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Black Collegian Career Center
Career Success in the New Millennium
by A.Tariq Shakoor
As we enter the new millennium, there seems to be great
concern over what the new age will bring in virtually all aspects of our lives.
All you have to do to confirm this interest is to look at the tabloids at the
grocery store check out; or just take a leisurely stroll through a bookstore,
and you are sure to notice the almost obsessive interest in the millennium and
what changes will occur. A lot of what you will see and read is gloom and doom.
For the last couple of years, the leader of the anxiety hit parade was the Y2K
scare, which some feared would hurl us into a technological and ecological
Armageddon. Well, if you are reading this article, it means the anticipated
Armageddon has passed us by. Congratulations!
One area that has
come under tremendous scrutiny is the workplace of the 21st century;
what will it be like and what will be required to be successful? While I believe
that being successful in the 21st century will require some new
personal initiatives, success will not become the providence of a select few.
The biggest problem we will face in the 21st century will be the
accelerated pace of change driven by technology. The constancy of change in our
lives can be very stressful if we allow ourselves to be consumed by it. For me,
obtaining career success simply means being able to attain satisfaction in both
your career and your personal life. Life-work
balance will be the watchword, the Holy Grail of the 21st century.
Here are my personal recommendations on how you might achieve both.
Develop a spiritual
foundation. Scholars and futurists
alike generally accept that the millennium will witness extraordinary and rapid
change. The kind of change we face will be widespread, touching every aspect of
our lives. It will be the type of change that can cause personal and social
disequilibrium. Those people who are grounded in a healthy spiritual life will
be better able to withstand the pressures of rapid and constant change.
Develop purpose and
meaning in your life beyond career. It
is estimated that the average worker in the 21st century will change
careers at least five to seven times and jobs up to 12 times. Thus, having a
life purpose or personal mission for yourself that transcends the 9 to 5 of your
job will be crucial to your success. Write a personal mission statement that
outlines your purpose in life. Write your personal and professional goals and
keep them handy. Your challenge will be to keep your personal and professional
goals in harmony.
Become a lifetime
learner. You will need more than a
bachelor's, master's or Ph.D. degree to be successful in the new millennium. You
should cultivate a passion for learning. By so doing, you keep yourself
marketable. Always seek to expand your knowledge and skills. The Holy Quran
enjoins us to “Read and show
yourself approved.” A common trait
of successful people is that they read voraciously.
Provide quality
service in all that you do. The
playwright Woody Allen once said, "Eighty percent of being successful is
just showing up.” Subscribing to this philosophy in the 21st
century will guarantee nothing but mediocrity. Always strive to go beyond what
is expected of you in your job. There is an anonymous saying that I would like
to share with you that reads: “Every
job is a self-portrait of the person who did it; autograph your work with
excellence.” Don’t settle for
doing a job okay; strive for excellence in all that is asked of you.
Embrace change. Since change will be a constant in the future, we all need to come
to grips with how we react to change. If you allow change to overwhelm you, it
can have a paralyzing effect on you personally as well as professionally. Be
proactive about change. If you adopt the mindset that change is inevitable, you
will be able to harness your energies for a positive response. Once you have
defined what success means for you, pursue it diligently, but don’t neglect to
pause to smell life’s roses.
A. Tariq Shakoor is the director of the Career Center at Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
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