Oh, the Places You’ll Go: One Leader’s Thoughts on Charting Your Career
Over my more than two decades as a health care communicator, I’m often asked to reflect on the path I’ve traveled in my career. Like many, my journey has been a winding one, and it has evolved as I have. I believe one’s career trajectory, or career path, is a combination of being thoughtfully proactive about who you are and what you love, as well as reactive to the doors that open in front of you. My career has been as much about self-reflection and the ever-popular “where do you see yourself in five years?” question as it has been about others seeing something in me, challenging me and opening doors to new opportunities. Whether I have been a manager, mentor, peer or client, I am cognizant that my role today and the leader I have become has not been a “one woman job.” It has been a combination of my desire to do more and step into opportunities that allow me to do more, with partnership and support from those around me, including my friends and family.
As a manager and leader, I take my role in the career pathing of others seriously. In fact, I see helping others chart their paths and navigate them as core to my job, and it is one of the things I love most. Spending time with the team focused on when they are the best version of themselves along with what excites and motivates them is at the heart of these conversations.
When you love what you do and are inspired you do your best work, and in turn, help bring the best out in others. While career pathing is “always on,” I find annual reviews are a particularly good moment for discussion given employees have completed a self-reflection and receive 360 feedback. All too often, people focus in on their areas of opportunity versus their strengths. In some ways they take their strengths for granted. I can’t say enough that our strengths are what make us uniquely us. They are our “superpowers.” Within strengths lie the path forward in one’s career. To clarify, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t acknowledge and work on areas of opportunity – you should – but you also should take the time to “own” your strengths and give thought to where they can take your career.
One of the things I enjoy most about Real Chemistry is the many opportunities for mobility and development. We are structured and incentivized to help our teams learn more so they can do more for themselves and our clients. And the support Real Chemistry provides isn’t just about improving skills. We have several programs that support our employees as individuals – including our 4th Trimester® program for new parents and our ACCELERATE program that cultivates the next generation of diverse leaders. Real Chemistry appreciates that career pathing is life pathing and the two must work together.
I joined Real Chemistry with a 20+ year career in health care communications, and I am still learning every day. It is my experience and my opinion that the famous words of Dr. Seuss – “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” – have never been truer for our industry and for me.
