“MFK” describes herself as a “thirtysomething gal with a good old-fashioned writing degree and a bloated, shiny, sexy MBA.” She works for a Fortune 50 Company and blogs at Open-Source Career
Back in the spring, she wrote a guest blog entry for Blog@Work, a blog that unfortunately seems to be “suspended,” so I can’t provide the link to it.
The thrust of the entry was MFK’s formula for success: “The key to taking things to the next level … is to look back after a time. Do a post-mortem, a personal performance review, a personal brand assessment, storytelling — whatever you want to call it.
MFK suggests looking for patterns and consistent behaviors in your success story. Look for things you hated and things you failed at. Seek out consistent patterns of what people said about your work. Consider what got you excited and eager to go to work each day.
MFK particularly had to engage the storytelling method when she sought her first job after grad school because she had no traditional business experience before her MBA:
I took an objective look at the prior six years and started storytelling to myself, looking for patterns of behavior and experiences that were harmonious with the type of corporate work I was trying to do. … At each job, increasing leeway to act independently and be put in charge of work and of people — because I had demonstrated I could drive results.
She notes that “healthy … self-reflection will show you the hidden patterns … Can you repeat the patterns again? Can you use those patterns to help you take it to the next level?”
Yes. Use the successful, fulfilling parts of your past story to build your future story.