5 Themes from Career Mastery™ Kickstart 2019 Summit

Have you ever been in an awesome, totally immersive experience that you just don't want to end, even though you know it has to?

Maybe it’s an experience where you’re getting so much great information and input that you don't know how you're going to remember it all, like a conference or even a vacation.

Well, I've just been through one of those kinds of experiences as the host of Career Mastery™ Kickstart 2019 (and maybe you were part of it too!).

Career Mastery™ Kickstart was an amazing online summit where 50 world-class career experts shared their best Tips and strategies to help participants get their careers off to a great start in the new year.

There were so many valuable insights that came from the summit. The best way I know to really preserve that knowledge is to share it with others. And so, I want to share with you the 5 main themes that came out of Career Mastery™ Kickstart this year.

1. Self-Awareness

The first theme is about self-awareness, which is so important. As CMK 2019 expert, Daniel Goleman, says, “it's the foundation for well-being”. And it helps us be our best selves and bring our best selves.

Some of the things you can do on the self-awareness front to be your best self are to notice the following three things:

• Notice how you’re being in the moment
  For example, are you out there in the front leading? Or are you shrinking back?
• Notice how you are feeling
  So often we are cut off below our necks and we live in our heads. Take a moment to notice how you feel. Are you feeling really burned out and stressed, or maybe into the realm of what CMK 2019 expert, Jerome Wade, calls “executive fatigue”? Are you feeling joyful and energized? And then, what do you want to do about that?
• Notice the effect you're having on others
  Are you lifting them up? Are you shutting them down?

2. Network of Relationships

The second important theme is about your network of relationships, because none of us can succeed on our own. And three of the things that will help you on this theme are to:

• Build your network before you need it
  Relationships form over time and it’s not something that can be rushed.
• Proactively manage and invest in relationships
  This could be at home and at work; managing up with your boss or managing your relationships with peers and juniors that are also important to your success.
• Have those crucial conversations
  Whether they're difficult conversations or happy conversations, you want to be engaging with others. That's how you build influence and develop relationships.

3. Focus

The third theme is around focus, which is a big one for me. Without focus, we're just muddling through life.

Focusing is about doing these three things:

• Eliminate the non-essentials
  For me, this means not spending multiple hours a day on email. Examining how you spend your time helps you focus on where to invest yourself. CMK 2019 expert, Greg McKeown, wrote the book on this called Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.
• Make sure your time counts
  Whether it's at work and making every meeting or conference call count, or at home and making sure you’re doing the right things to recharge your batteries.
• Structure your environment so that you can focus

4. Be Strategic

The fourth theme is about being strategic, both about the work you do and your approach to your career.

• Be seen as strategic at work
  This means getting outside of your own small area and starting to interact with people beyond that, so you can bring better ideas back.
• Don't just focus on what you should be doing in your job
  Also focus on what you could be doing because that's how you add value at that next level. This valuable piece of advice comes from CMK 2019 expert, Professor Linda Hill.
• Make sure that you’ve future-proofed your career
  Whether that’s from changes in technology, shifts in the economy or new developments in your sector. CMK 2019 expert, Rita McGrath, has a great 10-point checklist for this.

5. Go for It!

The fifth theme is to go for it, which means we need to:

• Play big
  As my father says in tennis, instead of just popping shots back over the net, you want to “swing out.”
• Have the courage to stand up and don’t give your power away
  Playing big is all about being fully yourself, standing out, and being proud of the things that are different and wonderful about you. It's also about bringing your courage, which is simply feeling the fear and doing it anyway.
• Take action (this is one of my favorites!)
  Go out there and search for those sponsors and mentors, speak up, and get the attention you need.

I hope these 5 themes, which only scratch the surface of the advice and wisdom of 50 experts, help you in your career and life.

And if like me, you want to hold on to that awesome energy from Career Mastery™ Kickstart – or if you missed the event and want to tap into the wealth of advice and insights to improve and advance your career – then there's the CMK 2019 VIP Pass.

The VIP Pass gives you lifetime access to all the summit’s valuable content, including all 50 experts’ Tip and interview videos, transcripts and CliffsNotes. As an added bonus, the VIP Pass includes a special online workshop with me to map out your career game plan for the year.

Learn more about the CMK 2019 VIP Pass

Now, I’d love to hear from you:

Which of these 5 themes would most move the needle for you in your career if you were to work on it right now?

Leave a comment and let me know.