Fill Your Five Buckets in The Right Order

I've been diving into Stephen Bartlett's book, "The Diary of a CEO: 33 Rules for Business and Life". Law 1 resonated so well with me, that even after reading 32 other laws, I found myself thinking back to this principle months after reading the book.

Law 1 - Fill Your Five Buckets In The Right Order

This law explains the five buckets that determine your human potential, how to fill them and, crucially, in which order you should fill them.

Bartlett talks about there being 5 buckets in your life: Knowledge, Skills, Network, Resources, and Reputation. What resonated most, was how Bartlett described the importance of getting “the right order”. I’ve heard similar concepts of breaking down how we prioritise or categorise our growth. However, never quite an emphasis on the sequence we action them in, or why the wrong sequence can negatively impact our growth. Intrigued? Me too. Let’s break them down.

Bucket 1: Knowledge

This bucket is about what you knowledge you can gather and store. It's the information, insights, and understanding you accumulate over time. It's about gathering knowledge, understanding concepts, and becoming familiar with the intricacies of any given topic. Unlike skills, which are about application, knowledge is about absorption. You don't necessarily need to act on it immediately or need to know what to do with it. It's more about building a reservoir of information that you can draw upon when needed.

This is your first bucket and where we all need to start. We spend our early careers just absorbing everything. We need knowledge and we need a lot of it. That's why we spend so many years in schooling, we're in sponge mode. We can’t move on or even consider the other buckets yet. A common mistake people make is perhaps trying to skip ahead to buckets 3, 4 or even 5 but their first buckets are empty. Don’t make that your downfall. Fill your first bucket with knowledge and try to grow the pool of knowledge you can draw on in future buckets. I do caveat this with there is a level of enough knowledge even if you don't know everything yet.

If I reflect on my own career, in my very first “adult job” I mostly filled this bucket and not a lot else. I had no idea what I wanted to be doing with this job as an “account manager” but my first bucket was so empty with very minimal professional experience that learning anything would help fill my bucket. The same job probably wouldn’t fill my bucket very much if I were there now, but it was the right job for the right stage I was at. I focused on understanding the nuances of the industry I was working in and leveraged my customer relationships to do so. My job was about customer relations so I found that I could build strong rapport by learning the ins and outs of their business. Asking about their processes, what's important to them and equally not important. People do like to talk about their opinions. I learnt more from my clients than any Google search could have taught me just by exposure to people in the industry, staying curious and consistent.

I cannot stress enough that the knowledge bucket is about filling your mind with valuable information, even if you're not sure how it will be used in the future.

Bucket 2: Skill

This is about what you can do. It's the practical application of your knowledge. I've always been keen on refining new skills, whether it's coding (badly), writing (sub-par), or public speaking (the best of the lot).

If we take my earlier first career example, I’d focused on trying to gain knowledge about the industry but what I had really gained is knowledge about how to manage corporate accounts. That knowledge then could soon be refined into the skill of building customer rapport or managing strategic relationships. Those sound like fancy (and frankly scary) words, but if I look back at 20-year-old me, jumping straight to refining skills of managing strategic relationships would have been far too intimidating. I wouldn’t have had enough knowledge of what a customer base looks like, or knowledge of how to speak to them about meaningful topics. Gaining a general pool of knowledge helped me refine that to a skill. You honestly don’t need to know everything but you need to know something. Once you know enough to feel educated on a topic, that's when you know you’re ready to refine this as a skill.

I would say combining the knowledge and skills bucket are the most important for the majority of us in our careers. Particuarly early on. These need to be our top priority. You can't effectively move on to the next 3 buckets without filling these two first. They don’t need to be “full” but there needs to be a substantial input otherwise there are no foundations to be able to move up to the next buckets.

This is probably one of the biggest mistakes that we all make when trying to be ambitious and aim for a senior or leadership role. Or maybe it's a mistake we make when trying to be an entrepreneur or our own boss - we’ve jumped straight to bucket 3, 4 or 5 expecting to have the rewards, knowledge and notoriety but we’ve got leaky buckets (pun intended). No matter what you try to do to fill those they are worthless without the first two. You're missing the foundations.

I think that’s why this concept resonated, as it might be why we feel frustrated when social media stars come out of nowhere and go instantly viral for a tiktok dance or they seem to have skipped the steps…. we think they’ve gone straight to bucket 5 and don’t feel they have the knowledge or skills to deserve their reputation. You’d be right in assuming this, and perhaps that's why so many people have 5 minutes of fame then fall right off. When their first buckets aren’t full, the later ones just leak. Nothing lasts. On the flip side, maybe you see those celebs who stick around even after their 5 mins of fame sure it might still frustrate us but I’d say its likely because they HAD filed their first and second buckets. Maybe that tiktoker was professionally trained as a dancer their entire life or has studied social media marketing. They can earn their later buckets and keep them because they have in fact filled their knowledge and skills enough.

Bucket 3: Network

Your network is your lifeline, the relationships and connections you build throughout your career. We've all heard the saying, "It's not what you know, but who you know." There's truth to this, as your network can provide support, and advice, and lead to new opportunities.

Building your network is a natural progression from filling your knowledge and skills buckets. These connections might come from various jobs where you've gained knowledge, from customers you've kept in touch with, or from companies you've had successful negotiations with. Your network might also include mentors or coaches you've met outside of work, people you've connected with at meetups or the knowledge and network you've built along the way.

As you progress in your career, your network guides you into more senior roles. You start to niche down or specialize, using your network to decide what and who you value, and perhaps where you start saying no to some opportunities. For me, transitioning to a product manager role, my network has become tailored to the technology industry. My network is now where I learn about the latest developments in big tech companies, follow industry trends, and keep an eye on the career moves of mentors and peers. It's a source of accountability, ensuring I stay sharp and responsive to changes in my field.

