Another tool in the emotional adulthood in our careers toolbox is figuring out where you want to go next in your career.
A lot of the women that I work with tell me that they don’t know what they have to do to get to the next step in their career, and more often than not, they’re not even sure what the right next step is!
Emotional adulthood in our careers means plotting our own courses, and getting really clear on what we consider to be success in our careers and lives.
There’s a method that I’ve used with my own direct reports to explore what the right next move is. I originally heard about this on the Podcast Radical Candor and have used it over and over again with my people.
The best thing about this method is that you don’t need your manager to do this process with you! I’ve adapted the process so that you can do it on your own! If you’re doing this on your own, journal on the answers to the questions.
I like to go through this process on three separate days, with about a week between each step. This will give you a chance to process what’s come up in each step, and plan your path going forward. So I’ll describe each of these steps in posts over the next few weeks.
For each of these steps, set aside about 45 minutes. Get comfy with a cup of coffee and your journal.
First step is to tell your life story.
Starting from as far back as you can remember, lay out how you got from there to where you are now.
Don’t leave out any of the good stuff!
What did you enjoy doing when you were little?
How did you interact socially?
Did you play any instruments/sports/participate in clubs?
What were you like at home?
What were your parents like?
How did they influence you?
Do you have any siblings?
What college did you go to?
What did you major in?
Minor?
What was your favorite class?
What did you enjoy doing in college?
What do you hate?
What do you avoid at any cost?
What has your career path looked like so far?
What roles have you been in?
What did you like about the roles that you’ve had?
What are you really good at?
What did you not like about the roles that you’ve had?
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
What does your family look like now? Kids? Pets?
How are you doing handling family life and work life?
What does that look like for you?
Over the next week, take a look at the answers that you wrote to these questions.
What you’re looking for is patterns and hidden talents!
Was there a theme that repeated itself through your life story?
What talents do you have?
What do people always come to you for?
Are they being utilized in your current role?
Think on these questions and jot down some notes on what you notice.
We’ll talk about the next step next week!