Closing the loop
On career discovery and non-obvious paths
A fellow entrepreneur friend I admire recently complimented my gift for branding and naming businesses. I have no “official” background in marketing but coming from someone who has a media company, I’ll take the compliment. If I dig far enough into my past, perhaps I would find the origin of my marketing skills. I didn’t specifically follow a literature or writing curriculum either. I simply love writing and its clarifying qualities. Practice and good feedback and editing from people who know me well has helped me hone an authentic style my readers seem to appreciate.
Tapping into the things you like doing doesn’t always lead to developing a talent that translates into a clear career path or even a useful skill on any job. Yet in a fast-changing job market where future skills are simply unknown, it might be one of the best things we can encourage our kids to do. As educators and parents, if we pay close enough attention, the most benign interest and the most seemingly random minor thing can uncover a path or a door you wouldn’t have found, let alone opened. I am convinced our daughter, a baseball player and fan from a young age, has chosen the trumpet as her instrument mainly so she can play Narco, the intimidating (and trumpet heavy) entry song of the Mets’ star closing pitcher. It’s precisely about those little things, even though we are typically quick to dismiss them.
In hindsight, storytelling will help connect the dots. The journey will all make sense on a resume or in an interview. But imagining what early interest could lead to in the future and pursuing these passions before they become obvious and tangible could in fact be essential to individual fulfillment and potential maximization.
I dream of being able to proactively and predictively uncover talents and life paths at scale. If you are working on innovative solutions relevant to this opportunity, please email me here and/or fill out this form. I look forward to hearing from you!