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How do Careers Really Work? The Three Phases

October 04, 2012

After surveying tens of thousands of professionals and doing statistical analysis on the Spencer Stuartdatabase of millions of the worlds most accomplished e ecutives, we have come to recogni!e that thema"ority of professional careers can be bro#en into three discrete phases$ the %&romise &hase,' the%(omentum &hase,' and the %)arvest &hase*' +nless you are a founder entrepreneur, how highly youare valued in each stage is a function of two distinct but related sources of value - the value of your

potential and the value of your e perience* +nderstanding how the mi ture of potential and e perientialvalue shifts over each of the phases will give you powerful insights into what you can do to ma imi!eyour career success*

The Promise Phase * At the beginning of your career, your value is almost entirely dependent on your potential . what you will be able to contribute to the organi!ation in the future* /he first five or sevenyears of your career constitute /he &romise &hase* hen you get a "ob fresh out of college or in the earlyyears, the basis of your value is primarily determined by your natural talents, your intellect, your ability towor# in teams, your ambition, you enthusiasm, and the li#e* /hese aspects are how hiring managers and

bosses evaluate you on your potential*

The Momentum Phase * As the early years of your career unfold and you start to gain more professionale perience, your success is determined less and less by your potential and more and more by the actuale perience and e pertise that you develop* As a more senior e ecutive, your success becomes muchmore dependent on your trac# record* /his is the flywheel of your career that we call the (omentum&hase* f you are a mar#eting e ecutive, this is your e perience building brands, managing new productintroductions, advertising campaigns, creating and optimi!ing customer segmentations, building socialmedia campaigns, and opening up new channels for customer ac3uisition* f you are a finance e ecutive,this is your trac# record managing the preparation of financial statements, ta#ing a company public,establishing ban#ing relationships, managing ris#, and leading ac3uisitions* /he more e perience ofthese sorts you have in your area of e pertise, the more you will be valued by your current organi!ationand of course by others see#ing to recruit e ecutives*

The Harvest Phase * At some point in the (omentum &hase, usually between the ages of 4 and , therecomes a point where careers begin to diverge* Some individuals manage to #eep developing personallyand professionally, moving into new positions or redefining their e isting roles* (any others, however,start to fade* /hey get passed over for new opportunities or find themselves in a rut* 5ven though theymight be doing what they have always done and doing it well, their careers seem to be headed south or onan ine orable march towards retirement* /hose who are able to move successfully into the final, or)arvest &hase of their careers with ever increasing levels of success do so by discovering ways to applytheir e periences to new situations* /his is the 65O who becomes an operating partner in a private e3uityfirm overseeing portfolio companies, the accounting partner who builds a portfolio of corporate boarddirectorships and audit committee chairs, or the top corporate e ecutive who mentors entrepreneurs 7 ormaybe even becomes one her himself*

+nderstanding how careers really wor#, how you are valued, what is e pected of you, and what you needto deliver at each stage will help you progress on your career tra"ectory*