“Relevance” has become something of a buzzword in today’s media-driven society. Producing a viral video or a hilarious tweet can take a person or company from obscurity into instant world-wide (or at least country-wide) relevance. Unsurprisingly, many companies are pouring advertising money and talent into achieving this goal. But this social media relevance tends to be meteoric – it burns hot and fast, gets everyone’s attention for a split second and then doesn’t really provide long-term benefits for your brand.
I want to talk today about a longer-term kind of relevance: relevance in your career. Our first tasks in any new job are to make ourselves relevant to our team (if we have one) and to our company. You would think your relevance to the company is ensured from day one because they hired you to do the job, but it doesn’t always work that way. The job may have instant relevance to the company, but you do not, at least not until you show them how well you can perform said job. Once you’ve proven yourself to your team and company, you can become relevant within your industry. This is much more difficult to do and often takes years.
Once you’ve become relevant, you have to stay relevant, which is where the social media model of relevancy tends to fail so miserably. It’s not enough to have developed the knowledge and skills that helped you become respected in your industry. If you want to stay at the top you have to keep moving, constantly honing that skill set and always looking for other areas in which you can improve. To top it off, reaching this level in your industry will improve your business prospects. Everyone likes making more money, but you have to come up with a lot of energy and effort to manage increased business with the work needed to stay at the top in your industry.
And finally, there is the challenge of proving your relevance when others start to give up on you. As you get older and your career progresses, there is increasingly a target on your back. Young up-and-comers in the first and second phases are looking to take your spot as they aim to establish and promote their own place in the company and industry. Your employer might start to wonder if you’re really worth that expensive salary and if you can still get things done the way you did when you were younger.
So how do you fight this third phase of relevance in your career? First you should take time to reflect on and be grateful for the things you’ve done and the opportunities you’ve had in your career. Next you need to hone your focus. Don’t underestimate yourself or fall into the trap of believing the stereotypes that older people can’t get it done or can’t deal with new technology or changes in the industry. Don’t listen to what other people have to say; focus instead on your own goals. The things you did to stay relevant in the second phase are more important now than ever, so keep looking for ways to learn new skills and improve your existing ones.
Your talent got you to where you are; don’t give up on it now.
Have a great weekend,
Ro