SECTION ONE

IDENTIFYING THE MOST COMPELLING PATH FOR THE BUSINESS OF YOU

Everybody comes from somewhere, and some of us take rather unusual routes to get where we’re going. I am often asked how a guy like me—of regular intelligence and without built-in advantages, such as family dynasty, nepotism, grooming at a young age, or elite education—could catch lightning in a bottle not once, but twice? The first time was signing with the New York Mets—at a position I had rarely played growing up. The second time was when I went from an entry-level job to the C-Suite of an industry-leading company in less than ten years.

The shortest answer to that question is: the old-fashioned way—through hard work and strategic planning. The problem is that these paths are not easily distilled down to a couple of sentences. However, if you stick with me to the end of the book, I will take you step-by-step through the practices, approaches, and strategic elements that fueled my journey.

First things first. You are a business. You produce income for you and your family. Your skills and talents are viewed as a product that employers choose to purchase through employment, choose not to purchase by extending the job offer to someone else, or worst of all, use as rationale in terminating your employment. The more valuable and desirable your talents and skills, the more likely you will have gainful employment, and the higher the price companies will pay for your services.

YOU ARE A BUSINESS. YOU PRODUCE INCOME FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

Your career and its management need to be viewed through that lens. To operate like a high-producing business, you will have a clear mission; make cal- culated, strategic decisions to accomplish that mission; invest time and energy toward improvement and growth; and market your business effectively.

In this section we’ll walk through the business-planning process for the Business of You. We’ll help you establish a clear direction on where to focus your development effort. From there, you’ll fill in the framework for assessing and prioritizing your skills and development opportunities necessary to get to that next level in your career.