Tony D. Thelen - Am I Doing This Right?: Foundations for a Successful Career and a Fulfilling Life

Am I Doing This Right?

Am I Doing This Right?

Foundations for a Successful Career and a Fulfilling Life

Tony D. Thelen
Matthew C. Mitchell
Jeffrey A. Kappen

Am I Doing This Right?:
Foundations for a Successful Career and a Fulfilling Life

Copyright Business Expert Press, LLC, 2023.

Cover design by Zeljka Kojic (Novi sad, Serbia)

Interior design by Exeter Premedia Services Private Ltd., Chennai, India

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior permission of the publisher.

First published in 2022 by

Business Expert Press, LLC

222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017

www.businessexpertpress.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-63742-317-2 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-1-63742-318-9 (e-book)

Business Expert Press Business Career Development Collection

First edition: 2022

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated to everyone who has ever wondered
if they were doing things right.

Description

This book was written for everyone who has ever wondered, am I doing this right? when thinking about their lives and careers. Leveraging the collective experience of hundreds of professionals, this book is the ultimate early-career desk reference! When readers finish reading this book, it is not the end, but the beginning of a successful career and a fulfilling life. Write in the margins, highlight key insights, answer questions, and come back to this book often as your career grows!

Keywords

personal development; personal transformation; leadership; motivation; business and workplace culture; careers; psychology; ethics; self-help; growth

Contents

Early in my career, I asked a mentor to help me chart out the next five years of my career. I wish I had this book then. I learned on my own the value of hard work, humility, sharing success with others, empowerment, and teamwork, but I believe I would have gotten there faster and with less anxiety and stress with this book in hand.Dan Neary, Retired CEO, Mutual of Omaha

Imagine a coach delivering the hard-won wisdom of hundreds of folks careers right when you need itjust as you start in the working world. Thats this book.Melissa Swift, U.S. Transformation Leader, Mercer

Am I Doing This Right is a brilliant playbook filled with stories, anecdotes, and practical advice that is a must read for leaders embarking on their professional career.Darlene DeRosa, Consultant in Leadership Advisory Services, Spencer Stuart

Am I Doing This Right? bridges the gap between college and career. Its large survey and array of smart tips will help put any young person on a path to professional accomplishment and personal fulfillment.Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Power of Regret, Drive, and a Whole New Mind

Am I Doing This Right represents an extraordinary resource for executives in the first decade of their careers. It is filled with great wisdom and coaching from some of the best, most successful leaders. Its a must read!Jim Loehr, Renowned Performance Psychologist, and New York Times bestselling author

Intention is almost everything in life, this book will show you where to put your attention.Paul Axtel, Consultant and Author of Being Remarkable

There are many stages of career and life. This book will give you the tools to master them both.Chad Holdorf, VP Digital Product Adoption, Pendo

Am I Doing This Right? is like the mentor we wished we all had when we started our first job. If you are early in your career, do yourself a favor and read this book!Jon Gordon, 12x best-selling author of The Carpenter and Training Camp

Leadership doesnt have to be mysterious. Am I Doing This Right shares the wisdom of hundreds of leaders and outlines a plan for anyone brave enough to step up and do the work.Seth Godin, Author, Linchpin

A must read for new professionals or anyone looking to make a change in their careers! Am I Doing This Right offers practical and timely knowledge, researched by the experts in the field.Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times best-selling author of Triggers, Mojo, and What Got You Here Wont Get You There

Your early career and work experiences are like early deposits into your retirement or savings accounts. They could be energy deflators OR they could be early deposits in the YOU account. Your net worth in future decades in all aspects of that concept could be huge because of the compounding effect. It is not destiny but development at work. Early experiences have the greatest potential for your continued growth. This book is a major investment in your future!Richard Boyatzis, PhD, Distinguished University Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Coauthor of the international best seller, Primal Leadership and the New Helping People Change

Timely, relevant, and authentic! Whether you are starting your career or just a bit stuck, this book gives inspiration and tools to move forward and be better!David Horsager, CEO and Author, Trust EDGE

This book is like having the most knowledgeable mentor possible at your disposal at all times! We spend the early parts of our careers wondering if we are doing this right. This book answers that question and guides the reader toward not only success but fulfillment in their career.Susan (Finerty) Zelmanski, Author and Consultant, Mastering the Matrix7 Essentials to Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations

The world of professional career advice is full of rules and answers from successful figures. Refreshingly, Tony Thelen and his colleagues have written a valuable book to make us think through four important questionswho am I? Where am I going? How do I get there? What can I learn along the way? Theres no expiry date to these questions and we will come up with newer answers when we pose them at different stages and times. They also do not want us to answer them silently, alone but as a community by sharing our stories as the fourth voice. While everyones journey may seem different and unique, we see intersection points when we read other stories and share our own; we see ourselves in other stories more than we may have thought before. Read. Reflect. Share. Learn.Venkat Venkatraman, Professor of Management and Department Chair, Boston University Questrom School of Business

As a former university professor and now as a full-time speaker, executive leadership coach, and author, Im always telling my students and clients there are only two ways to learn: T&E or OPE. Trial and Error or Other Peoples Experience.

This book is all about OPE. In other words, you get to learn what works and doesnt work by learning from the trials and triumphs of others. You get to learn, firsthand, whether or not Am I Doing This Right? when it comes to your own life and career.

You see, the most successful people, professionally and personally, are keenly tuned into OPE. They know life is too short and the cost is too high to rely solely on T&E. They cant afford to keep on making mistakes, failing unnecessarily, and hope to get ahead when there are proven shortcuts to the life, career, and relationships they want. This book will give you dozens, if not hundreds, of OPE shortcuts that will change your future for the better. I know because I know the author.