It was about a year before I had completed my Bachelors’ Degree (…back before dirt was invented), and I had been selected to become an Intern for the Career Development Office at my College. The internship required me to study and learn about careers, job search tools/techniques, resume writing, and interview skills… and provided me with the opportunity to help advise other students on the same. It was an incredible developmental experience for a college student… and that; coupled with my degree and a four-year stint as a “RA”, served as a fantastic foundation for my eventual career.
So… one afternoon, I was talking with the Director about my career aspirations, and casually announced that I was considering becoming a “Consultant” upon graduation. She nodded, leaned forward… and asked me to tell her more about my plans. Thinking I had the scoop on some rare newly emerging occupation, I began to carefully describe how consultants provided expertise and counsel on various topics… helping clients navigate their way through complex business and leadership issues. I then suggested that it would be a truly fascinating way to earn a living and to apply my education.
Rather than belittling my naiveite, she gently asked me to tell her about the “expertise and counsel” I would share with my clients. I smiled, puffed my chest, postured myself to deliver a bravado laced retort… and promptly realized that; at the tender age of 21, I had zero practical experience to draw upon – much less, any expertise or counsel to share with prospective clients. That was an incredibly sobering moment.
After a few awkward seconds of silence, she thoughtfully coached me through a process to help me understand how I could best prepare for my suddenly “longer-term” career goal. With wisdom and kindness, she provided the guidance and counsel that helped me create the career plan I would follow successfully for several decades (Thank you, Judy!).
(Unfortunately, this would not be the last time I would be confronted with the reality that I needed more experience – if I wanted to become qualified for bigger and better opportunities. It always seemed hard to argue with the advice I was receiving… surely the more one has seen and done, the better prepared they would be for whatever challenges came next.)
Thus, began my quest to gain the experience and education I’d need to credibly market my skills and abilities… and to show that I’d “been there, done that, and got my t-shirt”.
As such, I created a career development “bucket list”. A check sheet that included a variety of career milestones that would surely enhance my portfolio… and position me well for promotional opportunities and realize my ambition for an eventual career in Consulting.
The bucket list included:
– Undergrad and Graduate Degrees – “check”
– A Management Trainee position with a Fortune 500 Firm – “check”
– Management roles with well-known Consumer Brand Company – “check”
– A wide variety of challenging work assignments – “check”
– Non-Profit Board Positions – “check”
– Leadership Development/Certifications – “check”
– Experience launching my own businesses – “check”
– Progressive promotions into Senior Executive level roles – “check”
Yay, me! (Massive ego – appropriately stroked…)
Career bucket list accomplished! I get my t-shirt now, right?
Well, maybe not quite yet…
Seems as though, for a good portion of my career I was so focused on “checking the box”… and moving on to the next bucket list item, that I often neglected to take the time to ask myself what I was actually learning from each experience.
Sure, I gained some nice skills along the way, but how much deep learning and wisdom was I developing? There’s a clear difference between simply building a collection of experiences… and taking the time to deliberately reflect – to ask yourself what you’re learning.
So… approximately forty years into my career – I’m now focusing more intently on the practice of “reflection”.
Note: There are numerous ways to approach reflection (Donald Schoen, among others, has written extensively on the topic – if you’d like to dive deeper). I like to simplify and divvy it up into reflection “after the fact”, reflecting “in the moment”, and “pre-flection” (thoughtful anticipation and planning for what’s yet to come). For purposes of this brief article, I’ll focus exclusively on reflection “after the fact” (what Schoen refers to as “Reflection on Action”).
To do this, I purposely revisit various experiences, milestones, and watershed moments from my life. These could include experiences and interactions from any of my various life phases, education, career, relationships, etc… In doing so, I attempt to see what I can learn from them “now”; given (hopefully…) expanded self-awareness, maturity, and the insight that may accompany “distance” from the immediacy of the moment.
Reflection provides us with the opportunity to “create new meaning”.
To keep it simple…. I typically ask myself just a few questions:
– What was the intended learning associated with that experience?
– What was it I think I learned from the situation (Then/Now?)
– What worked… and what didn’t?
– How will I build on this learning?
– What will I do differently in the future, given what I learned?
– Most importantly – “What did I learn about myself?”
The potential payoff for this his exercise is huge! While hindsight may not ever be 20/20, it often affords us far greater clarity – and the opportunity to carefully consider “lessons learned”.
I’m often reminded that experience/tenure doesn’t necessarily equate to knowledge (much less, “wisdom”…). While the potential is there… it’s largely dependent on how intentional we are about constructively reflecting on the experience, asking ourselves what we could be learning, and how we could use that knowledge to help ourselves and others!
Give it a shot… pick a few memorable experiences that have shaped who you are – and revisit them with the objective of seeing what more you can learn from them – today!