I am trying to listen to more podcasts. Almost every time I listen to one that is recommended to me, I find myself thinking about the content for days to come. It’s not a medium I have incorporated into my regular routine. Then I look at how many podcasts there are and I get overwhelmed. I don’t have a system that works yet, but I’m trying.
I recently listened to an episode of Women at Work from Harvard Business School, called “How to Leap Mid-Career from One Industry to Another.”
I was drawn to it because I am working with a number of clients who are making career shifts, either within industry or considering a change. It also occurred to me that quite a few people close to me recently have said in conversation “What if I don’t want to do this anymore? This thing that I have trained my whole life to do and to be?” It’s a tough question.
The guidance shared on the podcast included the following:
- Do the work to get clear on what you are looking for. It’s inner work, but it’s critical. There are two common barriers to progress here:
- We get in our own way because we think it just can’t be done. We look at all the hurdles of why it can’t work. We focus on what we’re missing versus what we can bring to the table.
- We focus on moving away from something. The most important thing when you’re making a career move is to be moving towards something and not away from something. So you first have to do the work of asking, “What are my core interests? What do I really enjoy? What is that common thread that interests me?” and to start pulling out the themes – that is what you are moving TO.
- Make a plan, and stay accountable.
- Carve out time. Can you reserve 30 minutes a day? Can you go to work an hour late two days a week? What part of your calendar can you block off to focus on this work?
- If you are committed to a current job with a lot of responsibility, get creative. How much time can you commit on the weekends? As you make some progress, consider what sick or personal days you have. When the time is right, look at vacation time. Can you take a full week? A week of solid focus on your job search can move mountains, especially taken at the right time.
- Take action. The biggest regret people have is NOT going for something.
- At a certain point, you recognize that there is a cost to staying still. It feels free, but it’s not. And when you recognize the cost, you then become willing to make the shift.
Here’s what I loved most about this podcast episode. It really resonated with my own work. When I work with individuals and organizations, I use a framework I call FCR.
Side bar: Those of you who are math educators from the 2010s might notice that I borrowed the language from the “Math Shifts of the Common Core State Standards,” something I was deeply involved in developing. Hey, when something works, go with it!
The FCR framework is what I use for both organizational and 1-1 client work, and I love how much it aligns with advice given in this podcast.
- In my framework, the first step is FOCUS. In this step we build your vision and get focused by prioritizing what is most important.
- Then we build your strategy with COHERENCE. We develop a plan, but we also consider potential barriers, and we develop strategies to get them out of the way. We ensure that your actions are in alignment with your vision.
- And finally, we take action, even imperfect action, with RIGOR. Don’t be fooled by the word choice here – rigor doesn’t mean “hard” (and it didn’t in the math shifts either, by the way!). It means taking a balanced approach. In the case of my FCR framework RIGOR means taking action and implementing the plan, but making room for flexibility, adaptation, humanity, and self-care.
This approach has guided a lot of my major transitions in my own life, and I’ve used this to navigate organizational shifts as well. If you know an individual or an organization who needs some FCR to make their next move, send them my way! I’m currently booking clients for 2025.
0 Comments