Preparing to exert career control

We are now at Rule 3: Turn down a promotion (the importance of control)

Newport used to opposite examples to demonstrate this principle. One example had written up a list in her early 20's of things she wanted to do. They included making her way across each continent without normal power, like maybe unicycle for one, and dog team for Antarctica, learning to eat fire, and surviving in the wilderness for a month without supplies. She dropped out of school to do this, but then found her job prospects did not really support her goals.

The other started out with a very basic entry level code testing job, but she became very good at it, learning ways to debug and automate and consistently rising in terms of her level of ability and responsibility. She then was able to request various things that they would not normally give, like Fridays off, or a three-month leave. If the first person had followed that kind of a path, she would have been more likely to be able to follow her interests.

One point of this is that you have to be able to offer something that people will pay for. Someone who has traveled the world by unconventional means may be interesting to talk to, but it doesn't automatically make them a good employee. Even if you look for ways to monetize it, by writing a book or creating a reality show, there are no guaranteed sales.

The most detailed example was about Red Fire Farm: http://www.redfirefarm.com/

As a teenager Ryan tried various things for making money, including some very typical ones. One of those ended up being selling wild berries that he picked. That led to selling extra produce from his parents' garden, then taking over the garden, expanding the garden, and renting land to grow more. By the time he was ready to purchase his own land, he had acquired career capital that he could put to work. It started as a way to simply make cash, but it became a career.

One thing worth noting is that the first few rounds wouldn't have required much of a financial investment. If the berries hadn't sold, he could have moved on to something else easily. As he succeeded, there was a gradual progression to bigger things. At various points the risk would increase, but there had been a commensurate increase in knowledge and experience before each expansion. He is now doing what he wants in the way he wants, but it started small.

As the proprietor of a family business, he has control, but also has responsibility for his own financial well-being, which is going to affect decisions. When you work for an employer, you may have less risk, but also a trade off with less freedom, and that requires other decisions. That's where turning down promotions may come in.

I have a friend who works at a large chip manufacturer, and is not on the typical career path where he should be seeking higher advancement. He is looked down on for that, but he knows that the normal route will seriously compromise family time, and mental health, and evaluating what his family needs are financially and emotionally, has made his choice. That takes some strength, but it also takes clearheaded analysis.

This section of the book had many examples of people who did turn down promotions or walk away. When you are valuable to your employer, they may want to nail you down more. They will probably not want you to be gone for three months or to work four days a week. If that's what makes the situation workable for you, that may work, as long as you have something to offer them that is worth the concession.

For the woman who did take the three-month leave, part of it was that in preparation for it she trained her team to function without her. She wanted to know that they could do it, it would be a relief to her company to know that while she was valuable she was not irreplaceable, and it was probably good for the individual team members to expand their abilities.

Exerting career control is a two-part process. One is knowing what you have of value, so that you have something to offer and to barter with. In addition, you also need to know what you value, so that you can decide the worth of various options. Combining those things can help you build a desirable career.