Penelope, may I contribute some additional thoughts to this discussion?

These are all very provocative ideas, with a helpful message in there somewhere between the lines (with the exception of "start a side business" — this may be good for your career and your life, but it won't necessarily make you a superstar at work, particularly if it's used as a "hedge").

As a senior executive who is always looking for, and trying to develop, "superstars," I'd like to suggest five additional ways to shine brightly in the workplace, particularly for twenty- and thirtysomethings. These, too, are paths to accolades, control over your life, and value:

1. Build Yourself. You cannot spend enough time seeking mastery of not only your technical skills, but your personality/behaviorial/leadership skills as well. Find out how the most effective leaders you know behave and treat people, and work exceedingly hard to become just like them.

2. Build the People Around You. Do you make everyone around you great at what they do? Coach, teach, encourage — that's what a true superstar does.

3. Never Take Any Job You Are Not Matched For — one whose problems and challenges you don't have a deep passion for and enjoyment of. You will suck at it or, at best, be mediocre and waste precious time in your one turn at bat on this planet.

4. Fight for Margin. Margin is the space between your limits — physical, time, financial and emotional — and your life's workload. Superstars have margin, lots of it. They have the energy to work hard, the time to think, the financial security to say "screw you" if need be, and the relationships that give support. Also, all the great things you will do in your career will flow from margin — building yourself, building other people, and building a business.

5. Be Truthful. The biggest enemy faced by senior executives and CEOs is that no one wants to tell them the truth. There are two types of people who are useless in the workplace: those that can't (or won't) tell the truth, and those that can't (or won't) listen to the truth. Want to be a superstar? Be someone your leaders can count on for frank and candid insight, advice and feedback.

Superstars are superstars because the things they are good at are very rare. My experience is that these five things are among the most rarest behaviors in any organization.

Thank you, Penelope, for making me think about this.

Hey Pen, nice post.

There are many deadly career sins; one that has always stuck out is the one mistake that nearly everyone makes – letting the company manage their career. Granted we let people manage our money, manage our kids' sports teams, or manage wedding planning (I'm divorced too) but do we need people to manage to make our career decisions for us?

Superstars are guided internally whereas the average bunch are content to be guided like steer to slaughter. It's not that HR is inherently bad but it is true that their experiences are inherently limited. Yet who helps make the decisions for the humans?

Want some real advice? Buddy up to successful people – listen to some of them, and listen to none of them. The Zen of Career…

But here's the obvious question and perhaps fodder for another blog post: How does one know if they are a superstar?

Never Never Ever allow yourself to become complacent… I think complacency is the '8th 'Deadly Sin'.

Differentiating technical skill sets don't remain so… different for long. If you aren't 'a people person' you at least need to be able to play well with those that are.

A good boss, with a willingness to mentor is nearly the definition of a great job.

Thanks for being thought provoking

Penelope-

I have had a lot of jobs. I have had huge successes (superstar) and some mediocre experiences. Some changes were my choice because of a better offer, some were because a company went out of business. I recently made a move to a local growing company whom I have admired greatly for years. This company has hired me as a whole person, not just someone to fill an opening. It was an amazing experience to have a potential employer see my strengths and design a job around me that will bring us both greater success.

Some might say "wow, he changed jobs again, what is that about"…. but one local business woman said that I was smarter than most…. and that I climb the "business lattice" instead of the "business ladder". The lattice gives you opportunity to move up and down or sideways (or at an angle) depending on the situation. This was a great comment.

You advice in this post is very good. Some might take pot shots at you, but you are right. A person who is stuck on a ladder can only see the choices of up and down, but the future of the work force is to design your own path to success…and your points in the full post on InformationWeek really hit home, as that is what has lead me to my personal successes.

thom

Penelope, interesting post as usual.

"Actions" are all we can control and indeed sometimes they give us an illusion of control. A lot depends on the "reaction" one gets from the employer or potential employers. My experience – albeit mainly in the UK and Europe – shows that:

1. Many employers would rather bet on a safe person with no gaps, no spectacular 'individuality' and definitely only understated, if at all, signs of creativity and independent thought. Than on a superstar maverick whom the line manager cannot wait to "put in his/ her place".

