To The Disillusioned Professional: The Case for Re-Framing Your Career Outlook

Chances are if you've got at least 15 years under your professional belt, you can point to a few pivotal moments that substantively changed your career trajectory or reframed your outlook on the purpose of your career. If you're too early (or too bored) in your career to have had any watershed moments, allow me to bring you closer to having one.

Although we don't recognize these defining moments as they're happening (the realization is only gifted in hindsight), sixteen months ago I was faced with the most recent in a handful of inflection points that twisted and turned my career.

After securing some substantial funding to grow the public sector sales and operations team at my company, I quickly got to work re-structuring and hiring some impressive new talent. After a year of onboarding and growing at breakneck speeds, I was pulled aside by our new CEO to take on an entirely different endeavor: Leading the selection, design, development, and implementation of our company's first integrated CRM and order entry systems. Aside from having no prior experience leading a technology endeavor of this size and impact, my gut reaction was, "No way! After all my new team and I have built I MUST be a part of helping it flourish!" I wrestled with a few questions in the minutes, hours, and days that followed:

"I've been a leader of people for years - and a leader of leaders - how am I going to be an individual contributor again?"

"How will this give me skills that fit into my desired career trajectory?"

"Where do I land after this?"

I spoke to a trusted mentor early in the consideration process and what he said completely re-framed the way I perceive adversity, challenges, and life's unexpected twists and turns:

"If you don't think accepting a new challenge is the right move for you, then you must not trust yourself."

"Trust myself???" "But there's no one I can rely on more..."

Now, in the midst of the third non-marketing leadership position I've unexpectedly (yet thoroughly) enjoyed, let me share with you what I wish I had learned earlier to shape a more rewarding attitude and productive outlook towards my career:

1) Don't let what you've always done determine what you can do. I majored in marketing, started my career with a Fortune 500 company in the marketing department, and pursued my career path through the eyes of a career marketer. By all means, love and develop your craft, but beware of putting those blinders on too tight. For example, marketers are storytellers at heart and try to influence customer behavior in favor of their brand. Sales educators and trainers tell stories to teach and influence the behaviors of sales professionals. See where I'm going with this? Since my marketing days, I've been a sales leader and have led government contracting and operations teams. I've spearheaded a major technology initiative and am currently leading a team of sales educators, instructional designers, and enablement professionals.

The headline: Look at your skills in general terms first, and you'll be surprised at how extensible they are.

2) Being good at most jobs means being a good project manager. The sooner you get really good at planning and sequencing work, the better. Most jobs distilled to their simplest form, regardless of level, are either one big project or a sequence of small projects. Understanding how to allocate resources (human and otherwise), sequence tasks, identify dependencies (this needs to happen before that), and mitigate risks ahead of time are golden skills that will serve you perennially (in your personal life, too) and be transferable to almost any position you hold.

3) Say "yes" to new opportunities, or better yet, seek them out. Raise your hand for new projects or initiatives. "But Christina, I'm already so busy with what I'm currently working on!" Do it anyway. If it's important to the organization to have said project or initiative worked on, they will find a way to alleviate you of your other responsibilities so you can focus and keep your attention elsewhere. You will never regret learning new skills and information.

4) A valuable business person knows the whole business. The more experience you have across business functions, the more well-rounded a business person you will be. While there's certainly a place for specialization, even if you reach the highest echelons of your specialty, you may still lack the perspective necessary to add value at more senior levels.

The one characteristic shared by every executive leader I've known is they've woven their careers across departments and functions and understand the business from different angles.

5) Trust yourself. You've made it this far and figured out a lot along the way. You'll figure out the next one, too. And if you're still unsure of yourself, ask the hiring manager offering you a new and unfamiliar opportunity why they chose you. It's a great starting point to begin identifying and managing yourself by strengths instead of letting self-doubt and perceived weaknesses lead the way.

You may be asking, "But when will the universe bestow a pivotal moment upon me so I can bask in all the benefits?" Draw watershed moments closer to you by:

1) Thinking generally about your strengths and what other departments or functions would benefit from them. If this is a difficult exercise for you, ask those you work with most frequently for feedback on the topic.

2) Choosing someone you respect (and that is well-respected in return) as an intra-company mentor (Christina's rules for intra-company mentorship: 1) your mentor shouldn't be in your reporting structure, 2) mentees are responsible for the direction and management of the mentor/mentee relationship). This person can help you understand where your strengths are extensible and help you network in other departments.

3) Making your manager and mentor aware you are interested in doing more with "XYZ" department or process.

If you told 18-years-ago me that future me would relish in new and unfamiliar experiences, be leading sales, education, technology, and operational endeavors, and be loving every minute of it, I'd have told you to get a new crystal ball. Ironically, I'm more poised than ever to add value and be valued in return. Most of all though, I wish you a supremely twisty, turn-y, unexpected, and thoroughly challenging (yet rewarding!) career path ahead.