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Tip of the Week: For the Last 18 Months I've Been Struggling...
When I was in my 20's I experienced two wake up calls that continue to influence the way I see careers - mine own career and the careers of those I support. I'll share one of these wake up calls today...and will share the other in the months to come.
Scenario #1: My Father's Career Story
While I was in college and graduate school studying the psychology of the workplace (Industrial/Organizational Psychology), I realized that my Dad was struggling with his career. He had been selected to head up an internal audit of the research organization where he'd spent his entire career, first as a scientific technical expert and later as the head of a division and a member of the Director's Office. My father was known for his way of thinking - he could take a lot of information and synthesize it in a way that made sense in an elegant, streamlined way. This role seemed like a perfect fit for him.
When he and his team delivered their observations and conclusions about the state of the organization and its future, management didn't like what they heard. Basically they shot the messenger and he was sidelined for the rest of his career, pushed off into a corner in a role that didn't have much clout, required a lot of travel, and kept him out of the way.
He felt stifled. After he died I learned from my Mom that he dreamed of going back to school to get a degree in Psychology. He wanted to understand human behavior in a deeper way. Unfortunately his logical, scientific mind and his role as the family's primary breadwinner kept him from acting on his desire.
Instead he did the job he was given to the best of his ability, as was his way. But he wasn't challenged by what he did, which is a shame for a man who had so much to give the organization that he believed in so strongly. I think the hardest part for him was watching as the organization stepped into the landmines he had forecast years before. He felt stuck.
In the end his illness, and ultimately his death, gave him a way out--at age 54.
I've often wondered what he would have done if he has lived longer.
Would he have stayed and retired from the organization?
Would he have found a way back into a role that was a better fit for him?
Or would he have branched out to act on what was calling him?
Do You Resonate With
- Are you feeling boxed in by your job?
- Have circumstances in your job changed so much that the job you were once happy with is now frustrating you?
- Do you wish you could listen to and act on what's calling you?
Take heart...times have changed since the 1980's. You don't have to struggle or suffer in a job that makes you miserable. Life is too short!!
Take control of your own career and play an active role in steering your career in the direction you crave.
1) The world of work is much more fluid and malleable. I don't know of anyone who stays in the same company for their entire career any more. You have options!
2) Many of my clients continue working while figuring out their next career move. You don't have to abandon your current income stream to explore what you are drawn to do.
3) Transitioning to a new career has different phases. The first phase of discovering your new focus is an internal, reflective process that you can do while you are still employed.
4) Education options - both formal and informal - abound. When you have a good feel for the direction you want to go, the Internet offers a number of ways to try out various options to find the path that's best for you.
You don't have to know how all the logistics and transitions will work to start the journey. In fact, you can't!
Begin with the internal question of "What is it you want to do?" When you have the answer to that question, you'll be able to make much better decisions about your next steps.
Copyright 2012, Transition Dynamics Enterprises, Inc
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