How could you be more targeted in your career goals?
My eldest son wants to be a professional soccer player. He lives and breathes soccer. He tells everyone who will listen that he dreams of playing for Tottenham Hotspur. He only plays soccer-based video games. He watches YouTube videos of soccer. His bedroom wall is plastered with soccer players and we have converted our backyard into a soccer pitch. Since March, he and his brother have given the backyard goal a thrashing. Their breaks from home schooling are spent kicking goals and learning tricks. The goal is basically held together with gaffer taped repairs after their kicks have become more powerful every day (see the photo including the boarded up garage window thanks to a carefully curled volley!).
I was looking out the kitchen window yesterday to find my son directing my husband in the taping of a washing basket to the soccer goal. He set up his iPad on a rubbish bin to record his predicted success. He kicked the ball over and over towards the washing basket taped to the top corner of the goal. The entire goal is no longer his target. He has refined his target to one small area, just big enough to receive the soccer ball. A while later I got a text message and video from him saying “it took me 25 minutes! I did it!”.
Watching the cropped video of his celebration after many tries of landing the ball in the basket reminded me of the value of small, targeted wins towards what we want to achieve. From a career perspective, we can target the next role we want, the organisation we want to work for and what we can offer those who help us to achieve our goal. What I mean is, if your goal is to be a CISO at a big organisation, what do you need to do to make sure you are the best candidate for the role? Who should you be building relationships with or increase your profile with? What targets do you need to hit in your current role, studies or job preparation to meet the needs of your next role? (and how can you contribute to the improvement of our industry for those rising behind you? ). The opportunities are endless, but we can target the skills we want to conquer that will lead us to our ultimate goal.
How could you be more targeted in your career goals?