----A Ten-Step Program for Principled Career Development----

?        Step 1.  Wake up.

        The skills of self-reflection, self-promotion, self-motivation, and self-renewal all require awareness of your state of heart and mind. Simple as it sounds, learning to pay attention to yourself and the world around you is the step that opens the door to these skills.

?        Step 2.  Stabilize your life.

        Here we step back from examining work directly and look at the context of your life. What’s working? What gets in the way of making the changes you want and need? How can you extricate yourself from the knots in your life—whether they’re financial obligations or unsupportive relationships—in order to participate fully in the quest for meaningful work?

?        Step 3.  Create a vibrant support system.

        Community creates possibilities that may be far beyond the reach of isolated individuals. Explore and develop the art of identifying, and building, the supportive community you need.

?        Step 4.  Cultivate critical research skills.

        Identifying options is more than information gathering; it’s the art of interpreting what you see. It’s about research, strategies, and sources. Find important sources of information on fields of work, labor markets, and other career information, organize your research on opportunities; and apply principles of in-depth investigation of employers when their practices cause your concern.

?        Step 5.  Take a fresh look at what you have to offer.

        You are more than your skills and experience. You’re a human being with values, guiding principles, personality strengths, and a complex mixture of attractions and aversions to the world around you.  All these affect your working options. You’ll want to have a framework for self-assessment focused on your values and the ways you see yourself developing.

?        Step 6.  Identify the essence of your work in the world.

        Knowing yourself and the options doesn’t necessarily mean knowing what to do. You need to put the pieces together, starting with identifying the essence of the work that sustains you.

?        Step 7.  Commit yourself to doing your work in some form.

        The most controversial and challenging point of this program is to shift responsibility from them—the creators of jobs, the hirers of people, the shapers of economic policy—and onto you. Success in this requires patience, purpose, and important skills that are required to sustain commitment.

?        Step 8.  Let go of assumptions about doing your work.

        One of the strongest elements of career success stories in this era is surprise. Assumption busting and the power of opening up to the unexpected are keys to  navigating the rapids of change.

?        Step 9.  Mine your experience for gems.

        People who excel in the art of re-careering and professional development are those who use every facet of themselves – skills, life experience, character strengths and foibles, painful history. Appreciate the value of continuous learning and the ways your splendid uniqueness can work in your favor.

?        Step 10.  Be a co-creator of the workplace you want to see.

        All this would be easy if a majority of the work situations out there were of the humane, creative, sustainable variety. They’re not. You’ll have to explore the processes of organizational change and activism to help you nudge your workplace in a positive direction, assess the risks and benefits of your initiatives, and use your political and economic power to expand your options at work.

※Adapted from Making a Living While Making a Difference: A Guide to Careers with a Conscience, 1^st edition, by Melissa Everett. The 3^rd edition (2007) is available from New Society Publishers (www.newsociety.com), and from www.makinglivingdifference.com.