Continental Shelf

Having received my first annual review at this company in early September, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my career trajectory. Looking back over the last 22 years since I graduated, I am beginning to see a pattern: periods of intense, roiling, boiling learning where I soak up information like a sponge and experience rapid professional growth, alternating with periods of calm, slower learning that produce little visible growth but prepare for the next explosion.

The intense growth periods seem to last about three years, and the slower periods vary between two and five years. As I mentioned this weekend on Bob Sutton’s Work Matters blog, the slow-down period generally correlated with poor management and poor fit; however, that’s hardly the only factor I noticed.

It seems my period of great productiveness and growth happen when I’m tossed into — or I jump into — a new environment with new responsibilities and a good personality fit, but also where I have support in reaching for new goals. The slow-downs happened either when I was in the wrong place with the wrong people, or when I finished learning the bulk of what I needed to do the job and didn’t find a way towards new goals.

I’m currently experiencing a period of intense learning and development. It began right when I was laid off in May 2008 and had to look for new work. I immediately started absorbing the information I needed to find a good job and keep it. In the process, I read a lot about career management, project management, transferrable skills, and so forth. Then once I accepted an offer and started a new job, I had plenty of new things to learn in order to make my niche here.

I have been very fortunate in finding a place where employeees are encouraged to grow and support is available. I find it extremely rewarding; there is a system established to foster employee development and to produce reliable quality in our work. Coaching and mentoring, formal and informal training, tools and procedures are in place to help people develop their potential. It’s been very easy to “give it my best shot” and I feel appreciated.

Based on past performance, my current period of growth could be expected to last through mid-2011. What happens after that? Ah-ha! I’ve got a plan, but that topic will wait until tomorrow. But I’ll give you a hint: it’s about career management vs. job search.