PRINCIPLES OF CAREER MOVES

I was coaching Thomas, a potential CXO. He wanted to reshape his career. His ex-colleagues were making career changes, but he was not. He was in dilemma to change or not.

We started with an exploration of his Core-Self, which includes his life purpose. With deep-rooted coaching questions, he derived the following principles of his career decisions.

“Career decisions are made out of either Aspiration to do something or Desperation to do something.” This relates to our human motivation either 'towards pleasure' or 'away from pain'.

This insight led to further questions for Thomas to reflect that are:

1. Was he aspiring to do something that gets him excited?
2. Was he desperate to do get something in the name of a career change?
3. Was he not ready to wait until he hated what he was doing?

Let’s understand the implications of each of these questions in detail.

1. Aspiring to do something that gets you excited:

a. If the role that you are applying for is one that you really want to do, you will be in a much more resourceful state. You will present as the type of enthusiastic, passionate, and suitable candidate that all employers are looking for.?

b. You will be using your key strengths most of the time and will be working for an employer that you respect and admire in the industry. You will act out of aspiration and you will be a very attractive candidate for potential employers.

c. It may be that your aspiration is a long-term one that you will need to study for or build up a lot of experience before you can achieve it. Now is the time to start! Make decisions and take action now that will get you on the road towards your career goals. You’ll be glad that you did.

d. So, think if there is an aspirational aspect to these roles, or are they a stepping stone to something that you really like to do in the future? By thinking along these lines, you start to become a more attractive candidate for potential employers as you will be more enthusiastic and engaged during the recruitment process.

2. Desperation won’t get you what you want:

a. Some people make career decisions out of desperation. They either hate their existing job so much that anything else will do or they are out of work and need a job to get by.?

b. If you hate your current job so much that you are willing to take anything else, you first need to ask yourself an important question. If you just change your work environment, will you automatically be happier or do you need to change your own outlook first?

c. I’ve seen some people make crucial career decisions based on a desperate need to get out of their current situation, only for them to find that they hate their new role in another 6 months and want to leave there as well. You will find such people with an unfulfilling career.?

d. If you are making career decisions out of desperation because you are currently out of work now, I would still advise you to think about the roles that you are applying for.?

3. Don’t wait until you hate what you do: A word of warning to those who have no aspirations and aren’t desperate to get out of what they are doing now. This can change!

Two things can happen that can throw a spanner in the works of those who are feeling relatively comfortable:?

a. Redundancy is a very real threat and you may find yourself looking for a job when you weren’t expecting to. If you haven’t been working towards a long-term career goal and developing your skills towards that, you may find yourself suddenly making decisions out of desperation.

b. Over time, you may eventually find yourself getting stale in your role. Over a period, you will start to resent it as the job no longer provides you with the challenge or sense of fulfillment that it once did. By having an aspiration, you can make a move before this use-by date kicks in.

If you don’t yet have a career aspiration, then your first step is to find one. A good coach can help you to explore.?

Coaching helps executives in making the personal transition and it has enabled them to feel much better about themselves in the workplace and gives them the right mindset to start to think more about what they would aspire to from a career perspective.

As you reflect on your career choices to date, check if your past decisions have been based upon aspiration or desperation?

If you are at a similar crossroads and want to discuss more, let’s connect.