As I consider my own learning curve through life, the people who had an influence on my career and the choices made, I realise how unpredictable life is and how difficult it is to really plan ahead when it comes to your career. This article was written by Chris van Melle Kamp, the Director of Spencer Stuart, South Africa as a contribution to Estienne's book "Boosting Your Career - Tips from Top Executives". I am sure we all sometimes wonder how we managed to achieve what we did and what the driving forces were which got us to where we are today. Some say luck plays a key role and others claim that hard work will get you where you want to go. I suppose you need both. Reviewing the stages of my own career development and those of friends and colleagues, successful career moves happened and fell into place when four key elements were synchronised. These were the following and not necessarily in order of importance:

1.Passion for the opportunity

2.Timing of the opportunity

3. Ability to take on the opportunity

4. A good risk reward balance to the opportunity

In selecting new career moves one is often buffeted by a wide range of influences around you: your colleagues at work, your family and friends and your own needs, fears and expectations. We live in a multi-dimensional world of risk and reward, and the support frameworks which we build around us are often fragile and not very robust. It is therefore essential to take stock of what you are good at and what you are passionate about, before embarking on a new direction or a higher level position. These two elements are golden threads on which success rides and with which you can create that robust framework that will, to a large degree, protect you from risk.

Successful People Visualise Where They Will be in 20 Years

Career pathing is fraught with uncertainty and choices are often taken on limited amounts of information and therefore it is important to really understand the underlying currents and take note of the four elements of timing, passion, ability and risk. I am struck by the fact that I was never any good at something that I was not really interested in or passionate about. The people who inspired me were always full of the energy of their own passion and they strove to get their ideas and strategies implemented against all odds. None of them had a job to do; they all had a dream which was theirs to live. I believe that successful people visualise what they will be doing and where they will be in 20 years and then go out and achieve it. They seem to have a single-minded focus on their personal development and the ability to keep going against all odds.

My father was an entrepreneur and an inventor; he took out his 23rd patent at the age of 83. He knew no fear and he knew how to think things through and how to work hard. He seemed to encapsulate much of what I admire about people like him. They take on life as a great adventure and they learn from their mistakes, but they never look back and they only see the next opportunity. They are masters at finding solutions and never allow themselves to be programmed or cloned by organisations and people around them.

A Single-Minded Drive to Succeed

At Spencer Stuart we meet some of the most talented individuals that you could hope to meet anywhere. They are smart, successful, often but not always wealthy, and generally influential. These people seem to get everything right. Things seem to just work for them, but I think more importantly they make things work for them. They have a single-minded drive to succeed and to be the best at what they do. They are the super achievers, but they are a minority. They seem to thrive on bigger and bigger challenges and they generally understand the risks involved. For the rest of us normal folk, we should plan around the possible, look for where we can stretch ourselves, but make sure that what we do will be sustainable and add value.

Your Track Record Tells a Story

In more senior positions, one's academic qualifications really become less important and people aiming for senior roles in organisations are measured by what they have done, how they have done it and what the results were. When these issues are measured and evaluated, there emerges a picture of a person which is clear and unambiguous and which highlights all the key strengths and weaknesses that we look for in senior executives. Their track record tells a story: it tells you what they have done, where they are going and what they will be good at. In other words, everything you do in your career is important, everything you do leaves a message about you which can be dissected and which adds to a picture about you, over many years, that people will buy into or reject.

Be Solutions Oriented

As far as day-to-day skills go, I believe that people who learn to prioritise have more time on their hands. People who can articulate their views well and with confidence and some humour get buy in. People who have empathy for those around them get long-term loyalty, and people who lead by example get support. Never assume that people around you think like you do. People have had their own experiences which shaped their view of the world and have all been influenced by different people and events. I also believe that being solutions oriented helps you find answers sooner and puts you ahead of the pack. There is nothing worse than those who only stare at problems and never come up with viable solutions.

Thousands of books have been written about career planning and the challenges of life. How to manage up and how to manage down, how to build your skills and the importance of an MBA. Countless lectures have been delivered on the subject of surviving in the corporate jungle and there is much to be learned from all of this, but there is also much to be discarded. Nothing will work for you if you do not believe in it and even more importantly it will not work for you if you do not believe in yourself.