1 June Managing Oneself (...must take responsibility...)

[Paul Terlemezian]

We proably do this "well enough" on a day-to-day basis.

 

We get to work, we do our job, we get ourselves home.

 

I've wondered aloud if we have abdicated the responsibility for our career development to our employer? How much time and money is an individual willing to invest on their own for the benefit of their career?

 

What is their long term interests are not in line with their current employer?

 

Does this make my point? How many of us shift our career goals to the opportunities presented by our current employer vs. taking responsibility for develoing our capabilities to meet our goals and then finding the employer that values the path we are on?

 

How many companies have you worked for in your career? How many still exist? Drucker's point is that most workers will outlive their employing organization. Does it make sense to "abdicate" the responsibility for our future to an entity whose vision for the future is shorter than ours?

 

What will it take for Knowledge Workers to truly manage themselves? Would it work if knowledge workers were given a personal budget to spend on knowledge acquisition and could spend it in any manner they chose (including keeping it without spending it?)