Stephen R. Covey - Great Work, Great Career

Great Work Great Career

Stephen R. Covey Jennifer Colosimo

With Breck England

Great Work Great Career

2009 FranklinCovey Co. All Rights Reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Rights Manager, FranklinCovey Co., 2200 W. Parkway Blvd., Salt Lake City, Utah 84119, (801) 817-1776, email: .Company and product names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Cover art to the electronic edition copyright 2009 by RosettaBooks, LLC

First electronic edition published 2009 by RosettaBooks LLC, New York.
ISBN e-Pub edition: 9780795309717

This book is about creating a great career.

You might be saying to yourself, I dont want to talk about a career, much less a great career. Right now I just need a job. I need to eat!

Well, if youre looking, were going to show you how to get that great job now. Thats the first, short-term step.

But the day will come when youll want to do more than just eat. And beyond that day will come another day when you look back at your life and take measure of your entire professional contribution to the world.

This book is about today and tomorrow. Its about getting a great job now and enjoying a great career for life.

When we say a person has had a great career, what do we mean? That he or she made a lot of money? moved spectacularly up the corporate ladder? became famous or renowned in his or her profession? What about the familiar comment from every movie star on every talk show: I cant believe I get paid for doing this! Are only a few people entitled to feel that way, but not the rest of us?

And what about you? Are you looking forward to a great career? Would you describe your current career as great? When you get to the end of your productive life, will you be looking back on a mediocre career? a good career? a great career? And how will you know?

Furthermore, just how do you create a great career for yourself?

As coauthors of this book, we are fascinated by these provocative questions. We have been associated in our work for many years as avid students of what it takes to build a great life and career. And we bring two different sets of experiences to the issue, so occasionally, we will speak to you directly in our own voices. Well share with you our discoveries and provide tools and insights that will help you find answers for yourself. Whether youre looking for a job or want to make the job you have more meaningful, this book is for you.

Would you describe your current career as great?

To begin with, anybody can have a great career. It doesnt matter what your line of work is.

Its all in how you define great career. If you define it as something that brings you a lot of money and power, then you might or might not achieve that Alexander the Great level of greatness. Of course, a livable wage is important, but isnt there more to a great career than just a paycheck?

We invite you to think about the most effective, influential people you have ever known professionally. Focus on one face for a moment. It could be the face of a teacher, a co-worker, a friend, or a leader you have worked for. What contribution did that person make to your life? to the organization? to the world? And did it necessarily have much to do with wealth and power?

A person with a great career makes a distinctive contribution and generates a strong feeling of loyalty and trust in others. Anyone, regardless of title or position or profession, can do these things.

Now, how do you feel about that person? Do you feel a strong sense of loyalty and trust? Do others feel that way?

We believe these are the two key hallmarks of a great career. A person with a great career makes a distinctive contribution and generates a strong feeling of loyalty and trust in others. Anyone, regardless of title or position or profession, can do these things.

Your distinctive contribution is the what of your great career. It rises from within yourself, from your unique mix of talents and passions. It is what you alone can create, no matter your line of work.

Loyalty and trust arise from the how of your great career. It is the fruit of your character and your conscience, of your highest and best impulses. It comes from doing what you know deep down you should do in the way you should do it.

Let us illustrate with one example of a great career.

She followed the usual track through medical school, married, and while raising six children, completed a specialty in plastic surgery. After moving to Australia, she went to work in Perth at a clinic for the treatment of burn victims.

The agony and scarring suffered by her patients moved her to wonder if there could be better ways to treat them. She knew that the longer a burn takes to heal, the worse the scarring. If only she could speed up the healing process from weeks to days, much of the pain and disfigurement might be avoided.

Her experiments led her to invent spray-on skin, a method of applying new skin cells over burns. According to Dr. Wood, the technique starts healing in days instead of the weeks needed for conventional skin grafts to work.

Then, on the night of October 12, 2002, her small hospital was flooded with victims of a terrorist bombing on Bali, many of them horrifically burned. Dr. Wood and her small team worked without rest for days and managed to save 25 of their 28 burn patients. Spray-on skin was part of the treatment. This accomplishment brought worldwide acclaim to Dr. Wood, and for the next four years in a row, she was voted in national polls Australias most trusted person.

Dr. Fiona Wood clearly shows us what it means to have a great career. Its not the acclaim or the fame, its the contribution. You have to push things forward; where theres a need, theres a problem, you have got to find a solution, she says. In the issue of scarringwe all accepted that if we treated people in a certain way when we operated on them, opened them up, zipped them

A great career is all about solving great problems, meeting great challenges, and making great contributions.

How could anyone say it more simply? It doesnt have to be that way. A great career is all about solving great problems, meeting great challenges, and making great contributions.

Youre probably saying to yourself, But Im not a miracle-working surgeon. How can I have a great career? We emphasize that anyone can have a great career. Fame, fortune, unusual giftsthese are not the issue.

From Stephen:

A relative of mine has worked for IBM his entire professional life. He has thrived through every transformation of a dynamic company, working hard to stay relevant in an industry that revolutionizes itself every few years. He is very good at his work, which he takes seriously. His clients like him a lot. Even more important, he enjoys a great family life. He is not ambitious in the sense of needing the signs of external success, like constant promotions or public acclaim, but hes making a difference.