Learnings from an article by Robert Kaplan

1. Fullfilment doesn't come from clearing hurdles others have set for you, it comes from clearing the ones you set for yourself.
   
   
2. I have seen many people stall their careers by playing it safe.
   
   
3. One measure of character is the degree to which you put your colleagues' and companies interest before your own.
   
   
4. Being a leader also means expressing unpopular views and speaking up.
   
   
5. Doing the right thing is a reward in itself, psychologically in the short term and professionally in the long run.
   
   
6. Managing your career is 100% your responsibility and no-one else is going to do it for you.
   
   
7. It is very difficult to succeed if you do not excel at the central task which is central to your chosen enterprise.
   
   
8. Many people don't know what their passions are or are so focused on the views of their peers that they drift into the wrong career.
   
   
9. Identifying critical tasks helps you determine how to spend your time and develop your skills.
   
   
10. Spending most of the time fighting fires becomes an easy habit instead of finding out the most important things and working on them. (Comment-Prioritizing the right things with a clear definition of what is important to succeed is very important).
    
    
11. Most outstanding CEO's and leaders value emerging executives who assert themselves out of genuine concern for what is best for the company.
    
    
12. Every rewarding career will bring ups and downs, bad days and bad weeks, bad months and setbacks and discouraging situations.
    
    
13. Wound is all the more painful when it is self-inflicted.
    
    
14. Theres nothing anyone can do to prevent you from reaching your true potential. Challenge is to identify your dreams, develop the skills to get there and exhibit charecter and leadership. Then you need to have courage to periodically reassess, make adjustments and pursue a course that reflects who you truly are.