2 minutes
Where has your career taken you? Is it where you expected? Why an “up, over, more” approach to career paths is becoming more common.
Where has your career taken you? Is it where you expected? When I was in middle school, I wanted to be a poet. That dream did not last long. But writing, and later editing, stuck.
My path has been fairly straight: college newspaper to weekly newspaper to CUES. But along the way, there’s been a lot of learning, new styles of writing to master (Blogs! Twitter!) and different content channels to explore. Most recently, video and podcasting have become important to the content experience.
Earlier this year, several of us at CUES read the book Six Conversations: A Simple Guide for Managerial Success by Steve King. In the book, King describes a different way to think about career development, what he calls “up, over, more.” In your career, you can move up through a promotion and over to a different department at your organization or the same role at a new company. But you can also ask for more. This can be more projects, new responsibilities or learning a different part of the business. I believe that this is where you can take control of your career. If an up or an over job change isn’t happening as quickly as you’d like, seeking out more will not only improve your skills now but may also help you create new opportunities going forward.
The more has been important to me in my career. It seemed like whenever I started to feel bored, a new challenge arrived in the form of a new project to undertake or a problem that needed fixing. However, a mistake I made too often was waiting for those opportunities to come to me. In the future, I hope to do a better job of seeking out new challenges before boredom sets in. However, I’ve had so much fun over the past year as the managing editor of this magazine that I can’t imagine being bored anytime soon!
Our cover story this month follows the careers of three credit union executives looking at the mistakes they made and the opportunities they’ve embraced. Turn to p. 34 to read their stories.
What about you? Are you where you want to be, or do you have a plan for the next steps you should take to move your career forward? I’d love to hear from you and perhaps feature your stories in a future issue of CU Management.
P.S. CEO Institute: Just go. It will have a profound impact on your career and personal development.
P.P.S. Check out our Special Report: Credit Union Boards, starting on p. 19.
Theresa Witham
Managing Editor/Publisher
