Start Tracking Your new Job- There is no Job Finding GPS
I just finished a lovely slip of a book written by Boyd Varty, The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life.
Boyd's family owns and runs a no-kill safari operation in Londolozi, South Africa. Boyd's father and uncle restored an overgrazed ranch their father had purchased on a whim to a lush landscape filled with native plants and African animals.
Boyd grew up on the land and learned to track wildlife early on. While Boyd no longer tracks professionally, he shares the wisdom he learned as a tracker in his book.
"I don't know where we're going, but I know exactly how to get there."
What a strange statement.
What an absolutely true statement!
I often work with clients who are ready for a career change. The change must happen for any number of reasons:
They are unsupported by their leadership
They have lost their passion for the work
They are no longer challenged
The bottom line is that their future is not with this job.
That much is clear.
What is unclear:
What should I do instead?
My clients know when they need to leave a job, and yet they stay. They remain in a job to sap their energy, deplete their resources, and undermine their self-confidence.
They stay because they don't know where they are going.
"I don't know where we're going, but I know exactly how to get there."
Boyd never knows where he will end up when he begins tracking big game, but he does know how he will track the animal. He searches the ground for pawprints, notices how smaller animals behave, and even checks the sky for bird and insect activity. Boyd constantly scans for faint signs that he is on the right track.
The temporary loss of the trail is not failure; it is one less path to travel.
Career change is also a tracking exercise.
Herminia Ibarra's book Working Identity is a career changers tracking guide.
Ibarra advocates looking for clues to your next career in a variety of ways:
take on side projects
meet new people
take a class
volunteer
talk to colleagues
diligently inventory your strengths
access your gaps
Experiment, experiment, experiment!
Notice what feels right and what seems interesting. When you lose the trail, turn back and try new things to uncover the next step.
Don't wait to start tracking down your next job. There is no such thing as a career-finding GPS.
"I don't know where we're going, but I know exactly how to get there."
Anthony is one of my favorite clients. We have worked together for over a year and talk weekly. His role is under pressure, and performance expectations are rising. Anthony is disillusioned and disappointed. He doesn't feel valued, and there are signs that he may be performance-managed out of a job.
Anthony talks about leaving and then talks himself into staying "to see what will happen." He doesn't love the company, and the company doesn't seem to love him, but he stays because he doesn't know where he should go.
Anthony has yet to become a committed tracker. He is still looking for his GPS—a clear beacon that will lead him straight to the next job.
He remains stuck waiting for the Bat signal while his job erodes his energy, self-confidence, and creativity.
Those willing to become trackers uncover new jobs. They get out and try things. They accept what tracking requires: time, acceptance of dead ends, fruitless exploration, and asking others for help and insight.
As Boyd says:
"I don't know where we're going, but I know exactly how to get there."