Our changing workplace dynamic at this stage of life requires a new set of rules to help us navigate our careers.

■ The first rule of the “new game:” To remain financially secure, most of us (over 50 percent) will need to continue to work — in some capacity — much later than in past generations.

■ So-called “entitlements” and social systems set up to ensure cradle-to-grave support are rapidly becoming obsolete in all countries and nations. People who count on these entitlements are going to be in for an unpleasant surprise.

■ Organizations will never again hire full-time “office workers” to solve short-term problems. They will keep very few people who do not serve their immediate needs because the world is in play. Technology and innovation are not birthrights. Work that can be done somewhere else by someone else will be!

■ “Work” is to the 21st century what “jobs” were to the 20th. Many people will do more than one thing and serve several clients or customers at any given time. Portfolio careers, so long predicted, are now a fact, along with highly specialized
careers that support marketplace needs.

■ There is opportunity awaiting those who plan and act, because change will continue to be fast and discontinuous, meaning that frequent upgrading of competencies, reinvention and innovation are, now and forever, part of the new rules of the game. Careers that served millions once-upon-a-time in the not-so-distant past may now be obsolete or so materially changed that they bear little resemblance to once-familiar careers.

■ Those who model their career planning after our strategic business (yes, your career is your business) model, will succeed while many others will live hand-to-mouth in an economy that favors the consistently prepared. We will present this business planning model in our next article.

■ “Why am I here and has my life mattered?” This question arises in virtually everyone’s life. You will matter in ways never previously imagined in younger lifetimes.

Remember, those who ask this question at mid-career have the time to create the meaningful lives they long for and deserve. Those who don’t, won’t!


NEW WORKFORCE HAWAII
Carleen MacKay
916-316-0143 | carleenmackayhi@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/carleenmackay