Every individual who is doing a job faces a situation in his career when he gets a chance to become an adult. It does sound confusing but it is a fact. You begin a full-time job after you attain the adult age but you enter the career track as a novice with practically little or no experience. The situation is that of an adolescent who may be a fresh intern or a trainee. You get all the protection and guidance but are free to make the mistakes and learn. Some people also term it as the honeymoon period of your career.
Have you crossed the career adolescence? You must be wondering that when does the adulthood start? Does it begin when your training is over and you become a confirmed employee? No, it is not then, because you still have a boss to take the responsibility. Do you attain the adulthood after you get some promotions and become a Manager? We will not quiz you further and share the answer and then try to understand it.
Understanding career adulthood: The adulthood of your career begins when you are held responsible for your actions. It may begin when you hold the independent charge of a department or when you become the CEO of the company. The funny part is that some of the people, who are confronted with this situation, refuse to accept the adulthood. There are others who pick up the strings much earlier than they are expected to and become the Mr Dependable in the organization. The position is akin to the real life situation when people remark that the individual has matured much before his age.
The losers and the winners: Those who shun responsibility will never attain adulthood and continue to languish as adolescents in the organization. They always need support and protection and barely have any career growth. The ones, who are able to prove their mettle, get additional responsibilities and a leadership role. They are the people who surge ahead with their career growth.
What lies beyond? You must be wondering that if this stage is adulthood, then what about the middle age and retirement age. Career growth for individuals, who become adults at a young age, has no limits. You could move up from handling one unit to being in charge of multiple units. Another way up the ladder would be to take up the responsibility of the entire multinational corporation rather than just the Asia-Pacific region. We have seen people take up the role of active directors on the boards of many successful business units.
The career-adult path: The approach talked about in here is nothing new for your career growth. It has only been given some new clothing to make it easy for you to understand. We have seen the career adults leaving plum jobs and lavish offices because the role does not offer many challenges. They find unchartered territories for themselves as it gives them the path to proving their mettle. People may consider them foolish at this stage but a few years down the line the ravaging adults show their worth with much more exuberance.
Well, I did get confused in the beginning but it definitely a novel way of making people understand the importance of owning responsibility and how it can boost your career.
After reading the article I suddenly found that there are quite a few adolescents in the organization I work for. I also now understand that why they have not grown with the company. They always guard their work boundaries and shun any additional work that comes their way. Good eye opener article. Thanks.
The responsibilities get added when you get a promotion. But you are right that some people behave strangely and show their unwillingness towards accepting additional work. They are happy earning the paycheck every month and do not have much career aspirations.
The article concept is to be well understood by the readers. The faster you start owning responsibilities in an organization the better are the chances for your career growth. The only aspect that you must take care is to add responsibilities only after you are delivering well in the already owned ones.
People in my organization did not like me much as I was always in the forefront when it came to owning responsibility for a new task. The company was quick to realize that I have attained the adulthood in my career. The difference is clear after 10 years of working as I stand three ranks ahead of the colleagues who started the career with me. Your message in this article is absolutely clear.
i have a similar problem with some of the people who contributed to write there problems here i am the operations manager of a security company but to be honest i have been heated due to the actions i took which the operations department accept and is pert of the law of operations but i do not know why i was so hatered by my own coworkers
There is always a resistance to change because the human beings have to adapt themselves to the change and it requires effort. No one likes to do that extra effort and wants the normal routine to continue. All these people are the adolescents and once they start owning responsibility like you did, they will attain the adulthood of their careers. You are on the right path of career growth as you have achieved the adulthood by owning responsibility. Call a session of your disgruntled colleagues and explain to them the advantages of the new law of operations and how it can be adapted easily. Let them delibrate upon the pros and cons and agree to your drive being correct.
I was feeling contented when I became a confirmed employee of the company after one year of training. Little did I realize that I was still an adolescent in my job as I was only doing what I was told. After reading this article I have understood that I need to develop an ownership for my job in order to move ahead. Thanks.