What is the Best Career Advice You’ve Ever Received?

What is the best career advice you’ve ever received? According to Jason, my former colleague and longtime friend, it’s “Feed the Bear”.

I had to think about this for a minute.

People living in areas prone to bears know better than to leave food or trash outside, where it’s easily accessible. When bears haven’t been fed and are having a hard time finding food, they will come looking for it. Bears will walk right up to the house, knocking over the trash cans looking for what they want – food.

The bear usually leaves a mess to clean up and a frustrated homeowner. It’s better if the bear is full, so he doesn’t come around looking for food.

Sometimes at work we get so busy with a project that we forget to update the boss with our progress. We figure we will tell him/her at the weekly staff meeting, or simply wait until we hit a milestone when we “really have something to share”.

Wrong! We should constantly provide information to our manager about the work we are doing.

We need to “Feed the Bear.”

We should always be one step ahead, providing updates on our project status; information that the manager can share with his boss that will make it look like he is “in the know.”

One thing you never want to happen is to have your boss’s boss ask a question that your boss is unable to answer.

Talk about one hungry bear visiting your desk.

Here’s what happens if you fail to feed the bear at work:

• Your manager will catch you off guard, asking questions about your work that may or may not be relevant to the success of the project
• Your manager may lose trust in your abilities if you are not prepared with an answer
• Once engaged, your manager may get creative as he asks questions, deciding to add side-projects that may take your efforts off-focus
• Frustration may set in as you feel like you are being micro-managed with these additional projects and drive-by meetings

Yes, we all need to remember to “Feed the Bear.” It makes perfect sense.