By Douglas R Kruger
She's much younger than you'd ever expect a regional manager to be. And yet she's the current head of Air Mauritius for Southern Africa and Latin America. Before that, she managed Global Sales and Distribution for SAA. And before that, she was an air hostess...
Granted, there were a number of links between those points, but Carla da Silva achieved this exponential career growth – air hostess to regional manager – in a period of just over ten years.
Most air hostesses who began ten years ago are now... air hostesses. So, how did she do it and what can we learn from her progress?
The answer is – Carla used the Joseph Principle.
A quick historical refresher – Sold into slavery by his brothers in the early pages of Genesis, Joseph was put to work in the household of a stranger. Slavery was hardly Joseph's chosen career-path. It certainly wasn't in line with his life goals and it definitely wasn't well remunerated.
How seriously would you take your 'job' under those conditions? Nevertheless, he invested himself deeply, proved his skills and talents at every turn and rose to be the head of that household, which was, in fact, a well paid position and one of great trust.
Joseph did it again in the courts of the Pharaoh, rising to become second in command of the Egyptian Empire. He didn't see himself as a victim. He constantly and consistently brought his best efforts to every vocation.
Impressive. Yet we tend to look at any work that isn't precisely aligned with our goals as 'something for now'. And we often resent it, whine about it, or underperform.
The truth is – there is no such thing as a 'something-for-now' job. Every job is a part of your total career curve. It all adds up and becomes who you are – a chapter in your total life story. We tend to imagine that we will bring our A-game once we land the right job. The reality is that unless we've been practicing our A-game, we're unlikely ever to arrive at 'the right job.' The former creates the latter.
Carla did her job as an air hostess so diligently and wholeheartedly that she was invited to join SAA's training academy. She took that so seriously that it inevitably lead to the next thing, and then the next, culminating in an astonishingly successful total career, because of her personal investment at every level.
How seriously are you taking your 'just-for-now' job? What difference might it make to your life if you invested a little more of yourself, played the game with slightly greater professionalism, displayed a little more energy? Could you be missing out on that perfect job because you are not creating it by doing your current job perfectly?
It's about what the work makes of you
Remember that the job itself is not the point. It's what you learn while doing it – the business lessons, the skills, the processes, the insights, the ways and means of interacting with others. These things will matter to you no matter what your ultimate career goal.
Plus, you never know who's watching:
If you were to perform your job seriously and were then headhunted by a customer who was impressed by you, it certainly wouldn't be the first time in history. These things happen and they happen often.
So don't work for your boss. Work for yourself. Work for the skills you can learn and the intelligent, insightful and educated person you can become as a result of the work.
Invest yourself in what you do. Bring your personality and the best you have to offer to the table. After all, this isn't just for now. This is the beginning of your story.
It's all one long career curve.
Granted, there were a number of links between those points, but Carla da Silva achieved this exponential career growth – air hostess to regional manager – in a period of just over ten years.
Most air hostesses who began ten years ago are now... air hostesses. So, how did she do it and what can we learn from her progress?
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| Douglas R Kruger |
A quick historical refresher – Sold into slavery by his brothers in the early pages of Genesis, Joseph was put to work in the household of a stranger. Slavery was hardly Joseph's chosen career-path. It certainly wasn't in line with his life goals and it definitely wasn't well remunerated.
How seriously would you take your 'job' under those conditions? Nevertheless, he invested himself deeply, proved his skills and talents at every turn and rose to be the head of that household, which was, in fact, a well paid position and one of great trust.
Joseph did it again in the courts of the Pharaoh, rising to become second in command of the Egyptian Empire. He didn't see himself as a victim. He constantly and consistently brought his best efforts to every vocation.
Impressive. Yet we tend to look at any work that isn't precisely aligned with our goals as 'something for now'. And we often resent it, whine about it, or underperform.
The truth is – there is no such thing as a 'something-for-now' job. Every job is a part of your total career curve. It all adds up and becomes who you are – a chapter in your total life story. We tend to imagine that we will bring our A-game once we land the right job. The reality is that unless we've been practicing our A-game, we're unlikely ever to arrive at 'the right job.' The former creates the latter.
Carla did her job as an air hostess so diligently and wholeheartedly that she was invited to join SAA's training academy. She took that so seriously that it inevitably lead to the next thing, and then the next, culminating in an astonishingly successful total career, because of her personal investment at every level.
How seriously are you taking your 'just-for-now' job? What difference might it make to your life if you invested a little more of yourself, played the game with slightly greater professionalism, displayed a little more energy? Could you be missing out on that perfect job because you are not creating it by doing your current job perfectly?
It's about what the work makes of you
Remember that the job itself is not the point. It's what you learn while doing it – the business lessons, the skills, the processes, the insights, the ways and means of interacting with others. These things will matter to you no matter what your ultimate career goal.
Plus, you never know who's watching:
If you were to perform your job seriously and were then headhunted by a customer who was impressed by you, it certainly wouldn't be the first time in history. These things happen and they happen often.
So don't work for your boss. Work for yourself. Work for the skills you can learn and the intelligent, insightful and educated person you can become as a result of the work.
Invest yourself in what you do. Bring your personality and the best you have to offer to the table. After all, this isn't just for now. This is the beginning of your story.
It's all one long career curve.
Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker, trainer and author of the '50 Ways' series of books. His most booked keynote speeches are: The Rules of Hamster-Thinking, The Big Bum Theory, and How To Position Yourself As an Expert.
See him in action or read more of his articles at: http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Email him at: kruger@compute.co.za or follow him on Linked In or Twitter: @douglaskruger
Fantastic. Thank you.
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