back at your career and ask yourself what excites (or excited) you about work?

• Often specific positions are searched for, but have you considered work culture and environment?

• Did you know it’s much easier to move laterally within a company you love vs. land your dream role?

I’m not saying to lower your standards, but instead think about factors such as: energy management, company culture and leadership style.

That is the kind of detective work you can be doing now through LinkedIn, friends and informational interviews.

Categorize these tasks as strategic and future-facing.

Every stop in your career can be a stepping stone to your preferred role (if you treat as a learning opportunity).

This may sound like passive job search (which it could be), but it’s really re-focusing on your career mission/vision.

So much of self-leadership is about pushing yourself, challenging limiting beliefs and motivating yourself.

For example, I find a lot of new managers don’t love developing people, therefore the promotion is just for additional money (contributing to the 60% failure rate of manager within 24 months).

• Therefore you need to start building towards something or risk hitting a career crisis.

• No one can figure out what your destination is…it takes self-reflection and intentional career planning.

• So mark some time in your calendar app and set an alert to remind you.

You’re either building or underachieving.

Which one are you doing?

God Bless,

Scott

If you found this helpful and you’re looking to improve your soft skills as a leader, here are ways to work with me directly:

• 🗣 Hire me to speak at your company or next event (watch my speaking reel here)

• 🎤 Invite me to lead an interactive training workshop, remotely or in-person (depending on location)

• 🤝 Start 1:1 coaching with me as a new manager, current leader or executive (I once managed 30 people 1:1 weekly❗️)

Also, you can help me out by forwarding this to friends whom would benefit from it! Thank you!