Mid-Career Check-in: How to Figure Out Your Next Steps

With half your career behind you, it's time to check-in with yourself. Perhaps it's time to write your next act? To figure out what's next for you, it's time to engage in a bit of soul searching.

Look Inside

• Why are you stuck/bored/unsatisfied/unengaged?
• Can you narrow the cause of your feelings to one person you work with?
• Have you been at your company too long?
• Are you creatively and strategically stifled?
• Do you want to stay where you are or are you ready for a new adventure?

Talk to the People Who Know You Best

Humans are very consistent. Our strengths and weaknesses show up in all facets of our lives. Both will be evident to those around you, including peers, friends, family, boss, and direct reports. Ask others what you do well (what are you known for), where they can depend on you, and where they can’t. You’ll get a lot of intel that will inform how you engage with your work and those around you.

Understand Your Assets and Challenges

Assessments are tools to prime your thinking. You may not agree with all of your results. But focusing on what you do resonate with will help you plot your next steps. Assessments can also give you great insights to share with others when you are networking for opportunities inside or outside of your organization.

You can take these assessments on your own (without a facilitator):

• Strengths Finders to understand where your strengths lie.
• Values Assessments to understand what really matters to you.
• Kolbe to understand your how you instinctually act.

Network Inside Your Company

Do you like your company but want to find some other way to contribute? Do your interests help further the goals of the organization? If so, how can you create a new opportunity for yourself? Talking to people inside the organization can help you understand its business needs as well as other areas where you could potentially fit in. Sometimes working with another division can help you determine “Yes, this is great!” or “No, I have no interest” before you take a bigger leap.

Network Outside the Company

Look through your LinkedIn contacts and see who is doing work that interests you. Then start connecting with those people. Don’t forget to prepare your three to five key questions before any meetings or calls. It’s respectful to others’ time and gets you more in the strategic mindset to get all the answers you need.

Reflect

Without reflection, all the steps above become busy work instead of meaningful work. When we don’t reflect, we can float without intention — and wake up five years later realizing we wasted precious time. Reflection requires attention and time, but the benefits are priceless. It can be as simple as a 15-minute walk twice a week without your phone and just your thoughts. Or it might be a coffee-shop date with yourself on Tuesday mornings before work.

When we don’t reflect, we can float without intention.

For most of us, our careers last 40-plus years and span many chapters. You have the power to create your own narrative. You just need some time, focus, and motivation to bring it all together and determine your next steps.

For more on this subject, check out my SXSW 2015 talk, "Writing Your Next Act," on our new YouTube channel. We pulled together the best clips from the talk on this playlist.

As always, we're here to help! We'd love to hear from you.

About The Creative Executive

We help creative executives be more successful, and successful executives be more creative.

Cultivating leadership gives direction and purpose and can be transformative—for you and your team. Whether you are currently in a leadership role or are striving to grow in your career, doing the work to develop your leadership and management skills will transform your organization from the top down, bottom up, and all ways in between.

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Learn more at www.creative-executive.com.