More commentary on the Employee Manifesto by Peter Block.

Block’s second point is mentor yourself. By this, he means to be responsible for your own growth and development.

What I’ve observed is that individuals want growth and development–that’s also validated by employee surveys and studies on Gen Y on why they take and stay at jobs–but aren’t willing to pursue it as a goal. Nice if you can get it and let’s hope the pieces fall into place.

Sort of like wishing you could lose that last ten pounds but not willing to do much towards making it happen.

Owning your growth and development as a goal is both having a mindset and taking action. It’s taking your work life seriously enough to actively shape it, rather than waiting for someone to do it for you (which you might not like all that much.)

The beauty of this is that most people have a multitude of resources at hand for doing this, independent of how supportive your employer is. Whether it’s adult education, tapping into online discussion groups or blogs, or going to the library and checking out a few books, we can all find ways to grow our knowledge, skills, and expertise.  Start today and you won’t regret it.