Have you ever felt like your career was stagnating? That you were ready for the next step, but you couldn’t seem to get there?
You’re not alone.
I spent almost 8 years as a medical representative in several companies and therapeutic areas before landing my first promotion. In my last year in sales, I was ready to take over the next role. However, my career wasn’t progressing. I felt I was “running late” in climbing up the corporate ladder. I kept comparing myself to others who advanced faster than I did. This multiplied my frustration.
Career stagnation is quite common. It occurs when one feels less engaged at work due to lack of growth or learning opportunities. Unfortunately, it may leave some people second guessing their value.
The other day, I was watching a series and one of the characters who was promoted after a long wait said, “I felt like I was idling”. This sentence caught my attention. That was exactly my feeling at the time. Her boss said the most interesting thing, “You were never idling. You were preparing for your moment so that when the time was right, you would soar.”
This made me pause and wonder if there was really an upside to career stagnation. I will take it even further. Is the status quo preparing us for a stronger take off?
The upside of career stagnation- “Evaluate”
Wait a minute. Before I continue typing, I hope you know I am not encouraging stagnation. However, when and if it happens, we need to be able to see it through a rational lens. We need to be able to say, “So this happened- what’s in it for me?”
When you come to realize that you are idling, it is highly beneficial to evaluate 3 things:
Evaluate your portfolio of skills
What drives our careers forward are skills and potential. The first step is to identify the skills you have acquired to date, whether through your role, additional tasks and assignments or any side hustle. This means that if you are a ski instructor on the weekends, you are skilled at coaching, even if you don’t do this on the job.
Put up a list of those skills. Next to each, state at least three concrete examples. This is important so that you would be sure it is not just your personal impression, rather what you have showcased. When you’re done, it becomes clear to you what is the current value you can add to any role.
Evaluate your career aspiration
Some functions tend to be sexier than others. Everybody wants to have them. And they are better marketed as well. One of my previous managers once told me “Some people have the potential to take over different types of roles. They just need to choose whichever they’d be the best at”. This is particularly important when your career is stagnating. You need to reevaluate whether the job you have been chasing is the one that you will be the best at. For that, you will need that list of skills you prepared earlier along with the job description. Make sure to compare both and identify how compatible they are. Keep an open mind. Repeat that exercise with multiple functions. You never know- you might come across a new passion!
Evaluate your personal brand
This part is key. If you have a million skills and you’re keeping them a secret, then good luck moving forward with that career! Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not asking you to shout out your achievements. However, you need to know whether your management, peers or team perceive you in that way. And you can only find out through feedback.
Make it a point to gather a 360 feedback on each one of the skills you’ve listed. It’s simple. Walk up to your manager and ask them “How would you evaluate my strategic thinking”-for example. Ask your team “What do you think about my contribution towards your development?” These are conversation starters which would allow you to dig deeper and understand people’s perception of you. Be careful not to resist their feedback. The objective at this point is not to convince them, rather to understand.
Dealing with career stagnation- “Rebuild”
I know that a part of you feels entitled because you’ve been waiting around for too long. However, now is not the time to pray for good things to happen. Now is the time to be more active than ever. So, to step out of stagnation mode, you need to rebuild 3 things:
Rebuild your portfolio of skills
Industry needs change over time. This was more pronounced following the pandemic. So, you need to ask, have your skills become outdated? What is needed by employers today and soon?
To answer these questions, it’s worth doing some research. It is also important to keep an eye on the strategy and enablers of your organization. This can give you a hint on which skills would be in high demand. For example, if you notice -which you probably will- digitalization standing out in every town hall or global call, you know that if you don’t upskill in this area, you may become obsolete.
After you identify these skills, you can rebuild your portfolio through side hustles, assignments, a new diploma, or certificate, etc. Take over new challenges and experiment to grow. This will also increase your engagement at work and make you feel more accomplished. (Don’t hesitate to check out our article on gigs in the workplace)
Rebuild your career path
At this point, it is crucial to have clear career goals, considering the changes in industry trends and needs as well as your updated portfolio of skills. Many people don’t advance in their careers because they fail to draw a clear career path. There is no doubt that you should be open to opportunities. However, a boat sailing without a destination can only be carried randomly by the wind.
Rebuild your personal brand
Your brand is the perception or the emotion you leave others with. It is the reflection of who you are through what you do and how you do it. It doesn’t happen by accident. This perception is built through consistent interactions between you and the other person. Now, you can either leave it up to others to brand you; or you can actively build your own brand. Obviously, I suggest the latter. So, based on your career aspirations, everything you do (assignments, tasks, conversations, etc.) should contribute to building the reputation you’re aiming for and to create awareness regarding what value you can bring to the organization.
To better achieve this, it’s worth strengthening your network across the organization but also externally if you’re open for a move.
When our careers are stagnating, we are faced with a choice; we either drown in negativity and eventually make the wrong decisions, or we make the best out of it and eventually reboot our career.
Which choice will you make? What do you think? Keep the conversation going!
Feature Photo by Saulo Mohana on Unsplash