Mapping Your Career: How to Take Control of Your Identity and Your Career

How do you introduce yourself?

Every class, every networking event, every first-time meeting starts the same—the dreaded introductions.

Your inner voice is obsessed with what you are going to say. You find yourself cringing in anticipation of your few seconds in the spotlight.

“My name is _________. I am a _________ for _________.”

You emphasize your job title and your company—not you.

“Did I sound stupid . . . pompous . . . arrogant?”

“Ugh . . . I stumbled . . . it’s over!”

Glad it’s over? Wait.

Something is really wrong here. This is our chance to begin to connect and give others a peek into our true identity—the identity that is brilliant and eager to meet the brilliance of others.

In my work, I find people’s identities get tangled up in their role and their organization. When—or if—they find themselves in transition and without a “job,” they are lost.

How to Find Brilliance in Your Identity

1. Grab some creative-thinking supplies. Colored pens and a large, preferably long, piece of paper. You can also do this in a Word document, a PowerPoint slide, or mind-mapping software.
2. Create a timeline of your life horizontally across the middle of the page. I suggest marking it in 10-year increments.
3. Map your career, starting with your first job or your first major academic achievement.
4. Map the major personal events in your life. For this activity, you may not want to get too granular—just the highlights. I do suggest journaling your life story in greater detail at some point. For now, stick to the major highs and lows.
5. Correlate each milestone or event to your emotions. How did you feel at the time? What is the emotion now that the event has passed? What have you been making that event mean? Why emotions? Neuroscientists are clear: we are not merely doing beings. We are human beings who have emotions. As Brené Brown notes in Dare to Lead, citing neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, “We are not thinking machines. We are feeling machines that think.”
6. Review and glean the wisdom. What thoughts and feelings come up as you process your map? What lessons did you learn from your setbacks and successes? How did you embrace change, collaboration, and criticism on the way here? What do you want to carry forward into your future goals? How can you begin to showcase your brilliance in your introductions? Are there keywords or phrases you might share when chatting with others?

Mapping your career will help you build confidence and own your brilliance. It isn’t about bragging. It’s about being intentional about where you want to go professionally and about showcasing your hard work. It’s about preparing yourself for the next innovative, collaborative project on your journey of brilliance.