This past month gave us two opportunities to witness what Carol Dweck called a “growth mindset” in action:
SpaceX described its launch and the subsequent explosion of the Starship mission as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” while
Giannis Antetokounmpo called the Milwaukee Bucks NBA playoffs loss to the Miami Heat as part of the “steps to success.”
Cultivating this growth mindset or way of learning from setbacks so that you can perform better next time can yield powerful results for both you and your organizations. Work hard to drive success, but when you miss a goal, learn from it and determine what you can do better next time.
Future Proofing Your Career
As more people begin to experiment with AI tools like ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Midjourney, their impact on the way we work is just starting to be understood.
While these tools can add productivity to your efforts, Harvard Business Review suggests 5 ways to future proof your career as they are deployed:
Avoid Predictability - AI-generated content tends to homogenize us and make us less unique. To stand out, leverage AI for ideas, but communicate in your own words.
Hone the skills that machines strive to emulate - Demonstrating true empathy and concern (beyond words) makes a difference. Don’t just say you care, take an action that shows it.
Double down on “the real world” - Build real relationships. As we’ll discuss in the next section, AI can give you ideas, but it won’t replace the relationships that can move business and your career forward. Invest heavily in those.
Develop your personal brand - Just as art buyers will pay more for originals, HBR believes that corporate leaders will pay a premium for those at the “top of their field.” Consider how you can stand out in your area.
Cultivate expertise - While AI will generate significant content quickly, it is not always the most factual, often “hallucinating” data. Develop your own expertise so that you become a source of trust.
I should note that I tried to summarize this HBR article with ChatGPT. It did a decent job and may have accelerated my writing, but I still had to rewrite each section to make sense for us.
10-Days to “What’s Next” for your Career
This month, I connected with John Gordon, former senior exec at IBM, GE, Bose, and Lenovo and founder of Whomi to help figure out how our alumni can grow their careers.
Target your resumes to showcase your expertise for each option
Engage your network to find jobs before they’re posted
John specifically highlights how to leverage LinkedIn and University Alumni Databases on Day 5 of the Challenge.
Whether you love your job, hate your job, or don’t have a job, unless you are about to retire, you should be intentional and proactive about answering “What’s Next.”
Try it for yourself. And if you hear from other Alumni, try to support them!