Career results are important, but the people around you are important too, especially today, in increasingly team-oriented environments. Spend 50% of your time getting results, and 50% of your time developing career-sustaining relationships and communicating, both inside and outside your organisation.

Never be unemployed, even for a day. If you lose your job, volunteer immediately to put your skills back to work, for a friend, for a consultant, in a non-profit agency--anywhere. Seek part-time, project, or consulting work as well as full-time employment, because part-time engagements tend to expand and go full time, whether you want them to or not.

Practice success skills. In career, as in football, there are basic skills that produce results. In football it's blocking and tackling. In business it's showing up on time, finishing what you start, doing what you say you're going to do--and helping others win.

Nothing good happens fast. Don't wait to attend a communication or career workshop or look for a career coach until you're fired, short on cash, burned out, and need a new high-paying job in less than a month. The best time to develop your communication skills and plan your career is right now - when you are still employed!

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