I was reading a recent article in the Harvard Gazette quoting Nancy Koehn that made a lot of sense to me. When speaking about the future of the traditional company she had this to say:
“It is a pretty safe bet that most people will earn their keep doing more than one or two activities and that they, not some big institution, will be the chief architect of their own training and development.”
Nancy sums up working in the digital age in the perfect way- you are in control of your own success. While she was talking about entrepreneurism, my feeling is that you can be an entrepreneur whether you own your own business or you are just a hard-working employee at any company.
It’s up to you to take advantage of opportunities to learn, develop skills in your trade and become familiar the ins-and-outs of your business that will lead to high performance. While the digital age has created vast competition for all industries, it has also provided tremendous resources. Do not be afraid to take advantage of them.
Too often, people are consumed by the tasks they are given on a day-to-day basis instead of figuring out how to go the extra mile because they fear they won’t get things done. But, the key is to be fearless.
Go to your boss. Have a conversation. Talk about how you can improve things; do more. Tell them you want to help on an upcoming project and that you can take on responsibility. Why? Well, I’ll let you in on a secret, whether you believe it or not: they want to hear from you.