This is probably my favourite bucket to fill at the moment because it can be filled in so many ways you didn't think were possible earlier in your career. Now that you have some skills and knowledge to offer, your network becomes an even more valuable resource.

Knowing whether you've filled your networking bucket is more about quality than quantity. It's not just about the number of connections, but about having meaningful relationships that add value to your career. Some things I would look out for to see if you’ve “filled your network bucket enough” are:

1. Diverse Connections: Your network includes a wide range of individuals from different industries, roles, and backgrounds. This diversity ensures you have access to varied perspectives and opportunities.

2. Mutual Benefit: The relationships in your network are not one-sided. You're able to offer value to your connections, and they can do the same for you. The connection shouldn't feel one-sided.

3. Active Engagement: You're regularly in touch with your network, whether it's through attending events, participating in discussions, or simply catching up. Being connected on LinkedIn is great, but if you aren't engaged they aren't in your network any more than the next person.

4. Adaptability: Your network evolves with your career, with new connections being added and less relevant ones phasing out as your goals and interests change. It's OK to no longer engage with certain areas of your network if they no longer align. Be intentional.

4. Resources

As you progress through your career, the resources bucket becomes increasingly important. This is where the fruits of your knowledge, skills, and network come into play, translating into tangible assets that you need to excel in your work. Resources can mean a variety of things, from financial means to tools and technology at your disposal.

In a senior role, you'll find yourself leveraging these resources to seize new opportunities. Financially, this could manifest as a higher salary, enabling you to invest in your personal and professional development. It could also mean being allocated a budget at work to expand your team, directly enhancing your capabilities.

But it's not just about financial gain. Resources can also include equity in a company, aligning your interests with its success and opening doors to further learning opportunities. This might involve investing in stocks or other ventures that broaden your exposure and career prospects. It's resources at your disposal which you can leverage your knowledge, skills and network to capitalise on.

I do believe that having a stake in your work through equity or similar investments can be a game-changer for your career. It provides you with a quantifiable interest in your work and exposes you to a wealth of new learning opportunities you might not have encountered otherwise.

At its core, the resources bucket is about identifying and utilizing the assets that will best optimize the opportunities in front of you. It's a testament to how well you've filled your other buckets and your ability to leverage them to advance your career.

Reflect on the resources you currently have at your disposal and consider how effectively you're utilizing them. Are there opportunities to leverage your resources more strategically? Perhaps it's time to invest in new tools or technology that can enhance your productivity. Or maybe it's about seeking out opportunities that align with your career goals and leveraging your network to access them. Fill this bucket by filling your resources.

Also, don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t here yet. Focus on your earlier buckets, this one will come.

5. Reputation

This final bucket is all about the recognition and esteem you earn in your professional journey. It's the natural outcome of your hard work in the other four buckets. However, reputation isn't something that can be rushed or artificially inflated; it's a reflection of your genuine achievements and contributions over time.

A common pitfall is the temptation to leapfrog into roles with prestigious titles without the requisite experience. For example, I've seen friends and coworkers jump at the chance to become a Chief Revenue Officer at a startup, despite only having a year or so of experience as a sales rep. They're drawn to the executive title, the boost to their resume, and the bragging rights that come with it. But as we've learned on this journey, such a leap can lead to a "leaky bucket" if it's not supported by a solid foundation in knowledge, skills, and network.

This is why some individuals may struggle in these roles and fall too short too soon. It's not necessarily a reflection of their capability but rather a mismatch between their aspirations and their level of preparedness. They may not meet their expectations or achieve the success they envisioned because their focus was too heavily skewed towards reputation, rather than balancing it with the development of their other buckets.

While reputation is an important aspect of your career, it's crucial to build it organically by focusing on your knowledge, skills, and network. A well-deserved reputation is one that's earned through consistent effort and genuine accomplishments, not just the pursuit of titles or recognition.

To ensure you haven't prioritized reputation too soon, consider the following checks:

1. Assess Your Foundation: Reflect on whether your knowledge and skills are strong enough to support the responsibilities of your role. If you didn’t have the network or resources, could you hold your own with your knowledge?

2. Evaluate Your Network: Consider whether your network is robust and diverse enough to provide the support and opportunities needed for your current position. If you aren’t actively using our network, there’s also a risk that it will go cold. Where do you think it needs strengthening?

3. Analyze Your Contributions: Look at the tangible contributions you've made in your role. Are they consistent with the level of reputation you're seeking? If this question is difficult to answer, that could be a sign.

4. Seek Feedback: Gather honest feedback from peers, mentors, and leaders in your industry to gauge how you're perceived and where you can improve. We aren’t immune to bias, especially about ourselves. This one can be a bitter pill to swallow but it’s why so many leaders take 360 reviews or other methods of peer reflection. It can be more honest than we are with ourselves.

5. Set Realistic Expectations: Ensure that your aspirations align with your experience and capabilities, and adjust your career goals accordingly. We want to make sure we are pushing ourselves at the right pace.

---

It's crucial to remember that career development is not a race. Rushing to fill one bucket without adequately nurturing the others can lead to an imbalance that might hinder your progress. Balance is key. Even when all buckets seem filled, there's always room for further growth, new connections, and deeper insights. For me, I'm focussing on my network bucket this year and it's helped me framed the intentions behind what steps I need to take.

So, humour me please, and take a moment to assess your own career buckets. Where are you overflowing, and where might you need to pour in a little more effort? If you had to visualise these as actual buckets, where are you investing your time and energy this year?

Until next time, Gemma

Further reading:

https://stevenbartlett.com/the-book