Are you feeling like you're banging on the wrong door?

Sometimes you can just find yourself on the wrong path. It's not your fault, you set off of the right path to begin with, everything was going well, but then something change, or you changed, and what was right, now somehow is just all wrong. The old ideas of a job for life have long gone, and the careers advice we were given at school ludicrously out of date. But how do you know if this is you? What are the signs that maybe a change in direction might be needed?

Well firstly, how's your motivation? Are you brimming with ideas to implement on Monday mornings once you're back at your desk, are you looking forward to that team awayday so that you can share some of your big thinking? Or do you find yourself calling in sick more than you used to, or taking more, shorter breaks, to intersect the monotony of it all. If motivation has dipped, and you're finding yourself more and more 'going through the paces', then a change may be beckoning.

But that's not the only way you can tell that you need to make a change. Sometimes, there's a 'lightbulb moment'. We tell ourselves (because we're conditioned to think it...) that we're on the right career development pathway. You start in an entrant level post, work your way up to junior management, then maybe a Head of Department, before moving into a Director level post. Then, of course, you should be aiming for the top job. The Chief. El Jefe. The all powerful CEO. Because, well, that's what everyone expects of you, right? How does that work, though, if actually, you're not that fussed about leadership posts, you'd rather just develop your technical capability, and move from where you are now to a similar level post, but in a larger organisation? Because that's career development too. Or maybe you tell yourself that you should be aiming for that Director level post in the organisation where you've been happily working away for 15 years, because that's the clear and obvious way of doing things, but there's just a nagging doubt at the back of your mind, that you just aren't the sort of leader that would fit in here, that your leadership style is a bit more democratic and a bit less autocratic, and that just wouldn't suit this particular organisational culture. Maybe you've been trying to secure that leadership role, and you just can't quite get over the line, get past the first interview stage, show them what a huge asset you'd be. Well in this instance, it could well be that as much as you're not proving quite right for them, they're equally not right for you. Have you, in fact, been desperately trying to bang a square peg into a round hole.....?

I had a coaching client right at the start of my coaching journey who was doing just this. Following the presumed path, diligently taking on extra bits of responsibility that enabled them to show leadership potential, reading up on CEO habits and performance types, getting ready. And it was only through those long conversations during our coaching sessions, going off on tangents, probing what seem at first simple statements, being challenged on assumptions, that they came to the conclusion that this was NOT where they wanted to be heading. The idea of being a recognised expert in a technical field was in fact the far more appealing option. So we worked out a new pathway, and the coaching programme ended with smiles and excitement all round at the possibilities ahead, and in more certainty than before that THIS was what felt really right.

So what can you do if you feel you're banging on the wrong door and need a change of direction? A good place to start would be a simple exercise to work out what you need to get out of your working life. Do you have a NEED to be in a leadership role? Or are you the sort of person who likes to build competency away from the spotlight? Which aspects of your role do you really like, and which cause you worry or stress? Re-look at your qualifications, yes, but also at your core skills, and be really honest here, don't be modest - if you're brilliant at something, own it! Have you done personality profiling tests at work? Well maybe it's time to dig those out again. Belbin, Myers Briggs, Insights - they can all combine to give you a really good idea of WHO you are professionally, and it might not be what you think. My Insights profile tells me I'm an Inspiring Motivator - thank you very much, pleased with that. But other tests have also shown me that I'm not the person you want dotting all the 'i's and crossings all the 't's........ Again, be honest here. Think of that square peg and round hole - we're not all suited to all roles, and it's really quite refreshing to own that.

So if you feel you're in need of a bit of a refresh, if things aren't quite going to plan and you're not quite sure why, if you're getting knock backs and closed doors and it's getting you down, then it could be that gaining a little extra CLARITY is what you need. Allow yourself to dream a different dream, and see where that one might take you.

For a free Discovery Session to see whether coaching might help you gain that clarity, message us at hello@theclarityhub to get the ball rolling.