What makes someone an effective hire boils down to three characteristics. Do they have the knowledge to do the job? Are they motivated to work hard (on their own)? Do they have social skills that will make it easy for them to work with others?
Old timers in every organisation resent the big bucks that their employer is willing to pay when they bring in external hires. It is much more effective to invest in growing your own talent.
Most people underestimate the value of likability in their career. When you make a mistake, people are likely to give you a second chance if they like you. Else they will pull out a rule book and tell you why you have not done what you must.
The Man With A Golden Gun beat a retreat. In a year that has seen millions of deaths, he decided he will only live twice (in theatres and small screens) in 2021. I will take a bet that James Bond will appear on the small screen for more viewers than the cinema. 2020 is no time to die. 2021 is unlikely to be different. COVID-19 has been the biggest Market Shaper of all times.
A personal brand is the degree of trust others have in your ability to do what you say. That happens when others say what you do.
There is something else besides the role dimensions, I think there is a very high sense of responsibility when you get into a business leadership role and the responsibility is about you realize your decisions are beginning to impact the careers of people, their whole livelihoods, the direction which you wish the organization to take and you bet on could come through, it need not, it could have an impact and you need to do it in a lot more responsible manner. And that sense of responsibility just gets accentuated when you step into this role which I have to admit was not there earlier.
Many parents still go for conventional career choices like Engineering, Medicine, Law etc. These fields are crowded and the supply of talent exceeds the demand. Take Engineering for example. There are 16,00,000 seats in Engineering colleges in India and barely 800,000 of these get filled. Of these 800,000 students who graduate from Engineering colleges, 60% do not get employed and 20% do not get the right jobs. The average fees paid across 4 years of Engineering education is Rs 10,00,000 but the average starting salary is barely Rs260,000 per year. To repay a student loan at that salary level takes 3-4 years. The new age careers lie in fields like animation, cinematics, aviation etc
Joshua Karthik and his brother are behind the Virat Kohli-Anoushka wedding photos that got 10 million views. Their photos of Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas have been viewed 17 million times. When I invited Joshua Karthik to the studio of Dreamers and Unicorns I asked him how much money should one have in the bank to feel confident in quitting the job? His answer may suprise you.
