Six signs you've found a great opportunity

Early on in my professional journey I saw career progression as something fairly linear. Start at the bottom, work hard, gain skills, get promoted...always up and to the right (right?)

After a decade or so working with this mindset and within a large corporate framework, I began to see signs that my simple model for career progression and growth was one option but not necessarily the best option for me. Since this realization I’ve worked for large corporations, small companies, and even started a business on the side. My income has bounced around a bit and at times I’ve felt as if I ‘should be’ earning X or titled Y...but I’ve come to believe that professional success and fulfillment for me is not tied to any of these things, but rather to personal growth, teamwork, and the creation of something great.

Like many choices in life, how you manage your career can be boiled down to what you are trying to optimize for. Are you looking for a steady path that provides security and relative comfort? Do you crave new learning opportunities? Are you drawn to new ideas and innovation? Or perhaps you are someone that likes to ‘swing for the fence’ in pursuit of a large payoff in exchange for a riskier path? If you’re like me, the way I try to optimize evolves as my career unfolds.

I’m going to assume you are reading this because your career path is not traveling a straight line. While your title, responsibility, influence, and pay may go up and down over time, a good opportunity will typically have a pretty simple foundation. Here are six key indicators that you’ve found a great professional opportunity:

1. You feel like you’re in over your head
2. Learning is a two-way street
3. Health and Family remains part of the equation
4. Leadership is transparent and principled
5. Your contribution is valued
6. You feel personally responsible for the success of the firm

You’re in over your head! Every interesting role I’ve had in my career has begun with a period of ‘OH SHIT! WHAT AM I DOING?’ followed by a more calm period where I reel in my fear of the unknown, apply some fundamental techniques to develop a structured view of the problem I’m trying to solve.  My process includes research, lots of discussion with my new colleagues, and a written plan with goals, measures, and timelines that I use to steer own my progress in my new role. This initial period of uncertainty is natural, it is important, and if you embrace the process of immersing yourself in a new set of challenges you can accelerate your understanding and begin delivering value to your company much more quickly than if you let your fears paralyze you.

Two way street. Keep in mind while you are drinking from the proverbial fire hose that you have a unique set of experiences and expertise that can benefit your company...but only if you share. This doesn’t mean that you should necessarily walk around the workplace lecturing others on how to do things better, but it does mean that your (fresh) perspective is valuable and regardless of your rank or title you should regularly share your ideas and come to the table with proposed solutions. As a manager of people, I crave the insights my team brings me and very much appreciate those who consistently share their ideas about how we can collectively do things better.

Health and family. As an avid mountain biker, I’m used to making tradeoffs with regards to cycling equipment; ‘Light, stiff, cheap...pick two’. With a challenging new role you may be forced to make similar tradeoffs in your personal life. Job performance, time with family (or great friends), spirituality, health/wellness, hobbies, sports, the list goes on. Regardless of what you did before your new role, it is critical that in the early days of your new gig you actively and realistically prioritize the things that really matter and put some activities on (temporary) hold. I say this because with a challenging new job you will undoubtedly spend a great deal of time on/at work leaving fewer hours for the other areas of your life. As a father and husband I will not sacrifice my relationship with my family, and I know that in order to perform well at work and with my family I have to be healthy, so wellness is key. What about my other hobbies? I still love them but I don’t want to pretend that they are my focus today, so I choose to funnel my limited free time into one hobby rather than three or four. You need to find that balance for yourself and own your choice to prioritize other things. If you don’t you will end up feeling disappointed in your ability to do everything you used to do.

Transparency at the top. How do you feel about your leadership team? Do you have a good sense for what is important to them? Are they are open about high level company goals? Are they people that you trust? Even if you don’t interact with your execs directly, you probably have an internal ‘trust meter’ that gives you a gut feeling about the team. Trust your gut.  This doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to like them, but rather do you feel comfortable placing your trust in them? These people will impact the success of your company and ultimately your opportunity to grow and earn while you are there.

Do you feel valued? There are many ways that people are recognized and rewarded for a job well done and this is not a ‘one size fits all’ sort of thing. If you compare the needs of a top salesperson with those of an engineer they are often very different. Do you know what kind of feedback you need to feel appreciated? There is a pretty strong likelihood that if you don’t know, your chain of command doesn’t know. So who is responsible for making sure you feel like your contributions are recognized? Both you and your manager. Take time to figure out what you need to feel appreciated and spell it out for your manager. They will appreciate your honesty and if they are any good they will jump on the opportunity to manage and communicate with you in a way that is efficient.

Own it. Do you wake up excited about a new project you’re working on? Are you sometimes preoccupied by a particular problem you’re trying to solve? If these things are all-consuming you may need to revisit your prioritization and balance, but on the whole these are signs that you are committed to your work and feel personal responsibility for the success of your team and your company. To me there is no better feeling (at work) than to feel like I am truly delivering value to my company and creating new opportunities for growth. In order to to this I cannot blame others for missteps, I cannot expect someone else is going to solve the problems we face, I must approach each day as though I am a key component in the engine that is driving the company forward. Do you feel responsible, or are you just along for the ride?

In my experience, great roles are not easy. They are not cushy and comfortable. They stretch you, they challenge you, and they make you question how far you can go.

Today I am focused on growth opportunities at Bench Accounting and I am equal parts exhilarated, humbled, and thankful for the opportunity to work in an environment that encourages people to push themselves professionally and personally.

I wish you luck in your journey.