It is typical for many of us to
choose our primary training or qualification based on what are seen to be our intellectual
capabilities. Sometimes, we make these choices because we think a particular
technical field may give us more money, or because our parents pressured us.
Sometimes we are influenced by friends, and at times we just made the choice
because we did not know any better. Whatever the reason, it does not matter.
The most critical issue is what happens when you reach a point in your life
that either what you studied does not define you or that the work you are doing
is not using the best of your abilities or helping you in your career
advancement.
Some may be fortunate to have a
mentor or a network of people that can help them transition to the career they
desire after a journey of self-discovery. Many do not have that luxury or
opportunity. In my career, I have found the value of continuing education to be
vital in this process. It is important because over time the knowledge that we
gained in our initial training may no longer be sufficient for the world we are
in or the challenges that many organisations face. Peter Drucker once said “Knowledge has to be improved, challenged,
and increased constantly, or it vanishes”. And many may ask, what of those
who have gone this route but have not successfully managed to make this
transition?
I see continuing education as a
start rather than the end of the process. On its own, it cannot work unless
there is a clear plan. Most fundamentally, a decision on continuing education
must have a sense of purpose. It should also be defined by the potential career
choices that one can make after completion, and an understanding of who would
likely value this new knowledge gained. It requires that one has a better
understanding of the world around them, how is it changing, what are its needs,
and matching those to one’s better knowledge of self.
If you are employed and your
employer helps you with continuing education, it provides both advantages but
also risks. The advantages being that your employer may present you with career
options after you have completed this training. Often I find, however, that for
most employers, they provide continuing education without a plan for the
employee. And the employee makes the dangerous assumption their career will be
mapped out for them.
Hence I emphasise that it is the
person being trained who must make a decision as to what is the purpose for the
training they are pursuing. The person needs to be the one who evaluates the
potential options that such training will give them, and have a plan on how to
pursue them. Most importantly, they must see the training not just from the
perspective of transitioning from the current career, but also how it can have
lifetime value. Peter Drucker again says,
“We now accept the fact that learning is
a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is
to teach people how to learn”. How can this continuous learning provide
skills that can leverage not just the next career transition, but at least one
more after that?
Reflecting on Peter Drucker’s
long and successful career, what is it that made him transition and also have
such staying power? He emphasised these
important things: lifelong learning; being multidimensional, and not relying on
just one person or organisation (hence my advice on creating options above);
always focusing on the future and not dwelling on past achievements, but
thinking about emergent trends that will impact a career; being prepared to
take risks to create that future; paying
attention to innovators, and using their lessons from a career perspective;
being prepared to let go of things or relationships that are no longer
relevant.
In my life I have made a number
of career transitions that have been risky but immensely beneficial.
Fundamentally, I have used lifelong learning as a basis, but not as the end
goal. I have supplemented this through developing relationships, understanding
myself, creating options, and being prepared to take risks. I still maintain,
however, that without the learning from continuing education, it would have
been more difficult to make these transitions.
