Mar 5, 2013
Career Growth and How You Can Achieve Explosive Results
Continued investment in your professional development for career growth is hard. It’s also essential to being a successful Data Professional.
You’ve got a lot of competing priorities, we all do, it goes with the territory of being good at what you do. Managing the demands and responsibilities of your job can consume a great amount of time, leaving little for everything else that’s important to you. Professional development and career growth can all too easily become a luxurious afterthought.
So when you do get time to focus on your professional development it’s vital that you maximize the return on your investment.
Let’s Hit The Gym
Push Past Your Limits
Keeping fit is a hobby of mine and I enjoy training several times a week. It’s quite common knowledge that regularly working out is good for your health, much like regular investment in professional development is good for your career.
Anyone who has ever worked out will tell you that when you start a new fitness programme you will often see quick and dramatic results.
This happens because the new stimulus to the body is a shock to the norm. It’s something that you are not used to doing and so the body has to adapt to cope with the new stress.
The more significant the shock to the system, the greater the reaction to adapt.
Unfortunately this dramatic growth period is often short lived. The body is very efficient at adapting and so as many a gym goer will attest to, results and ultimately progress can quickly plateau.
If you continue to just show up to the gym and go through the motions, you’re not going to make much progress.
The same is true of your professional development. Sticking to your preferred subject, reading the next chapter in that book or taking the next logical step, is comfortable. It may well be a small step in the right direction but you’re not really challenging yourself and the growth you experience will reflect this.
In order to break free from a plateau and promote new growth, the body needs to be challenged.
Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone for Career Growth
You need to step outside of your comfort zone, to challenge yourself, in order to really grow.
By stepping outside of your comfort zone you:
- Accelerate your growth
- Amplify your growth
- Broaden your experience
- Increase your versatility
- Challenge yourself
Taking on Your Own Challenge
What could you do to step outside of your comfort zone to expose yourself to increased career growth potential?
I bet when you think about it there are opportunities right there for the taking close by.
- Maybe the development team are working on a project that you can stretch yourself and get involved with.
- Perhaps your manager has a requirement to deploy an inventory system for your SQL Server infrastructure and maybe you could use PowerShell for the job.
- Fancy trying your hand at presenting? Why not start with a brown bag lunch session at your office or smaller slot at your local User Group.
- Thinking about getting a SQL Certification? Why not really push yourself by shooting for the MCM.
- Is your company looking into alternative Database Technology? Maybe you could volunteer to learn and evaluate them, become the company expert.
- Who said anything about SQL Server? I bet brushing up on those project management skills could come in handy.
Which mountain will you climb?
Once you start brain storming ideas, you’ll soon discover that you are spoilt for choice.
As Data Professionals we really do have an abundance of opportunity for career growth and development. In the words of Thomas LaRock, “It’s a wonderful time to be in technology”.
Should you find that when you’re considering your own development options, the thought of pursuing a particular path gives you a sense of apprehension or nerve’s, then you’ve found exactly the right choice for you!
Stepping outside of your comfort zone is NOT easy and that’s the point. By taking on a more challenging venture you will significantly increase the return on your growth and development.
What could you do to step outside of your comfort zone? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments.
Mar 05, 2013 @ 11:59:48
Great post. Like with working out, great nutrition to ensure your body gets all the building blocks it needs to keep performing at peak level will help you learn easier and better, too. Oh, and stay away from steroids
Mar 05, 2013 @ 12:27:44
Thanks Peter. I’m liking the nutritional angle on the fitness analogy. I may have to “borrow” that……
Mar 05, 2013 @ 12:07:06
Definitely agree. Must be careful though, it can be easy to take on too much new stuff at once. I know that’s happened to me. But I think as long as you remain focused on specific tasks/goals, it works fantastically.
Mar 05, 2013 @ 12:25:32
Matt, a wise cautionary note sir. Sticking with the fitness training analogy, pushing too hard too often is one of the causes of over-training, and the same can indeed be said for challenging professional development endeavors.
