Training Industry Quarterly - Summer 2009 - (Page 7)

AT THE EDITOR’S DESK | TOM KELLY ONE THING I NEVER PLANNED FOR IN ANY OF MY JOBS WAS AN END WHAT’S NEXT AND AFTER THAT? Y ou have probably spent a good number of years thinking about the next meeting, the next deadline, the next program, the next year, budget, job or company on your career trajectory. I know I did for 28 years in Corporate America (not to be confused with Real America). I also looked forward to “retiring” and doing something different than running small and large training/learning/education functions. Probably consulting, which pays well and offers lots of free time. It turns out “free time” is very expensive. What I figured out late in my career (my midfifties) was that I did not know when or how I was going to retire, whatever that actually meant. Did I need more money? (Almost everyone does). How much more? Did I really want to consult for other executives like me? How would I know it was the right time to change gears? And what gear would I change to? Did I want to write another book or two, or maybe shorter articles for print or online publications? What about executive and leadership coaching? Part-time at the Harley store? A greeter at Walmart? Speaking engagements at conferences? Maybe I should just keep working until I get “downsized” like my father did at age 72. Or will I just wake up one day and decide, “That’s enough”? (That last one won’t work, that happened several times a month, sometimes several times a day, in my high tech career.) Have you given any serious thought to those kinds of questions (and the answers)? Hopefully you will This Month’s Guest Editor Tom Kelly is a semi-retired learning executive who spent 28 years in the training and learning sector of the hi-tech industry at Cisco Systems, Oracle Corporation, Sun Microsystems, Network Appliance, Next Inc, and Control Data. He also authored a book and numerous articles for a variety of publications in that time. Today, he’s a Dad who works with only two companies at a time (very part-time) and still writes a bit, but mostly spends time with his 5-year-old son being told what’s next, and what we’ll do after that. You can email Tom at tomkelly58@gmail.com. Know someone who’d make an outstanding guest editor? Interested in becoming one yourself? Contact us at editor@trainingindustry.com. before your mid-fifties. Your career has not been an accident. There may be some luck involved, and some surprises, but generally speaking you’ve planned for the eventualities of promotion, transition and whatever your definition of success is. One thing I never planned for in any of my jobs was an end to it. There was always something next, and after that. I understood “ending” theoretically, but not in any realistic, applicable way. I got lucky, again. Near my 55th birthday, we had a baby boy, and by 58, I could honestly say, “That’s enough.” I left the high-tech industry to try to be a mostly full-time dad, and a very part-time consultant. That may not be in your future (though if it can be, it’s really fun). So what is going to happen next for you? What is your plan? And what comes after what’s next? 7 Training Industry Quarterly, Summer 2009 / A Training Industry, Inc. ezine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ http://www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Summer 2009

Training Industry Quarterly - Summer 2009
From Where I Sit
Contents
At the Editor’s Desk
Winning Organizations Through People
Learning Technologies
Performance & Productivity
What Lies Ahead: The Next Evolution of Learning Leaders
Publish or Perish: The Crucial Component of Communication
The Strategic Value of Customer Training
Newell Rubbermaid: A Fresh Approach to Learning
Four Keys to Developing Great Content
Closing Arguments

Training Industry Quarterly - Summer 2009