Top 5 career advice for everyone in their 40s

 

Do you know what’s the similarity between Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, Henry Ford, Ford Motor’s founder, Harland Sanders, the father of KFC and Stan Lee, the famous cartoonist?

All of them have started their new career after 40 and made it big.

Gone are the days when people used to say, 20s and 30s are the best years of your career. Thanks to technology, the world of opportunities and the celebrated entrepreneurship spirit, you can kick off a new professional journey, redeem yourself or improve your efforts. In this blog, I will unveil top 5 career insights for everyone in their 40s.

1) Excellent time to elevate to a leadership position: If you are determined to grow your career in the corporate sector, this is the best time to step up your game and position yourself at an important position

In a latest study, it’s been revealed 77% of corporations have experienced leadership gaps in the last two years. As the market is getting competitive every year, the businesses are looking for a leader with insights, problem-solving skills and excellent management and leadership qualities.

Your 20/15 years of experience across departments and organizations backed by your core expertise (programming, business development, marketing, sales, project management etc) can help you be a leader and serve more.

I will recommend you to register for a leadership development training program which will help you to understand the role and attributes of a leader, hone your skills and develop all the required skills that you need as a leader.

2) Prioritize mentorship and coaching over everything else: If you look into Silicon Valley and other thriving business communities, every successful executives and entrepreneur are investing in mentorship and coaching. The 40s is an excellent time to get a coach or a mentor for yourself. It will help you to understand your strengths and weaknesses and improve your shortcomings to make a bigger impact in your business or organization. Coaching has multiple methods and serves unique needs to help you thrive in your 40s. Here is how-

  • An executive coach can provide you with a structured approach and a set of processes helping you to lead your organization
  • A career coach can help you to find new opportunities and will guide you to a career which you will enjoy for the rest of your life.
  • The leadership coaches can help you unleash your true potential which gets you appreciated & recognized in your work

3) Becoming an entrepreneur: 40s is a wonderful phase to pursue your entrepreneur dream. If you are one of those who believe becoming your own boss is the only way to do work effectively and happily, or you have always wanted to help the community or kick off your own business, 40s is the best time. Before pursuing your entrepreneurial journey, you must assess yourself with this handy checklist-

  • Do you have sufficient insights into business and thorough know-how?
  • Do you have connections at the right place?
  • Do you know about your market?
  • Do you want to go solo or want to develop your own team?
  • Do you have enough funding to sustain your business in the early days?
  • Do you have the resilience to overcome challenges and handle risk?

Remember, entrepreneurship is all about diving into the unknown, connecting the dots, moving past ambiguity and being relentless. If done right, it will transform you as a human and your career. I will suggest that you talk to other entrepreneurs who have done it right and then make a smart decision.

4) Build a strong network: Today’s workforce is primarily community and network-driven. If you have not done it yet, the 40s is the best time to do it. Here are some powerful networking tips –

  • Find influential people in your friend circle and connect with them
  • Ask for referrals
  • Leverage Social Media and boost your LinkedIn profile
  • Show up on social media and share your story on Social Media
  • Improve your online presence by building your online profile

Be a part of the community of high performing individuals to learn from them and motivate yourself

Networking can help in your career growth in your 40s. Be it your job or business, connecting with people will give you excellent leverage.

5) Share, contribute, help and give back: 40s is a wonderful time to share your lessons with the world and help others. You can start your blogging or YouTube channel where you can share your journey so far or talk about the hard lessons that you have learned or the challenges that you have overcome. It will help you to engage with your community, network with the right people, create an audience for yourself, shine your online presence and boost up your job opportunities.

The 40s is a wonderful time to open up a new chapter in your life. As we have discussed, you can start a business in your 40s or climb up the corporate ladder or team up with your colleague to start something new. Whatever you do, take a very personal decision and put consistent efforts to make it happen. All the best!

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