I find building down time and rest into my schedule in advance, as being a good way to ensure I am able to achieve some level of balance. Determining the “right” level for the right time, is something I’m still working on.
Mar 05, 2013 @ 14:41:21
You could also throw some cross-training into your analogy. A little development training on the technology side and maybe some project management, business analyst, or business process training can help your database career without getting burned out/injured.
Mar 05, 2013 @ 15:41:17
Joey, I like how you’re thinking sir.
Mar 06, 2013 @ 04:09:50
Wow, great post, and one that really hits home with me. The past 12 months for me has been a continuous push to learn new things, get out of my comfort zone, and “take it to the next level”. The results have been amazing! I have never been more excited about my career. Once you get momentum, its amazing how far one can go. In fact, starting my blog and being more active on the professional social mediums are two recent areas I’ve been pushing. I don’t recall how I came across your blog and forum, but joining the conversation in your house is just another step.
Mar 06, 2013 @ 08:23:02
Thanks Lance, glad you enjoyed this post sir. It really is fantastic to hear from people achieving the results they desire!
Being excited about your career is a tremendous place to be and as you’re discovering through your own experience of career momentum, things can really start to take off for you.
It sounds like you’ve had some wonderful and interesting experiences on your journey, I’d love to hear about them and I know others will too. I’m delighted that you’ve found our community and it’s great to have you here.
Mar 06, 2013 @ 05:16:28
Hay John, thanks for the great post, really impressive and thanks again for the divine guidance.
Mar 06, 2013 @ 08:25:17
Uday, thank you for your far too kind comments sir. I appreciate it.
Mar 06, 2013 @ 08:32:03
Just to add up that in case you really want to accomplish all that – fitness, growth, etc, you have to think about how you manage your time, because that is crucial! Once you figure that out, you will probably go to the next step and continously challange yourself and think how to do more with less. At least I am obssesed by this! Someone like me here?
Mar 06, 2013 @ 13:55:08
Boris, absolutely sir! It’s about doing less and achieving more with it.
Mar 06, 2013 @ 16:15:18
One quick question that is at least tangentially related – how can I put my picture next to my comments? After posting I thought it must be gravatar, then I thought maybe it was tied to my profile on your forum. A consistent online identity is a tool in career growth, so I was hoping to achieve that here. Thanks in advance!
Mar 06, 2013 @ 16:25:16
Hi Lance,
The community forum and blog site are independent from one another with regard to profiles. The blog does indeed use Gravatar logos by default sir.
Mar 08, 2013 @ 15:41:10
Great post. I agree with almost everything said here but I would like to add another perspective which is usually lost while we all try to learn new things to fix our “perceived deficiencies” (which is a lot – at least in my case anyway
. Instead experiment on practicing what you already know and love 80% of the time, be really good at it and achieve automaticity. Hopefully this will let your mind become decluttered, free and hence creative.
Mar 08, 2013 @ 20:28:39
Thanks Daniel!
Good man, it’s great to hear from folks that do not agree with everything I say, would be a pretty dull world if you all did
In all seriousness I really do encourage and enjoy readers offering alternative perspectives. It makes for a more colourful and enriched discussion for everyone. That’s what we’re all about here, heck we even have a Community Forum we like talking so much.
I’m loving the concept of “perceived deficiencies” and think there’s a larger discussion to be had there for sure.
An excellent point about sticking to and developing your core skills to the extent where you can leverage them for automation, freeing yourself for other pursuits.
Mar 08, 2013 @ 19:55:12
Okay Okay….I just got to ask; is that really you on the bench press????
All kidding aside my thinking falls right in line with the post generated. It took me 8-10 yrs to step out of my comfort zone and get involved in the community and I am glad I did. This same concept can be applied across the board in all areas of one’s life.The fruits of the labor so to speak are rewarding.
Good solid post as always John!
Mar 08, 2013 @ 20:15:57
Thanks Chris.
Ha! I’ll leave that puzzle for the readers…..
Wise words sir. I’ve yet to meet a Data Pro that regretted getting involved with the community. For those folks out there still thinking about it, take the plunge already.