Why excellence is a must for smooth career growth

By Goretti Kimani

Kenya: In today’s dynamic world, comfort has become an illusion. Concepts that worked years or months back can suddenly appear primitive.

Also, previously proven methods and systems can suddenly be rendered redundant or obsolete.

With organisations forced to continuously improve in order to compete favourably in a dynamic world, career minded individuals have no option but to jump onto the bandwagon. They need to learn and improve to excellence.

Academic work

Excellence is ‘the quality of being outstanding or extremely good’ according to The Oxford Dictionary. Going by this definition, one cannot expect to remain good at work while living in the past.

However, most people want to remain conservative. To them, serious study ends at college level. Many do not even bother to keep abreast of  trends in their line of work.

 They just ride along the ignorance roller coaster until circumstances force change upon them. Such people do not have definite goals for their career life. They seek growth for the sake of it, just like a cancer cell.

They are usually caught unawares when shake ups loom large. Such employees will seemingly be helpless over circumstances they could have easily prevented had they been a bit proactive.

This may be caused by an education system that puts too much emphasis on grades at the expense of skills. As a matter of fact, much of the awareness for the need to excel is created by corporations and at their own expense.

Millions of shillings are spent every year in the attempt to impart employees with the skills necessary for sustained productivity and excellence at work. Laziness, ineptness, negative attitudes, wrong career choices and financial illiteracy also contribute to this problem.

The good thing is that you have direct control over much of what will happen in your career life. Your career plan should include how to continuously improve. You should also commit to being a lifelong learner. Continuous learning is now a reality in many professions.

However, what the professional bodies provide is just a tip of the iceberg and most of the work belongs to you. Seek to keep abreast with major changes in your career line. Develop new attitudes and keep rebranding as a professional. In this regard professional subscriptions and memberships are an absolute must.

School of thought

And ensure that you have a role model who subscribes to your school of thought. Seek to embrace creativity and innovation, since they are major vehicles in the continuous learning process.

In so doing, make it a personal goal to continuously challenge existing norms, traditions, method and attitudes at work. Always spare some finances towards your career improvement.

Ensure you to add a new skill to your CV every year. If your CV has remained the same over the last five years, your are likely to become obsolete and unpalatable in the job market. In addition, a positive, open-minded attitude will create an environment conducive for continuous change.

Surround yourself with positive people. Avoid arrogant, complacent and selfish people. Make it a personal virtue to practice excellence  — whether at school, home in social circles or at work.

—The writer is a human resource specialist with Peoplelink Consultants Ltd. Email: goretti@peoplelink.co.ke