Jobs v Careers!

Great intro to a course on linkedin, used this quote:

“You don’t own your job, you own your career”

Very true.

But if the employee doesn’t own the job, there can be only one possible owner: the employer.

Getting to success, as employer execs and managers, is about creating ways so that the job and the career of the person in the job, overlap – as much as possible.

We all know people who – from a very early age – have known what they wanted to be and do. They follow this path throughout life and are super successful; the overlap of job and career in this instance is exact. I suggest that these people are a tiny minority! At the other end of the spectrum, we have probably worked in places where the job is not at *all* what the real “career” of your coworkers. A stepping stone, or something to bring in a wage while the “real” work happens elsewhere. Most job – career alignments, fall somewhere in the middle.

I had a conversation recently with someone who was describing this alignment as “soul” – which sounds a bit mystical! But in terms of the job – career alignment, it makes perfect sense. It is one strand of a multiplicity of efforts that a good manager and employee will make to bring these 2 spheres closer.

The art & science of understanding the needs of both your people and the roles they perform – as employer execs and managers – is a complex & dynamic space. Success here is a long game, but unlocking the good in this area is key to having things work…