You may be at this a long time. Your resume/bio reads like a who’s who of accomplishments, accolades and professional pedigree that would rival any Ivy League graduate’s credentials. You may think there is nothing you don’t know, haven’t seen or experienced in your illustrious career. You may be able to walk into any board room, any meeting and just take over with a seamless self –confidence that makes the members of the meeting blush with envy.
You are and always have been a rock-star. You are sought after by your professional colleagues and everyone either wants to work for you or with you. You’ve been at this for so long you don’t even need a resume you are that good. Well, you may be all that and then some but one question should loom in the back of your mind, “Am I still relevant?”
Just because you have successfully operated the way you have for decades does not mean the world around you has remained unchanged. You’ve managed your career beautifully, you know all the right players, network with all the right people, but really at the end of the day, what is the something “new” you bring to the table? It’s easy to rely on your background and your professional successes to a point, but when you’ve not been able to progress along with new changes, thoughts and ideas, you have to ask if you are as relevant as you think?
As the career and business world spins off its axis, you’ve got to wonder what bubble you’ve lived in and what have you done lately to effect a relevant change? Are you in touch with new thought processes? Are you up to date in technology? Do you keep up with new trends or updates in your industry? Do you know the new players in your field? How have you transformed your business, your company, yourself? What is the last innovative or out-of-the-box thought or idea you’ve had? Do you consider yourself a pioneer? How do your peers view you? Are you willing to shake it up to be different? Are you willing to take risks to be relevant?
You might want to ask yourself these questions the next time you are ready to pat yourself on the back for past accomplishments. We all like to live in the glory days of our past, but when you can’t transcend the future you are like a dinosaur waiting for the Ice Age to hit. Your relevancy has nothing to do with your age or your level of experience it has to do with syncing your talents to what is current and looking towards new opportunities to build the future.
Change is a hard pill to swallow for most people especially for those who have had successful careers just doing what they do so well and for so long. In this day and age that’s just not good enough any more. You may be an expert in your field but if what you bring to the table is outdated and is not relevant to anyone other than yourself, then honestly you may be waiting for extinction just like the dinosaur.
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