How to Build or Create a Career That Lasts

When you were young, what did you aspire to be? I wanted to be an actress or an attorney, but things didn’t work out that way. At the time, my parents didn’t think that acting was a viable career, and my prosecutor' dad argued I was more of an advocate. So, I graduated with a degree in communications and began working at General Electric. However, I’ve continued to incorporate my passions into my personal and professional life.

 How to Get Back to Doing What You Love?

Perhaps, like me, you were conditioned by your parents, teachers, family members, coaches, or mentors to pursue careers based on what they thought you should do as opposed to what you wanted to do. After reading countless parenting books and learning from others, I didn’t want my children to have any self-limiting beliefs about themselves. 

Instead, we modeled values like being honest, ethical, responsible, hard-working, respectful, and caring. We encouraged our boys to explore their passions and interests without setting specific career goals for them. After all, there is no set path because life happens along the way, and self-awareness and feeling comfortable in your own skin lasts a lifetime.

If you’ve followed my articles or heard me speak, you've heard about the Decode Your Value process that starts by identifying your core values. To help you move through the process, we created a blank Life Skills tree. If you’re unsure, ask friends and family members to describe you. Then, determine if the words they use correspond with how you feel about yourself.

My core values are, to be honest, authentic, creative, inquisitive, tenacious, empathetic, confident, self-aware, and resilient. I chose these because they represent who I’ve always been and who I am today. Naturally, we all have many different traits to choose from. But, when defined more narrowly, they help you understand your motivations, your decision-making, with whom you like to work with, how you use your time and how you communicate.

Instead of Promoting Products and Services, Learn How to Decode and Market Yourself

I’ve worked with many clients throughout my 30-year career. More often than not, people tend to promote their products and services instead of creating their brand story, which is why you do what you do (your purpose), how you differ from the competition and what makes what you offer of value to others.

 As Carla Harris, Chairman and Executive Vice President of Morgan Stanley says, 

“Nobody can be you the way you can be you. So, the last thing you should ever do is submerge what is uniquely you. Anytime that you are trying to behave or speak in a way that’s inconsistent with who you really are, you’ll create a competitive disadvantage.”

For example, I worked with two founders of tech startups who presented at a pitch fest. For those of you who haven’t participated in one, it’s basically presenting your case to VCs, attorneys, and others within roughly ten minutes to obtain visibility and raise funding. 

Raising money from a VC firm is extremely challenging and the odds of acquiring equity is just .07%. The key differentiators are market size, technology, and having incredible people, Andreessen Horowitz reports. While you may not be targeting a huge VC firm, the advice is still the same. 

For example, one young woman with whom I worked was from China. She felt that her accent, among other things, was a disadvantage. But her experience working in different countries was vast and provided her (and her team) with a unique perspective on how to solve a pressing need worldwide. After we revised her pitch to include her personal story, she felt more confident and was accepted into Columbia’s prestigious Accelerator Program.

I worked with another CEO who like many entrepreneurs was passionate about his product, had an in-depth understanding of his audience and the market potential with a product that solved the problem. But what made his pitch more compelling and powerful was adding his personal story: several post-graduate degrees, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and international finance expertise. Along with these accomplishments, his crowdfunding campaign was fully funded within roughly one month.

While the concept of Decode Your Value may seem abstract, it’s actually quite simple. Your career is not one long trajectory. Instead, it’s a combination of experiences and choices that you make along the way. Regardless of whether you’re starting out, have experienced setbacks, are in-limbo, want to move into a new area, reflect who you are as opposed to what you do. Our jobs, income, position, gender, age, and other titles, roles, and descriptors are self-limiting.   

Instead, adopt a growth mindset which is a continuous process of learning. Perhaps you’ve heard of Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. If not, here’s a brief overview from Harvard Business Review:

“A growth mindset is a belief that people, including oneself, can change their talents, abilities, and intelligence. Conversely, those with a fixed mindset do not believe that people can change their talents, abilities, and intelligence. 

Decades of research have found that those with a growth mindset are more mentally primed to approach and take on challenges, take advantage of feedback, adopt the most effective problem-solving strategies, provide developmental feedback to subordinates, and be effortful and persistent in seeking to accomplish goals.”

You can broaden your skills by reading, watching videos, taking online courses, following those who are ahead of you, and learn from people who have expertise in particular industry sectors which interest you.

When You Don’t Have the Answers Learn Where to Find Them

Some of you may remember the TV show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. If not, the show required contestants to answer questions to win money. For help, you get a series of lifelines, the choice to phone a friend or ask the audience.

I use this model on a daily basis by asking colleagues, friends, and family members about a wide variety of topics. For example, prior to being a judge at a global virtual blockchain pitch fest, I asked my son questions about video games and in-game purchases. His answers helped me craft relevant questions to ask specific gamers using blockchain technology during their pitches. 

Another way to learn is by attending webinars, conferences, Meetups, virtual events, and other online activities. For example, with my interest in blockchain, I wanted to further my knowledge and asked to interview the authors of Blockchain Success Stories who spoke during the pitch fest. Rather than focusing on the technology, they highlighted the stories of the people, what motivated them, what problem they chose to address, and how they grew their startups.

Beyond my learning, I wanted to inspire others and wrote this column in Equities, ‘In Blockchain Success Stories,’ People Are the Narrative Rather Than Technology. Keep in mind, I made the choice to interview authors to further my knowledge, which you can do too. Even if you’re not a writer, you can always ask questions.

Another phone-a-friend is my ex-husband who’s worked on Wall Street for some 40-years. If I need a brief overview of the market conditions, the economy, real estate, and other financial topics, I’ll contact him. If he doesn’t have the answer, he’ll point me in the right direction.

Other lessons I’ve learned throughout the pandemic are to try new things. A colleague and friend of mine, Brian Schulman encouraged me to be a guest on his LinkedIn live global show called, Voice Your Vibe in March 2020. At the time, I was uncomfortable going live because two of my sons were home and I felt like I was living in a frat house. Also, I argued that I didn’t want to be promotional. 

Yet, I took the leap and went live wearing a baseball cap and said, welcome to Glavin’s frat house. Now, nearly a year later, I know that bringing your whole self -- both professional and personal to the things you do takes courage. It’s freeing to move beyond your comfort zone and to discover new ways of working. 

Another helpful tip is to find a mentor. I’ve had several mentors throughout my life who challenged me to think differently, to build on my strengths, to take risks, to focus on the positive and to own what makes me unique. Often, the things you do well, you may take for granted because you feel they’re easy. But don’t diminish or undervalue yourself, as other people can benefit from your knowledge. 

When you Decode Your Value, you’ll discover your core values, your significant life experiences, your distinct strengths, your personality, and other traits to discover what makes you unique. Then, bring your whole self into your work and relationships to bring out more of the best in you. The intersection of what your life was along with your current experiences, will help you find your next greatest path and all that’s yet to come.

As William Wordsworth said, “Life is divided into three terms - that which was, which is, and what will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present, to live better in the future.”