Name: Stretch
Rating: 3.9 (69 reviews)
Author: Karie Willyerd and Barbara Mistick

What’s in it for me? Stretch your career in the ways you want.

There’s nothing as enjoyable as having a good long stretch and yawn after a hard day’s work. And the pleasures of stretching needn’t be limited to the physical realm. At work, you can stretch your mind by looking for creative solutions, being proactive about developing tasks that really interest you and interacting as much as possible with your coworkers and, during breaks, with other friends and acquaintances.

Though fun, stretching is not always easy. Many office workers end up a crumpled, dispirited heap, gazing listlessly at their computer screens without any idea of what to do. It’s almost as if they’re just waiting to get fired. So how do you avoid this and become an alert and excited person instead?

In these blinks, we’ll explore

how to remain open and motivated in the workplace;
how to multiply career options and opportunities; and
how to bounce back strong after a career setback.

To keep stretching your work possibilities, maintain control, keep your options open and set goals.

Before entering the professional world, you are surrounded by parents and teachers who can point you in the right direction and straighten you out if you get off track. But after college, you’re more or less on your own, even though there’s still a great deal of growing, or stretching, that needs to be done.

That’s why there are three stretch imperatives that every professional hoping to stay at the top of the game should keep in mind.

The first stretch imperative is to remember that you are in control.

If you’re unhappy with a job, it can be easy to blame your boss or be too lazy to do anything about it. But this isn’t good for you or your employer.

Let’s look at a typical career: You graduate from college and decide to pick up a job in construction because you thought you might enjoy working with your hands. But after a while you realize that you’d rather work with people. What do you do?

You take control and find another job, this time as a camp counselor. But here you realize you’d rather work with adults instead of kids, so you decide to work in sales instead.

And this leads us to the second stretch imperative: Give yourself options and broaden your horizons so that you have a healthy amount of possible opportunities.

Let’s say you hate your boss in the sales department but you don’t have the qualifications for anything else. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you take action. You sign up for adult education classes and earn a second or third degree, such as an MBA.

And this brings us to the third stretch imperative: Setting goals.

These don’t have to be related to your career; they just need to be realistic goals that will help you stay on track, especially during tough times.

Everyone hits a rough patch at one point or another in their career. When you hit one, remember that gaining experiences is always productive and will help you in the search for what’s right for you.

Be open to learning on the job and listening to feedback.

If you’ve worked at enough office jobs, then you’re surely familiar with the unhappy employee who dozes off at his desk, despite a veritable drip feed of caffeine.

No one wants to be this employee. In fact, the best kind of employee is the polar opposite of dissatisfied and slumberous. She’s alert and engaged, learning on the job and continuing to develop her skill set.

Job opportunities come with networking and gaining new experiences.

It’s generally a good idea to give yourself options. Most people don’t apply to only one college or send out applications to only one job. They put their eggs in multiple baskets.

Use the same approach for your career and increase your options by utilizing a broad network of contacts.

Kernaussagen in Stretch

Worum geht es in Stretch?

Stretch (2015) is about the art of growing your career in ways that will make you an in-demand force in an increasingly unpredictable economy. There’s very little you can take for granted in these chaotic times, but there are reliable methods you can use today to help ensure work for you tomorrow. No one wants to be left behind. Be proactive and make yourself indispensable no matter what the future has in store.

Über den Autor

Karie Willyerd, the workplace futurist for SuccessFactors, has been the chief learning officer for five different Fortune 500 companies. She is the coauthor of the bestseller, The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop & Keep Tomorrow’s Employees Today.

Barbara Mistick is an experienced entrepreneur with an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. She is currently the president of Wilson College and was previously the first female president of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Library.