This talk is designed to discuss managing your career. There are 12 important things to keep in mind when living and managing your career to achieve your goals. These will be explained and explored with examples and photographs based on my 48 years as an engineer, manager and executive managing people's careers, and 51 years as an IEEE member (IEEE Life Fellow). Your career is your career, and understanding your priorities (which can change) and your company's objectives can help you have a rewarding and fulfilling career.

John D. McDonald, P.E., now retired, was Smart Grid Business Development Leader for GE’s Grid Solutions business. John has more than 48 years of experience in the electric utility transmission and distribution industry. John received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. (Power Engineering) degrees from Purdue University, and an M.B.A. (Finance) degree from the University of California-Berkeley. John is a Life Fellow of IEEE (member for 51 years), and was awarded the IEEE Millennium Medal, the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Excellence in Power Distribution Engineering Award, the IEEE PES Substations Committee Distinguished Service Award, the IEEE PES Meritorious Service Award, the 2016 CIGRE Distinguished Member Award, the 2016 CIGRE USNC Attwood Associate Award, the 2021 CIGRE Honorary Member Award and the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) Lifetime Achievement Award. John is Past President of the IEEE PES, the VP for Technical Activities for the US National Committee (USNC) of CIGRE, the Past Chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee, the IEEE Division VII Past Director, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. John was on the Board of Governors of the IEEE-SA (Standards Association), is an IEEE Foundation Director, and is a Founding Board Member and Treasurer of the SECC. John received the 2009 Purdue University Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award and will receive the 2023 Purdue University Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award. John teaches a Smart Grid course at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Smart Grid course for GE, and Smart Grid courses for various IEEE PES local chapters as an IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer (since 1999). John has published one hundred fifty papers and articles, has co-authored five books and has one US patent.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• John D. McDonald (2024), "Key Insights in Career Management," https://nanohub.org/resources/38947.

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1. professional development