Careers Paths vs. Ladders
In the old system, a career was a ladder, where you literally “moved up” by going from one rung to the next based on time and a prescribed set of experiences. Today, however, a career can (and should) take twists and turns. A straight line no longer provides you with the variety of experiences that will make you successful in the long term. Career progress can no longer be measured by movement along a straight line. As a matter of fact, sometimes you may feel like you are having to go backward and begin something new, when all you want to do is move forward, but it just might be those experiences that increase your value as you take the next step forward.
Personally, if you asked me 12 months ago what I would be doing today, my answer wouldn’t have been anything like my current reality. I was facilitating strategy sessions with the division leadership team as they developed the goals for the following year. I was building a combined corporate finance calendar to “finish” a business integration that had been paused during the pandemic. I was working with my team to wrap up projects and develop plans for the end of the year. I had just been gifted a book on how to write a book (check out "On Your Mark" by .Cathy Fyock) and had put it aside because I was happy and secure in my career and “that” book was going to be for my retirement, so I didn’t need to write it right now anyway. I was completely satisfied with where I was and what I was doing. I was “growing” in my career and felt valued by my leaders.
Today, twelve months later, while so much has changed, I’m even more happy with where I am than I could have imagined. Having my position unexpectedly eliminated could have been seen as a setback, but instead it allowed me to open my own business, write “Making Flex Work: Defining Success on your Own Terms” book, and influence the lives of countless people I would have otherwise likely never met. I’m test driving my “retirement” life and loving every minute of it.
Where have you had a change in career direction that ended up being the springboard for something unexpected?