Steven B. McKinney,

McKinney Consulting Inc.

Identifying the right career and knowing when to switch tracks when presented options are not a simple task. Many executives despite their best efforts look for answers in all the wrong places. Often we refer to popular books and articles from established leaders for the blueprints to career challenges. This is not to say that these materials are not good, quite to the contrary they can be of great value if used properly. By one count, more than 2000 books have been authored on leadership and career management over the past decade.   Read on

Why don’t the books always deliver? Well, because life is not so cut and dried that it can be captured easily between two hard covers. In looking for a career don't assume someone else's recipe for success is going to deliver the results you expect. Successful people uncover and deploy patterns that work time and again in a variety of situations. Find the pattern that will find you your dream job and employ it with passion.

The secret to unlocking results is to locate the pattern. Why? Because if we can figure out what worked and didn’t work before we can repeat successes and avoid failures. A single blueprint for success doesn’t exist. The dimensions of each problem are as unique as our finger prints. We can’t hope to find a master plan somewhere; the best we can hope for is to find the evidence left behind by the great successes of the past.

Look for the pattern and there you will find the solution. Take for example Dr. Stephen Covey’s inspirational book - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Dr. Covey’s book has outlined a pattern for repeating “effectiveness”. Understanding the pattern that he describes doesn’t mean we are following his recipe – we have to employ that pattern in our own way; in a way that works for us. His 7 habits are: Be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek first to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and then sharpen the saw. No two people will do these things in exactly the same way, but all who do them with passion can expect to gain effectiveness.

We can also find further evidence of great successes of the past by looking at ourselves. The most often over looked, yet perhaps the most valuable pattern is that of “self-assessment.” This pattern consists of identification of your most successful achievements, determining the 5 or 6 success factors most often used in these achievements, using these success factors to describe what the achievement was, how you did it and what the results were.

Industry job forecasts also provide a valuable pattern to consider. For example, a recent survey and forecast by the USA Labor Statistics reports that 28 of the top 30 jobs forecasted for the greatest growth over the next 10 years are in the professional and related occupations and service industries. The jobs identified in these sectors are projected to grow from 34 to 54% over the amount of jobs that currently exist. 

Also, social trends provide a pattern that is connected with careers and career decisions. For example, a global survey by Deloitte indicated that 69% of Americans consider their computer more entertaining than their TV, this is an upward trend. Also, 50% surveyed are increasingly making their own entertainment on line.

So what's a pattern for career success? Should one focus on the jobs that pay the most or should one focus on the positions that brings the most happiness? Do you have to make a choice between the two? Maybe in the long term doing what you love will make you more successful and therefore bring more financial rewards too.

Continual career success comes from recognizing and implementing proven success patterns. In particular, patterns of other successful people, effectiveness, self-assessment, forecasts, and the patterns of social trends.

These patterns coupled with individual talent and skills are the formula for career happiness and success.