We just resumed work at my workplace, our manager asked us all to meet with our squads or teams and share the goals, milestones or achievements we would like to have on a personal, squad and company level in the next 3–6 months.
This is beneficial because it gives us (staff) an insight and understanding into one another’s goals, expectations and milestones, on a personal, team-based and company level. That way we are all on the same page and can better align our goals between individual career aspirations and team/company objectives.
This is a norm at our organisation, we call it the 80/20 rule, 80% to organisation, 20% to improving yourself. I believe and subscribe to your career being viewed from this angle of Team and Individual responsibility, especially if you have this long-term commitment you would want to give to a specific profession or vocation.
See, by definition, a career is your professional journey, your progress through life and it includes your work history, experiences and progression through various jobs. It is the long-term dedication to work in a specific field or industry.
And in being a long-term dedication, I believe careers should be played as long-term games, you need a strategy to get you from where you are, to where you want to be if you are going to make the long-term commitment to any profession or vocation that requires specialised education or training.
After commitment to a career path, every role you take and every skill you build should add value to your current workplace and your long-term journey, not doing this has a negative effect as misalignment can lead to burnout, dissatisfaction and missed opportunities.
In a career focused industry, you are judged based on how well you impacted your previous companies in your work history and which value you were able to create for them with your experiences and skills. Simply, how involved were you in projects that were critical to your then organisations strategic future? This is why recruiters ask about your past impact and projects.
And that is why I believe it is important for you to look at career as a team and individual sport. An analogy I can give is that of Formula 1.
Takes a break to drink water…
See, I am a big fan of Formula 1, the pinnacle of motorsports racing where time is defined, and the laws of Physics are taunted. I love the engineering marvels, the adrenaline pumps and dumps, the fast cars, making split-second decisions at speeds over 300 km/h, the crashes, the team strategies, the pit crew, the intense emotions, the fierce competition/rivalry, the loud exhaust, the high-end tech competition and all it comes with…
Formula 1 can be classified as a team and an individual sport, and that creates an inherent layer of complexity. The teamwork builds the platform for success and the individual skill executes and defines success. This can be seen with the “every dream needs a team” farewell message between Mercedes AMG F1 and Lewis Hamilton (The F1 GOAT). Lewis Hamilton had a dream and Mercedes helped him achieve it by winning 6 driver’s world championship and 7 constructors’ championship together.
As a driver in F1, you have to score points for your team to win the Constructor’s Championship whilst also positioning yourself well to win the Driver’s Championship. You cannot overly focus on one and neglect the other. There needs to be a fine balance. Your personal ambitions shouldn’t come at the detriment of the team (they come first!), but at the same time, you cannot let team dynamics overshadow your individual goals and managing this balance well is key to long-term success.
From that analogy, your individual career aspirations is the driver’s championship and the company goals/objectives is the constructor’s championship, and both needs to be in sync and managed well for the two parties to win.
I figure that’s probably why people often advise: ‘Only apply to companies whose vision you truly buy into and where your skills can shine.’ Because at the end of the day, aligning your personal vision with the company’s mission ensures your contributions are meaningful, your growth is intentional, and your career narrative stays cohesive.
While this may sound easy on paper, figuring out your career narrative is hard, landing a job in this exhausting job marketplace even harder, so why filter between jobs to apply to by buying into the vision when one is just trying to make a living? That’s a question I’ll answer another time.
Nevertheless, if you’ve established a career narrative and deviate from it without intention, you gamble with burnout, dissatisfaction, and missed opportunities. The longer you stay misaligned, the harder it becomes to pivot back. That’s why it’s essential to have the discipline to track your progress, reassess your goals, and maintain focus on what truly matters to you during that process of deviation for short term gains as without that clarity, you risk moving fast but not in a direction you want.
Treating your career as a team and individual sport is better way to play the long-term career game that gets you from where you are at, to where you want to be, and here’s my two cents on how I think you can set the foundations for that:
1. Write down your goals:
- Clearly define your short term and long term objectives.
- What skills do you want to build? What milestones do you want to hit?
2. Understand the company’s visions:
- Take time to understand the company’s mission, vision, key performance indicators (KPIs) and progression levels.
- Where does the company want to go in the next 1–3 years?
3. Find the overlap:
- Identify areas where your personal goals align with the company’s objectives.
- For example, if the company wants to expand into AI, and you want to specialize in AI, that’s a perfect match. Figure that out for your own company. (This is a tech example, I am a technology brother, so forgive me🙏🏾)
4. Communicate with your manager:
- Regular check-ins with your manager can ensure you’re on track.
- Be transparent about your ambitions and ask how you can best contribute while growing.
5. Finally, think in systems, not silos:
- Approach your role as part of a larger ecosystem. Richard Manning even talks about this in You and Your Research, he said “You should do your work in a such a fashion that others can build on top of it. Do not make yourself indispensable.”
- The skills and impact you build should be designed to fit into bigger goals, both for you and the company.
To conclude, I think you should take the time to write down your goals and align them with the company’s objectives. Skills and goals should be composable assets that are modular, transferable, and designed to create value in both your current role and your long-term career trajectory. Alignment ensures that every effort contributes to both personal growth and organizational success.
I learned from The Almanack of Naval Ravikant that it’s essential to play the long-term game, as seen in Formula 1, the best drivers and professionals know when to push, when to hold back, and when to recalibrate.
There is a saying:
You are wealthy if you discover what you truly want to become, are fully engaged in that mission, and you do not need to explain yourself to anyone.
I have learned, and now convicted myself, that the only thing that matters long-term is to be directionally correct. So, find that.
Until my next post, GM.