The Most Important Mindset for Career Success

A great deal of career advice, while given with the best of intentions, is often not evidence-based. Recent research broke down the data which showed this is single most powerful mindset that led to career success :

Take your career into your own hands

Develop a self-directed mindset, which means a person assumes full responsibility for their own career path and development, rather than relying primarily on their employer or others. The advice to proactively develop your own skillsets and “pack your own parachute” is the most helpful.

We recommend you take control of your own development by proactively finding training opportunities to increase and strengthen your repertoire of knowledge, skills, and abilities. You could do so by attending training courses related to your career.

The key is to be proactive about your ongoing learning and professional development.

Someone lacking a self-directed mindset assumes their career development will be taken care of by others, such as their current employer. While this may have worked in the past, it’s no longer the case today. This is due in part to the need for companies to adapt quickly to changing technologies and increased competition caused by globalization. That requires employees to be on their feet to acquire the new knowledge and skillsets sought after by 21st century organizations.