Do You Need a Mid-Career Tune-Up?

In today's highly competitive workplace, you have more responsibility for your own continuous improvement and professional development.

"Although your boss may want to be helpful, he or she may be facing similar challenges and concerns that you're confronting," says Rosemary Salmon, coauthor of The Mid-Career Tune-Up. "To survive and succeed in this dynamic atmosphere, employees must develop new work habits and discover new ways to apply traditional skills."

Ms. Salmon offers the following suggestions for a mid-career tune-up.

• Do what your company pays you to do. More than ever before, the challenge is to determine exactly what your company pays you to do, understand your work goals, then achieve them. Make sure you don't waste your time on activities that may no longer contribute to or support what your company is trying to accomplish.

• Sharpen your communication skills to enhance your reputation. To do so, keep track of the best way to communicate with your manager, coworkers, customers, suppliers and other key people you interact with regularly. Evaluate what has worked in the past and try to replicate these successful practices.

• Develop productive relationships with the right people. One way to ensure success is to build relationships with the right people -- key individuals who can help you the most and who depend on you for their success.

• Take charge of your job; fix your own problems. Many employers view problem-solving and decision-making as key skills that separate the more talented employees from those who would rather wait for someone else to tell them what to do. "By solving your problems, you send the message you're accountable, involved and committed to making things right," says Ms. Salmon.

• Learn to accept uncertainty and adapt to change. Understanding, accepting and being receptive to change and uncertainty in the workplace will help you become more comfortable finding out what's going on and why. In times of rapid change, you'll need to be able to move quickly, to anticipate where the next change may come from and be flexible enough to change directions and try new approaches.

• Stay current and manage your own career. You can accomplish this by staying up-to-date on technology, industry trends, customer needs and any other factors important to your personal and professional self-development. Upgrade your knowledge and skills in ways that are consistent with your own future interests and career development.

• Take responsibility for your job performance and morale. "The more you take responsibility for your own actions and your own morale, the more you'll be able to apply your talents to tasks that will help you succeed," says Ms. Salmon.