8. Chart Your Course

—Steve Hudson (Omnilink Systems)

To all the midlevel managers stuck in a cubicle somewhere slaving for a chance at promotion, Steve Hudson's story gives hope—and direction! Steve is great at analyzing career moves. His biggest discovery was that sometimes a promotion is not the best thing for your career.

Promotions, after all, aren't there to help your career; they're there to help the company achieve its goals. You have to evaluate and analyze your company's promotion record and see where you're headed, even if you are in a management trainee program. Instead of hoping for promotion, Steve's story encourages us to skillfully chart our career course like the captain on a ship. Sometimes you'll get busy hauling in fish and ...

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