The Road Ahead: Easier than you think
Senior leaders’ careers can get stuck. They hit a plateau and stay there, sometimes permanently.
Their track record pointed to something else. A solid start in a profession, identified for better things, strong performance when they got promoted and then again. And so on.
When progress slows down, or stops altogether, they first default to old habits. Then they start to believe there is no value in ever considering a move up the ladder. So there they stay, either in the same job or a sideways position which proves to be no better.
They rarely consider one crucial aspect.
The distance between where they are now and where they want to get to is far smaller than the journey they have already travelled over time.
It might feel out of reach, but not compared to what they have already achieved.
They do not draw on their accumulated experience and success for inspiration. Yet doing so makes the next steps so much easier.
Here’s four elements of the how and why.
1. Draw out the perspective
Pull out your CV, and if you do not have a recent one, put together a simple career history. The audience is you, no need to spend time on the formatting.
Some people can be very good at losing sight of their own narrative. They can forget when their trajectory was steep, and what they did to make that happen.
Look at the distance between your first job and your current role. The gap between the two is often staggeringly large. Now consider the gap between where you are now and what you really want. My guess is that it is a fraction of the size.
The point is to shift the conversation about your next move from a ‘whether’ conversation to a ‘how’.
What were the internal factors, i.e. those you controlled yourself such as your workrate and determination, and what came externally? What is available to you externally that you have yet to exploit?
2. Work backwards
Picture yourself ten years down the line, not just in the next job which currently feels out of reach but the one after that.
What’s more, assume you are established in that role. Comfortable even, brimming with confidence and waiting to pick your moment when you might move up again. Maybe that is the same organisation or another one.
If you KNEW that is where you would be, what would you advise the ‘you’ of ten years’ ago to do first, second and third? What would be the rationale for that advice?
Then look at yourself now, and where you were two jobs ago. If you had that time again what would you do first? In fact, what DID you do first?
Your own history can be all you need to refer to in order to release the handbrake.
3. Use your network
How many of your network’s stories do you really know?
People are often more interested in where you are now, than how you got there.
Yet the journeys of your network and peers will include delayed starts, near misses, disasters and bumps in the road of all sizes.
Success is not a straight line for anyone. The best lessons come from those who were thrown off course and had to find a way through, just like you might do now.
The likelihood is that the situations dealt with by your peers will look more difficult than your current circumstances
Opportunities have a habit of showing themselves to those who are looking. As the old saying goes in education ‘when the pupil is ready, the teacher appears’.
How many people know what you want to achieve?
They might help you get there if you let them.
4. Getting ‘elevator ready’
If, by chance, you met the person who could offer you the opportunity you are really looking for, are you ready to speak to them?
You never know who you might bump into, or who might hear of what you do. The person who is your ideal next employer, or knows someone who fits that description, could be the next person you meet.
When those opportunities come around you need to take them. Doing so means being ‘elevator ready’ with a polished 30 second pitch you can remember.
The point of the pitch is not only to look professional, but also to answer the questions most likely to come your way.
Let’s use a simple structure
Introduction - who you are, what you do, where you do it and for how long
Future - What you want to do and why you want it
Signature achievement(s) to date - why you are ready
The point is not to impress by remembering it by rote, although that won’t harm, it’s about being clear from the outset. When you know what you are going to say, you can be far more confident in saying it.
Remember that
What got you here may not get you there. The ‘middle leader fixer’ who put out every fire and ran round every corner can have a ceiling on their achievements.
A senior leader needs a broader perspective, and spending time on that means relying on others doing the running.
How can I help you?
1. One to one coaching programmes for senior leaders who are swamped by their jobs so they can thrive in life. Click here to discover where you are on your journey from Frantic to Fulfilled? Just 5 minutes of your time and you will receive a full personalised report with guidance on your next steps.
2. Team coaching programmes - working IN a team is not the same as working AS a team and yet they are often treated as if they are the same. I help teams move from the former to the latter, and generate huge shifts in productivity and outcomes.
3. Talks, workshops and seminars - including topics relevant to the two areas above plus explaining Gen Z to Gen X and dealing with the intergenerational workplace. Speaker showreel here.
4. My book The Snowflake Myth will be published in 2025 - to receive a free chapter (when available 😬) please click here.
