For ambitious consultants aiming to establish themselves as thought leaders and advance to senior decision-making roles, deliberate career planning is important. Here are 5 tips for actively managing your consulting career.
We're joined by Patrick Milholland who in his career has served in every major C-Suite position but found his groove with a non-profit career, specifically his utlimate goal of a CIO career.
We Discuss:
- Why would someone plan their career this way?
- How does education impact the career plan?
- What are some of the pros and cons to taking this approach?
- What were some of Patrick's hard choices in his journey?
- What are some of his insights gleaned from following this process during his career?
Key Highlights:
- Patrick deliberately pursued 3 degrees with the goal of becoming a CIO (3:00-6:24). There was a clear career plan in place and calculated choices were made to achieve the goal.
- Working as a consultant provided great experience and exposure that enabled attaining a CIO role (12:11-14:18). The consulting skills translated directly.
- The consulting role was left for a CIO position at a nonprofit where purpose and satisfaction was found, beyond just financial motivators (14:18-15:45).
- Over time, impressive credentials and titles were accumulated that opened up additional career opportunities (32:13-34:12). The background stood out.
- Be deliberate about aligning career choices with defined goals and to consider personal tradeoffs like family time (40:24-41:28). Having a plan matters.
- Location has an impact – being in Silicon Valley expanded options vs. being in Ohio (34:05-34:24).
5 Takeaways:
- Education has an impact on getting noticed and gaining positions and needs to be aligned with the career strategy, sometimes by sacrificing things
- Working as a consultant can provide experience and exposure that enables a longer term career plan.
- Purpose and satisfaction beyond just financial motivators is more important than most people think when they're starting out.
- The accumulation of impressive credentials and titles can open up more and better career opportunities.
- Knowing your values, and being deliberate about aligning your career choices with those values will better enable you to reach your goals.
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