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 Stuart database of millions of the worlds most accomplished e ecutives, we have come to recogni!e that the ma"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 you are 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 periential value shifts over each of the phases will give you powerful insights into what you can do to ma imi!e your 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 seven years of your career constitute /he &romise &hase* 0hen you get a "ob fresh out of college or in the early years, the basis of your value is primarily determined by your natural talents, your intellect, your ability to wor# in teams, your ambition, you enthusiasm, and the li#e* /hese aspects are how hiring managers and bosses evaluate you 1 on your potential* The Momentum Phase* As the early years of your career unfold and you start to gain more professional e perience, your success is determined less and less by your potential and more and more by the actual e perience and e pertise that you develop* As a more senior e ecutive, your success becomes much more dependent on your trac# record* /his is the flywheel of your career that we call the (omentum &hase* 2f you are a mar#eting e ecutive, this is your e perience building brands, managing new product introductions, advertising campaigns, creating and optimi!ing customer segmentations, building social media campaigns, and opening up new channels for customer ac3uisition* 2f 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 of these sorts you have in your area of e pertise, the more you will be valued by your current organi!ation and 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 44 and 44, there comes a point where careers begin to diverge* Some individuals manage to #eep developing personally and 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 they might be doing what they have always done and doing it well, their careers seem to be headed south or on an ine orable march towards retirement* /hose who are able to move successfully into the final, or )arvest &hase of their careers with ever1increasing levels of success do so by discovering ways to apply their e periences to new situations* /his is the 65O who becomes an operating partner in a private e3uity firm overseeing portfolio companies, the accounting partner who builds a portfolio of corporate board directorships and audit committee chairs, or the top corporate e ecutive who mentors entrepreneurs 7 or maybe even becomes one her,himself* +nderstanding how careers really wor#, how you are valued, what is e pected of you, and what you need to deliver at each stage will help you progress on your career tra"ectory*