Welcome to Career Advise, the newsletter providing career advice, how-tos, and life musings through an optimistic and intriguing lens.

Each week, you will receive two newsletters written by the Oppstartr Team. Mondays — Our career-focused newsletter. Fridays — Out of Office where we discuss life and other thought-provoking ideas.

Today’s Pillar: Tend the Orchard

When you google “Why should we seek to grow our careers?”, the general answer is because it’s good for you. There's nothing wrong with that. We should seek our happiness. Advancing in your career often leads to increased influence, new job titles, a sense of fulfillment, and higher income – all of which are particularly appealing to many individuals.

But, I was curious as to why we should seek growth in our careers besides “it’s good for me”.

So, I decided to list some other reasons, specifically around the impact it can have on others.

Distributing Our Talents

There's a longstanding belief that the talents we possess should be shared with the world for the betterment of others; in fact, it’s such an old idea that it is shared in the Bible, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10 NIV). We should seek to contribute to others and society at large. This also applies to our careers. The work we do should help fill a need in society or at least not detract from it.

As we progress in our careers, we assume greater roles and responsibilities, and we learn our crafts better than when we first started. Thus, we make ourselves more valuable from both an economic and productivity standpoint. It would be a waste to withhold our talents when they could be put to meaningful use and maximized to their fullest potential.

Should we keep our talents locked away, never to be used? I say no.

Gaining Knowledge and Passing It On

As we advance in our careers, it's inevitable that someone else will fill the roles we vacate – individuals who can benefit from our guidance and mentorship. A good manager facilitates the success of their successors by imparting the knowledge they have acquired. This benefits the organization by fostering efficiency and aids in the professional development of others.

The passing of knowledge from one generation to the next establishes a foundation upon which further knowledge can be built. It’s a positive feedback loop. This principle is why, for instance, a new engineer at a car manufacturer doesn't reinvent the internal combustion engine.

Creating Opportunities

One of the best things you can do with any career, besides the direct output, is opening doors for others. As individuals grow in their careers, they often build new product lines and expand departments, necessitating the recruitment of new talent. This creates new openings for others to find work and contribute their talents. These newly hired individuals then create new opportunities when they seek career growth – rinse and repeat.

Providing For Others

Families tend to grow alongside careers, and families require financial resources. As I mentioned earlier, career advancement frequently correlates with salary growth. I have advised several individuals aspiring to support larger families to actively pursue career growth and negotiate their salary with their dependents in mind. For more on providing for others, especially generationally, please see my past article Do You Love Your Great-Great-Grandchildren?

Thoughts

While pursuing career growth for personal reasons is valid, we often overlook the positives for others that accompany professional advancement. Have you recognized these other positives in your work?

Thank you for reading Career Advise. Be sure to read our upcoming Out of Office issue on Friday.

Please share this with those in your network, and check out our other posts and our homepage by following the buttons below.