Prepare Yourself Well

Note:  The following post was created as part a series of 5 posts overall to address student members of professional associations about the value of membership and engagement.

When I was an undergraduate (long ago in a galaxy far, far away), my roommate’s father came to our school to give a presentation. Prior to the event, we spent some time talking, and I asked him the basic point of what he was going to say. His words have stuck with me over the years, and this is what he said: “Prepare yourself well. There is plenty of room at the top, it is the bottom that is full.”

The adolescent, cynical side of me thought he was just making sure we didn’t waste the tuition money our parents were all coughing up. However, I knew intuitively that what he said was also true. What I didn’t grasp at the time, though, was that “preparing yourself” never ends. Looking at the rapid arc of change that is occurring in just about every sector of society, whether business or science—I’ve come to realize that preparation is not something you do once. It is something you do every day. Every day I have to get ready to do my very best work. The times demand it, and to contribute anywhere with excellence, I must model that kind of commitment to preparation. It’s a process, not an accomplishment.

How are you preparing yourself? What is your plan? And if you articulated where you are aiming, is it at the place where there is plenty of room (the top) or where it is crowded (the bottom)? Thinking about this over the holidays I was reminded of the commercial where the kid says, “When I grow up I want to claw my way all the way up to middle management.” Doesn’t being a professional imply we want more than that? And where do you go for context and opportunity to continue preparing yourself?