Define and Climb Your Own Ladder: Tradition vs. Today

There is no doubt that today, Millennials are a powerful demographic in the workforce. We bring ambition, knowledge of the most relevant communication methods, and an awareness of the social landscape. We are opportunity. With this opportunity, we must recognize the importance of defining – and monitoring – our own growth. As communication mediums and social technologies progress, so does the idea of “climbing the corporate ladder.” Must you follow someone else’s progression path? Should you allow someone else to define your career goals and trajectory? These questions, among others, will be addressed in this “Define and Climb Your Own Ladder” series.

First things first: tradition does not define today. Yes, many companies and organizations have developed rather stringent progression requirements – some want an employee to have worked for a particular number of years before even being considered for a promotion, some use age as a factor. Should this hinder your growth goals? No! The traditional path does not have to be today’s path. Forge your own. Perform to the best of your ability, and prove why you have earned the growth that you desire, whether it be a promotion, horizontal title change, or simply participation on a new project. Make yourself a commodity. As a Millennial, you have endless skills to offer. To make yourself invaluable, do more than offer these skills: make them necessary to your organization.

Beyond this, remember that you define you, in all aspects of your career. Just as you determine which tasks to complete each day, and how much effort to put into each, you define your growth and development trajectory. Are you in a coordinator role but see yourself as a manager in the future? Do you have an entry-level role but want to move horizontally to an industry that defines your passion? You can achieve these goals. By creating a career goals path and executing based on your self-defined trajectory, you are more likely to succeed. Today, there is no explicit right or wrong career move, which can be both exciting and intimidating. What matters most, as a Millennial, is determining what path will most allow you to grow. Is it what your parents would have done? Maybe not. Is that a reason to discount it? Not at all. You define your career moves. In the grand scheme, each career move you make builds your own ladder to success.

As a whole, important to remember is this: the past does not define the future – you do. Your career ladder is yours to build, and yours to climb. Now get moving, Millennials!

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