How many of us have gone through
a phase where we feel as if our career has reached a dead end? When you feel
that your career has either gone through a slump, or you have experienced a
career-threatening setback. In these moments, you would not be alone in
thinking that the best thing to do is to find another job, and forget
everything you have done. Like many, I always wonder if ever there is a career
after the fall. Time and time again we hear of entrepreneurs who set up business,
see them fail, and they lift themselves again. How often do we hear of those
who regenerate their careers this way?
This week I was jolted to
remember someone who experienced a spectacular fall, and in fact is seen as
having the worst record on the most important job he had reached. This was
triggered by conversations with a friend who is experiencing career uplift
after a big disappointment, and he is going through one of the best
professional experiences of his life. We compared his current experiences to
what happened to former US President Jimmy Carter. I thought to tell his story will
encourage many who think a disappointment, even a big one, is a permanent blemish.
Jimmy Carter became President of
the United States in 1977. The US was still reeling from the oil shock of 1973,
and had just been through the tumultuous events that led to the disgraceful
exit of Richard Nixon from the White House. Whilst Jimmy Carter was not a well-known
name, he ran a good campaign and many were hopeful that he would lift a demoralised
nation after his election. As he came to power, the US was battling inflation,
low growth and high unemployment. He achieved some success with the Camp David Accords
that led to a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. With an act that in hindsight
many now appreciate, he established two Cabinet level departments, Energy and Education,
which have proved to be strategic for the US in the current period, more than
30 years after he left office. However, he is remembered as the one who was
President when, after the Islamic Revolution in Iran, US citizens were held
hostage at the American Embassy in Tehran for 444 days. He suffered one of the
heaviest defeats of a sitting President in the 1980 elections, and when he left
office, nothing was expected of him in public life. Literally and figuratively,
he was regarded as a spent force.
Jimmy Carter, however, felt that
his mission for humanity was not done. He refused to see the disappointments,
or even failures, of his term of office as being the most defining of his
character. He realised that the job of US President gave him a particular
experience and world-view, and through it he had established networks that went
beyond the key issues that defined his Presidency. His work on Middle East
peace whilst he was US President had given him a certain level of recognition
globally. Paradoxically, he had to become a non-President to realise the value
of having been a President, and thus become one of the most successful
ex-Presidents in history. And this is how he regenerated his career.
In 1982, together with his wife
Rosalynn, he set up the Carter Centre. The Carter Centre is a non-profit
organisation which seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and
democracy, and improve health. Some of its notable achievements include having
been an observer of 81 elections in 33 countries since 1989, and mediating
various conflicts globally based on it being a trusted broker for peace, in
countries as diverse as North Korea, Colombia, Ecuador and Sudan. This conflict
mediation role was building on the experience President Carter had gained in
negotiating the Camp David Accords. In 2002, he became the first US President,
in or out of office, to visit Cuba since the 1959 revolution. President Carter received
the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his contribution to global peace, and is unique
in being the only US President or ex-President to receive the award for actions
after he left office. During this time, he also has found time to write 21
books. It is testimony to someone who built on his personality and experience
to create a new career that has made him more appreciated than when he occupied
high office. The four years as US President pale into insignificance to the
more than 30 years of success since he left office.
I have used Jimmy Carter’s
example as a way to illustrate that we need to look at life and careers through
a different time and contextual prism than we tend to. Any experience we gain,
combined with our character, creates a platform for the next generation of work
that we will do. Whilst we may experience failure and disappointment, and also
some may seek to derail our progress, we have this foundation to use to build for
the next career experience (click here on the previous article I wrote about
how to deal with those who can seek to derail your progress).
How many of us, when faced with
these difficult career moments in the organisations we work for, we think they
are the final arbiters of what happens to our lives? I hope many of us can
learn from people such as Jimmy Carter than one’s current office or job can
provide an experience and value network that can be a springboard for future
success. He never let the failures and disappointments of office to prevent him
from pursuing his life’s passion, and has thus achieved success, and regained
the respect he might have lost when he left office. It is a very easy example to
follow.
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