Mentors

As I was talking to M.E. about meeting with Paul in his career networking/job search, M.E. provided some great wisdom on choosing a job.  He said that more important than the field, the industry, the company and specific position, the people you will work with and ultimately your superiors will be the most important factor in your career success. 

Wow - As I look back on my career, his observation was "spot on".  My mentors and career saviors (B.W.; A.C.; J. R.) and peers (P.G.; G.M. et al) and the guys that worked for me (K.M.; S.W.; G.P.; T.D.; S.W. J.M.; J.D.; et al) were critical to my career success at Accenture.  It was the people that were the defining ingredients.  Granted Accenture with it's business practices, culture, and growth rate was important - but eliminate the mentors and the high quality of professionalism in the people (and there were some bad apples inside Accenture) and you sacrifice time and money in your career development.

Trying to discover during a few interviews whether the people side of the organization will work should be a new recruits objective.  Is there a match in personality, in ethics, in management style and most importantly in tolerance for teaching, forgiving and mentoring you as an individual, is critical to your selection process.

I was blessed to have been connected to the best people during my career.