Own Your Talent

Written by Roxanne Brown

Even if you're lucky enough to be working for a company that's investing in your growth, it's still up to you to own your talent. It's up to you to own your career. That may not be a terribly groundbreaking idea but it's way too easy to forget. Not remembering means you can end up feeling trapped instead of creating choices for yourself or even remembering you have them.

This came up in a recent Joy Research interview we did with a CEO who mentioned he worked for his company for more than 10 years before leaving to work for another firm, and then rejoining several years later as CEO. He said he left because the longer he stayed the less confident he felt. He was stuck in his position and needed to break out of his mental model. For him, this was a passing comment, but it stuck out for us because we’ve heard this many times from many people.

The phenomenon: The longer you stay the less qualified you feel.

It doesn’t make sense when you think about it. Companies are constantly evolving and with that employees acquire new skills every day. On top of which, it’s not good for a company to have employees who stay because they feel they have little choice. Weird things start to happen when a group becomes insular. There's a natural incentive for companies to encourage employees to grow. Even so, self-perception beats logic every time.

I experienced this phenomenon myself when many years ago I became concerned that the change approach I developed might be odd or only effective for my employer. To test this, I decided to apply for a change role at one of the "Big 4" consulting firms, and was offered the job. Through that experience I learned it was pretty rare to have deep change expertise in the financial industry, at least at that time. It also became clear that I needed to stay tuned into my choices and create more for myself. I snapped out of my negative self-perception. I started owning my change expertise. I started believing I could contribute in a much bigger way.

Another recent example: I spoke to young person who's at a crossroads in her career. She works for a company whose employees tend to believe that it’s very strange for an employee to choose to leave the firm. The most tragic thing I heard her say: “I’ve been here ten years and I feel less qualified than I did when I started.”  Incredible that she should have such a mindset given the experience she now has.

You can accidentally be defined by your employer when you don't own your talent. You can start to believe only the negative direct and indirect feedback you receive about your value. The company size or industry does not seem to matter. What matters more is how long and how often you've focused on the negative the messages in an effort to improve your performance.

Owning your talent makes it easier to hear a more balanced set of messages and filter out the ones that aren't useful. Owning your talent keeps you grounded in who you are and what you want from work. It helps you decide how to make work part of a life well-lived, what ever that means to you. Joy at Work.