I watched an interesting TEDx talk by Rosabeth Moss Kanter entitled “The Only 3 Career Steps that Matter”. While the title is an oversimplification, her ideas do have a lot of merit and made for some interesting thinking and discussion with the various professionals in my circle.

She essentially boils down each career into 3 distinct phases:

1. Inclusion
2. Influence
3. Impact

Inclusion is all about getting in the door. It is about building skills, building a resume or portfolio, and finding a way to market yourself so that people will want to work with you.

Influence is the next step. Rosabeth refers to it as getting a seat at the table. Once you’re in the discussion, now you can start to shape things for yourself.

Finally, the last part of the journey, is Impact. This is about creating the overarching vision and developing the direction and goals of a company or team.

These three phases, apply both in the micro and the macro. They also fit in nicely with the 3 levels of business thinking: operational, tactical, and strategic.

I encourage you to check out the full video and share your comments below. What do you think of Rosabeth’s take on the career steps that matter?