The Strategic Career: Let Business Principles Guide You

Description

We often hear that finding the work we are meant for will multiply our accomplishments and enable us to attain new levels of personal satisfaction. Yet, many who are planning their careers find that the job market has shifted to the advantage of employers, whether as a result of the recession, globalization, IT-driven productivity, or other changes in the business landscape. Faced with these tough circumstances, it is more critical than ever for professionals to create a plan of attack and make sound decisions as they navigate their careers. The Strategic Career provides readers with the ultimate guide to career choices―both short-term and long. While other authors approach career development from the perspective of psychology and counseling, Bill Barnett demonstrates how business strategy concepts can successfully guide us as we chart our careers. Drawing on two decades of experience leading McKinsey & Company's Strategy Practice, as well as his popular Career Strategy courses at Yale and Rice University, he approaches the construction of a long-term career plan by looking at the main challenges professionals will face: developing and reaching long-term targets, surfacing opportunities, assessing career decisions, and staying on track. Underpinning his advice with research and illustrating it with vivid stories from others' successes, Barnett lays out practical, step-by-step processes to help readers realize their goals. Complete with a program to help you develop your own plan and over 100 specific activities to guide you, The Strategic Career is the ideal companion on your professional pathway. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Career Direction 1. Fundamental Values Leading to a Calling 2. Strengths 3. From Values and Strengths to Fields and Roles 4. Investigation 5. Personal Value Proposition Part II: Long-Term Strategy 6. Long-Term Strategy Initiatives 7. Integrated Long-Term Strategy Part III: Opportunity Search Strategy 8. Current Personal Value Proposition 9. Opportunity Identification 10. The Best Case 11. Opportunity Search Plan Part IV: Decisions on Alternatives 12. Alternatives and Objectives 13. Alternatives and Uncertainty Part V: Staying Power 14. Personal Annual Report 15. Personal Resilience Conclusions Notes Index