Mind Tools for Managers

Chapter 4Manage Your Career over Time

In society today, the work we do and the careers we pursue are central to our identity as individuals. When you are introduced to someone at a cocktail reception and they ask, “So what do you do?” it is assumed that they want to know about your work, not your family life or your hobbies.

But it is only in the past 200 years that this view of work as a key component of self-identity has become the norm. In the nineteenth century and earlier, people worked as a means of surviving, often in tedious activities such as farming or manufacturing. It was the privilege of the wealthy few to not have a job and to have time for enjoyable leisure activities.

Gradually, as society became wealthier and as technology allowed many basic jobs to be automated, the number of different jobs and careers multiplied. Today, work is at the center of our self-identity, and this means we put a great deal of effort into making sure we are doing worthwhile work. In Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs, the top of the hierarchy is self-actualization, and for people in developed countries with stable jobs, this notion that we should be seeking self-actualizing, or intrinsically motivating, work is a powerful driver.

In this chapter, we therefore examine a range of tools and techniques that you can use to help make your current work more enjoyable and to help you shape your future work and long-term career in a self-actualizing way.

First, we discuss the identity transition ...