Working Thoughts

Today is the two year anniversary of Working Thoughts.

Events like this remind of why I started this blog in the first place. It was a tumultuous time in my career. I reached a point in my job where I learned everything that role had to offer and I was frustrated. I eventually found a fit where I could expand my experience and learn new skills. But it was entirely more difficult than I thought it should be.

During this period I did a lot of self reflection. I thought to myself “Why weren’t they bending over backwards to give me challenging projects?” and “I just finished a program that will have a multimillion dollar and lasting save impact for this company.” It wasn’t  my work habits or my skills that were holding me back (they are more than adequate for this point in my career). I realized corporate growth depends on timing and relationships, not just ambition and over achievement.

The strategy most people take is to expand their network and step up their self promotion. This works very well because it improves the odds of being in the right place at the right time. But I took a step back and thought to myself “that’s a tiresome process. If I’m going to do it, then I might as well do it globally.”

This requires a thorough plan, which I have and won’t get into now. But my first step was to create a blog. I figured a blog about macro level Human Resources would be a good fit. It’s what I have my degree in and I still follow it daily (my day job is technology based). This would result in expanding my knowledge base in the field of personnel as well as help me learn how to improve my writing. A half hour to an hour every other day practicing research, forming opinions, and writing can’t be a bad thing.

Other parts of my global plan are now underway and you can read about them in the coming year, but in the mean time check out Two Year Anniversary for Working Thoughts – Part 2 for some fun facts, findings,and insight I’ve discovered over the last two terrific years.