I subscribe to several blogs one of which is Tim Sanders, author of Love Is The Killer App. In a recent blog Tim told a story about Jeremy Ring, an operations executive czar at Yahoo. He mentioned that Jeremy had a strong point of view that people need to improve on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. He mentioned that at a sales offsite in 2001, Jeremy posed the following question to young Yahoo’s: “Have you improved your personal resume in the last year? What is new on it?”
I thought what a great question. When you think of a resume, you think of a job application. I looked up the definition of “resume” in Websters Collegiate Dictionary and it is defined as: “A set of accomplishments; summary.”
So in 2006 what has changed on your resume? What accomplishments have you achieved? Not how many sales have you made if you’re in sales. Not how many houses have you sold if you are a real estate agent. What have you learned that you didn’t know? What has made you more valuable?
I thought about my own resume. It has grown immensely over the last year. I have studied and become proficient with Japanese Candlestick Charts. I have worked diligently at writing the past year. I have also become a full-fledged blogger. I have developed skills at partner relationship management and I have also devoted much time to productivity and time management. Take a moment and think what you have added to your resume this past year.
Now, what do you want to add to your personal resume in 2007? What books do you need to read? What people do you need to know? What places do you need to see? What software tools do you need to learn? What work experience would help you achieve more? If your list is really short and bland you are probably NOT growing. Think for a moment. If you continue to do what you have done the past 12 months where will you be? Tom Peters said it best: “If you don’t like change, you are going to hate irrelevance.”
Thanks again Jeff for this thought provoking article—it resonated with me because I have been working very hard at setting different types of goals for myself: personal, professional, family and friends. As I reflect back on this past year, I am pleased with what I have accomplished: I moved to a new city, started a new business, and value the many new relationships I have developed . I became an active member of several professional organizations, have a Board and committee position on several charities and have been a loving, and dedicated mother to an teenage daughter. I even made a line of jewelry. There is so much that I want to do and of course ” so little time to do it in” but a major goal for this year that I hope I can add to my resume would be managing my time more effectively. Getting to meet people like you was definitley one of the highlights of the year and I look forward to sharing ideas, knowledge and wisdom with you during 2007.