Defining your narrative

As the credits rolled for Stan & Ollie (a lovely, gentle natured film which investigates love, ambition and relationships) it dawned on me once again why I love film so much.

Choosing ones narrative in life is nigh on impossible but film, and storytelling in general, allow us to do this on a regular basis. We go through a characters arc, challenges and problems and then often have a crowd pleasing denouement. In life or a career this is not always the case.

You only needed to see the torment on Andy Murray’s face a few days ago as he discussed the agony he feels at his body for not allowing him to play tennis with the freedom which made him so successful to see just how true this is in real life.

In many careers we reach an apex from which everything else can feel like a decline. These can range from peak individual performance in a sales role, helping create a superbly performing team in a leadership role, contributing to a great culture or completing a genuinely interesting project.

Often these come with rose tinted memories as we tend to forget the hardest moments but they are nonetheless valid because they were energising and lead to a sense of attainment which morphs into pride, satisfaction and improved self-worth. Unfortunately, a number of careers often simply pan out and we do not choose our ending and therefore happiness and legacy.

This led me to ask how can we prolong our our peak from a career perspective?

Goals:

For the past few years I have been a staunch advocate of setting goals. Whether personal or professional forget any New Year resolutions but set yourself goals for the year and continually go back to them to ensure you are on track to achieve them. This is especially important if you work primarily for extrinsic factors (namely the paycheck!) because what you do from 9 to 5 must link back to why you do it regularly as that extrinsic motivation fades exceptionally quickly compared to intrinsic motivation.

Ensure these goals are challenging but also SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based – Peter Drucker) in order that you can see your own progress towards achievement. For me, attainable has always been key as in the past I have set myself goals which I have no hope of achieving!

Self reflection:

Ask yourself challenging questions which make you think about your goals more.

Which projects can you volunteer to be part of which will help you realise your goals? Are there professional qualifications you need to reach the next level? What new technologies are going to dominate your industry in the next few years which you need to be abreast of? Which competitors or related businesses do you envy? Speak to them! If someone was promoted ahead of you ask for feedback as to why. You may not want to hear the answers but truthful feedback will help. Are you doing something you enjoy and want to continue with? How much does that even matter to you? Do not be judgemental but recognise everyone is different and the important thing is to identify your own levers. For Stan, it was writing great jokes and for Ollie it was living a good life. Both are equally valid but they just happen to be different!

Be honest with yourself. If you are feeling comfortable or complacent ask yourself why. It may suit your current life circumstances, for instance increased flexibility at work when you have a young family. Simply link this back to your longer term goals and adjust timelines accordingly as you will not necessarily be in full throttle at all times. If there are different reasons and you are simply bored then there is no time like the present to do something about it.

An external perspective:

Seek out a mentor or coach. There is absolutely value in having a mentor where you currently work in order to navigate your current career and workplace, but I would also encourage an external mentor. The reason being you can have authentic conversations around your desire, hunger, motivation and frankly enjoyment of your role which is not always possible if you are conscious (even sub-consciously) about your perception internally in your current workplace. In addition, an external mentor can also give you a viewpoint which may be entirely different from that of people working in your current organisation who are more likely to have adopted current workplace practices/ethos. This would definitely have helped Stan when trying to renegotiate contracts – after all he was a writer and performer not a commercial agent!

Unfortunately, Andy Murray may not be able to choose how he leaves the sport he loves due to injury. However, in most careers, with careful planning, smart goals and purposeful decision making we are generally in a position where we can write our own professional narrative and take advantage of opportunities as and when they arise.

Like the writers of Stan & Ollie, and those countless others who inspire me through the medium of film do so well, they deliberately map out a character arc to a satisfying ending and there is no reason you cannot do the same for your own career.

Best of luck defining your own narrative in 2019!