Career Trek - What is your Career Wheel?

Careers is a very interesting and complex topic. It is very personal as well. The choices/decisions we make while crafting careers are led by a lot of factors.?I therefore refer to a career journey not as a marathon/sprint/ladder but as a trek.

When I think of a mountain, there are multiple peaks, each peak is at different height, has a very different view, maybe different terrain as well. Each peak is unique by itself. Also, there are multiple routes to reach the same peak. From the base of the mountain to the summit, there are multiple unique journeys(treks) possible.

The career journey is also very similar. Each one of us define our peak (career success) in our own way. For some it is designation, for some it is Freedom, for some it is impact made, for some it is money, for some it is fulfilment and for many it is the combination of the above things.

I've been coaching people on careers for more than a decade. Unfortunately, many of the professionals I speak to, are very clear about what they don't like but are not clear on what they like. ?A lot has been written around Ikigai. I'm sure all of you would have come across the famous illustration of overlapping circles talking about what you love what you are good at what is paid for et cetera. It is indeed a great concept and has served many well. Different coaches have suggested various approaches to figure out what an individual likes, his/her passion, finding your calling etc.

I have realized, Finding your Ikigai may be a very good starting point, but does not completely solve the career quandaries that people encounter. After all, IKIGAI only answers the “what” of Careers. The Why & the other influencing factors remains to be discovered.

?I have come across statements like, “If you love what you do, you never have to work again”; “If you are so passionate about your job why do you crib, to work on weekends where does the passion evaporate on a Saturday or Sunday "; These statements reflect lack of holistic understanding of the way people look at careers. I have recently conducted a study with 600 participants to understand the dynamics around what defines career success and what values drive their career decisions. I have put together my understanding and the analysis, into a framework/tool that I would call the “Career wheel”.

Let’s look at Raj, for example. His Ikigai is car driving. The ‘what’ is clear. He is good at it, there is a market for his skill, and he likes doing it. He still has options to choose on, ‘how’ to about it. He can be an Ola/Uber driver; He can be a permanent driver with one family/person; He can join a company with a fleet of cars; He can be a solopreneur by himself as well. Each of the above options offer a different lifestyle with their own pros and cons. Similarly, even after figuring out the IKIGAI, professionals make career decisions/choices based on various factors.

Let’s look at the insight on ?‘what else matters’ from the 600+ professionals I have studied. While choosing the next role/stint, there are multiple critical factors and that also varies depending on the age group that professionals belong to.

Brand/Title, Pay seems to not matter much as we age. Growth potential seems to be a key priority across ages. Positive culture seems critical as well. The choices tend to vary with age-groups as well. While there are patterns with each age-group, everyone’s choice is very different from the other; sometimes in-line with the groups trend and sometimes against it. End of the day, it’s a matter of choice and the choice is driven by various factors unspoken, untapped, undiscovered, and sometimes unaware as well.?

Shruti, one of the coachees that I was working with discovered during the coaching process that she holds title/designation/brand in high priority because she wants to seek her parents & extended family validation. Her parents did not get to work with a brand that they could boast about and shruti thought they would relate to a success with the brand value in their extended family. Once she became consciously aware of this belief and verified the belief with her parents on how they perceive her career success, shruti felt liberated. She let go of the mental weight she was carrying. She is now empowered to make the career choices based on what really matters to her.

Similarly, when you look the larger purpose/mission with which people approach careers, a very different analysis came up across age groups.?

As you can see, across age groups, “Title, Designation & Brand” moves downwards from 13% importance to zero. “Contribution/impact on society” moves from 15% to 33% when it comes to age group of 60+; This is a clear indication of how our work values alter/mature over a period. Don’t be mistaken just by age; many millennials have their career wheel like those in their 60’s and vice versa.

Gopal, one of the coachees that I worked with was always placing a high priority on “Income/standard of living” while making his career decisions. Interestingly he always lived way below his means and did not believe in lavish lifestyle. An unravelling conversation led us to a fateful episode of his well-to-do father going through an acute financial crisis which impacted the family a lot. This has stayed on with Gopal and influences his decisions all the time, sometimes even without his realization. So, as I mentioned at the beginning, career decisions are complex and very personal as well.

When you bring it all together, this is how the career wheels of different age groups looks like. The choice/values/drivers are very different across the age-groups and like I mentioned before, the Career wheel is unique to every individual and evolves over a period.?

As a coach, in my experience, everyone’s journey, the choices they make and the values/factors driving those choices are unique. The key therefore is in being/becoming more and more aware of the values/factors/beliefs(attitudes) driving our choices. Some of them would be limiting and some of them would be liberating.?

My study also suggests that only 10% of the professionals have taken help of a professional coach. It would be a great opportunity for you to partner with a coach and engage in explore your career wheel, leading to a more aware and fulfilling career trek. ??

-?????????Coach Ram (?https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/coachram/ )

Acknowledgements :

Thanks to my bestie @Shravan for partnering with me in the survey . https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/consultshravan/

Thanks to @Shailendra for helping me with the analytics https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/shailendrahc/