2. The context is important. Those who try this experiment in different cultural settings from their own are in for a shock. Fancy hearing "I just cannot believe you have all that experience"? Yes, me neither. I would strongly suggest one does not try this "have a gap on your resume" thing in the UK. Employers here exhort people to explain every gap…

As the caveat said, the UK and Europe react differently. That said many people have told me that I am ideally suited to the Valley.

So here is an experiment I wish to make.

Once I submit the PhD thesis, and while I wait for my viva and defence to be scheduled, I will get on a plane and go to California and test all these suggestions out. That should help.

PS: Of course I am happy to run my "curriculum vitae" by you (in my case it really is a story of life, not just a bio data) to see if the hypothesised difference in cultural responses is really valid…

Since when are gaps good? Are you only saying this because you personally have gaps on your resume and you're trying to justify it?

Gaps are never a good thing. It shows that either you couldn't find anything, or you found something but it was so beneath you that you were too embarassed to put it on your resume.

Of course, if you're doing volunteer work/school etc.. then a gap would be acceptable.. but then that wouldn't exactly be a gap.

Even if you're "finding yourself" what the hell are you DOING during that gap? Makes no sense.

I just wanted to let Joe Fusco know that the term "Fight For Margin" hit me like a two-by-four. YES! That's the perfect term for what I've been trying to do, but couldn't describe. Thank you!

Hi Penelope,

Interesting post. While you make some great points I think each of these ways to make you a 'Superstar' is contextual or situational.

Having one 'gap' on your resume, whether to think or just take a break/spend time with family, etc can be OK, but too many gaps or a gap for too much time could be perilous to the career.

On turning down promotions, I can certainly see where that may apply sometimes, but in my experience if I like and trust my boss, then I've really put my career in his/her hands and if they've offered me a new position I've almost always taken it. Turning down promotions is fine when you're just starting out, but if you really want to build a career eventually you have to move up. And those small raises come handy when it comes to buying the house, investing for the kids college etc.

As for cutting corners to make time for the gym, I just can't see that that's a recipe for work success.

Finally, love the starting a blog idea. It's a great release and a phenomenal way build your community.

Best of luck in your new venture.

Penelope, thanks for the interesting post.

I think it depends on the company you work for. I have been at my current company for 7 years. During that time, I have said "no" to offers that were not good for my career, and "yes" to offers that were good for my career. I think I have come out ahead.

The first was when my boss wanted to decrease his number of direct reports and tried to make one of my peers my supervisor. This proposed new supervisor was incompetent, and there was no way I was going to risk my career by working for this person. So I said, "no way", my boss said "okay". Remarkably, my relationship with by boss improved, and I avoided a career landmine.

The second was when my boss wanted me to take on a struggling employee as a direct report, but would not make accommodations in my workload to ensure that I could properly manage the person. It was another setup for failure. So again, I said no, and there were no negative repercussions.

After that, I created and proposed a position in my department with a much higher level of responsibility, which would capitalize on my skills and talents. The director agreed, so I am now reporting to her, working at a higher level in the department in a job I like, and making a lot more money.

Since, then, my previous boss's position has been offered to me, and I again said "no". (My peers were astonished by my resolve on this and thought I was crazy.) It was yet nother sure setup for failure, would have been a lot more stressful than my current position, and would not have lined up with my career goals. My director was not happy about it at first, but seems to have gotten over it. She hopefully sees that it would not have been a good move for the company, her, or me.

Sorry for the long comment, but I wanted to illustrate that it is possible to take this kind of control and still be successful. Of course, it depends on your company's tolerance for this type of assertive behavior.

It also helps that I am considered a "superstar" employee because of the quality work that I do. I was also willing to lose my job if necessary when each one of these situations came up. That would have been better than accepting the "promotions" that were not in line with my personal needs and career trajectory.

So much wishful thinking.

It's funny that experts say that gaps in resume are not ok. But the way that they are selfmade and well explained for your own research they could probably make you stronger applicant.