The Fellowship of the Career Transition: Who gets a seat for the journey?

Career transitions are hard. Forced firings, voluntary exits and directional divergences all come with their own challenges and required degrees of resilience. Even changes that begin full of hope and optimism often meander into the unknown and downright terrifying. It is not uncommon to weather the gamut of emotions that is associated with the grief cycle as one goes through a career change.

Mentees and myself have all had the opportunity to go through what can be described as a profound learning experience. The career change experience is also a friends and family special, with intimate details laid bare for scrutiny and words of encouragement. How the phoenix rises from the ashes is a direct correlation to will of the self and power of what I refer to as the Fellowship.

Success is not only about bringing your A game and your best self to the party. Absolutely! That is a must. But there is more, that matters more. Advice, lecture and counsel alike, from motivational authors to medium posts extol “if you want it and believe it, you can have it”.

Perhaps that’s true for acing your SATs, and somewhat true for getting in shape but it couldn’t be further from practical when making a career transition or for that matter succeeding in life. Bill Burnett and Dave Evans discuss this concept in their seminal book on “Designing your Life”, where they discuss the right way to find a job and the power of community in transforming your life. They nailed it!

What's the lesson?

I learnt my lesson later in life than I needed to. My parents raised me to believe I could achieve anything I want if I worked hard and never gave up. So, I studied..really hard! Genetic prewiring made the learning easier and praise and rewards kept me going. Valedictorian, university topper, near perfect scores in SAT, GRE and GMAT, job offers with top pay and at choice employers, and success in the workplace.

But I wanted to discover more, understand what my life path was, what my work/career path should be. So, I spent time at the drawing board, reading, talking to a little circle of trusted advisors and brainstorming solutions. Months later, nothing. Zip. Nada. I was no further along to an answer than where I had started. Sure, I had a lot more knowledge and hence choices but a clear path forward? Nope!

It is relatively easy to follow a trodden path and re-engineer the criteria for success that is defined on generic terms but the process does not hold ground in the exercise of building anything meaningful. At first I attributed the lackluster performance to fading gumption. Was it mid-life crisis? Though I hadn’t quite reached mid-life and it wasn’t quite a crisis. (It was a good excuse to get a yellow corvette stingray but financial prudence beckoned)
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Right counsel made the answer quite apparent. You need to surround yourself with the right types of good people (your Fellowship) to help you traverse the path and find your answers. And it isn’t a one-time static exercise in the type or choice of companions, it’s a fluid process as you learn more and discover more about yourself and the constantly changing world. 

Who can help?

Here’s the Fellowship that’s helpful for a career transition (in no specific order of importance, of course you come first):

1. You: Bring your best self and commit to the process. Before embarking on the quest to find the next job or new job, forced or not, it is critical to take care of oneself – physically, mentally, spiritually. Openness to ideas, possibilities and a willingness to stay the course are needed.  A big truth is that you can’t fake this process and there are no shortcuts. You really must want to discover and be interested in others to reciprocate.
2. Spouse/Family: Apart from needing all their encouragement and support to keep you going, even on the days the clouds never seem to break for the sun, you need to inform your family so they can provide you the most non-judgmental counsel you can receive. Plus, you can plan for any adjustments and compromises, both parties will need to make, sooner which is always less stressful.
3. Books & Blogs: Find time to read anywhere and everywhere – in the passenger seat, on the toilet seat, when the kids are asleep. There is incredible learning in another’s wisdom. Well regarded folks like Bill Gates and Marc Cuban all post book reviews and book lists online. If these books worked for them, they can work for you.  Read books about what you want to work on/in ex: consulting, operations, finance. They will show you a world that will take you a very long time to discover on your own. Read blogs, listen to blogs – james altucher can really begin to feel like your best friend. Good blogs do a wonderful job of giving you hope and keeping your resilience fresh.
4. Friends/Team: (the sort who counsel and perhaps kick your behind into action when needed): You could have one friend or many. This is the person who supports you, gives you guidance and listens. They may be in the same field of work as you and/or the same industry (or not). They hear you out and help you reflect, help you get clarity on thoughts and musings, so that you can decide and move forward.
5. Professional career counselor: I have found professional career counselors helpful. Would I pay for one? Likely not. But if your company is paying for one either during or post-employment, by all means, talk to one. They can offer unbiased and professional feedback on your resume and LinkedIn profile. They often host useful workshops on entering a new field or function, and the good ones offer a good listening ear.
6. Coach aka Mentor: Even if you never planning on leaving your job or moving up the ladder, you still need a coach. Someone who has had the experience of taking a 360 degree view at a problem. They come at your queries at angles that guide you to clarity. They have seen people tread the path you intend to and will draw on that to get you to widen your lenses of consideration. A coach could be your prior manager or a professional or a senior executive who admires your grit and willingness and drive and wants to help you. You likely remind them of their younger self, and they would love to hold out the helping hand that someone once held for them. They are closer and more accessible than you think, and you have likely even kept the relationship going. If not, get started now. And, find multiple mentors.
7. Functional/Technical experts/ Ones who have gone the path before: If you know where you are headed (title/function/company/industry), talk to the folks who have been there, done that. Meetup groups and workshops are great places to talk to them if that’s your scene. If not, ask for someone to refer you or reach out directly 1-1 to learn about their journey. It helps to really figure out if what they do is what’s right for you to pursue. Don’t discount your alumni network – you already have common ground for a conversation. Talk to as many people as you can to get an objective view.
8. Connectors: It’s truly amazing how nice people are. 80% of people do really want to help. For the other 20%, sometimes life gets in the way and they need to deal with stuff (it’s nothing personal). Connectors have built up their network over time and out of necessity (ex: running an agency, VC) Try to make your way to one through a referral, build rapport and ask them to connect you to many others who would be helpful for you to learn from. The magic often unfolds as conversations take people on ways they never considered before.
9. Recruiters: Reach out actively to recruiters. It doesn’t hurt. While its always better and easier to find yourself squarely in the tracks of the hiring manager’s train, recruiters often know of roles that are yet to be advertised and can connect you to more people.

The team is fluid and depends on the type and urgency of the transition you are looking to make. If circumstances call for a quick change, perhaps it is more of the connectors you want to focus on connecting to. If it’s a discovery process, you need people from all buckets. Some people may do dual roles – a coach can also be an excellent connector and that’s a bonus.

Get Ready...

The list and process may seem daunting. It is. With everything else to manage, where is the time to go find all these people and how to go about this process? Patience is key. This is not an overnight fix.

This isn’t about going to small or large events and painting the room red aka networking (though if you can do that, kudos! Most networking events left me feeling like wallpaper.) I say, start small. Look at your immediate circle, your co-workers, friends, managers. Who can play which role? Who can connect you to someone in another role – LinkedIn is your best friend for stalking here. Ask one to connect to one.

A close friend met 96 people in six months, and she is an introvert. I believe if she can, I can and we all can. Why wait for the pink slip to arrive? Start today and build slowly. Convert “busy time” at work to “build time”, so that you can engineer your own career transition. It is an active process requiring mindfulness.

It’s a lot of coffee and a lot of driving. So, buckle up! It’s a change in traditional approach to managing a transition where our first instinct is to shut the doors, curl into a ball (eat ice-cream) and then work hard on aspects we can fully control. That approach may work but it’s not guaranteed to be a fulfilling process or bring the best outcomes. Why not surround yourself with the right people to help and guide you in the journey?

On the occasions that I have observed people apply this approach not just during career transitions but also on an everyday basis, results do take a bit longer to achieve. But those results are bigger, better and bolder, concocted from the collective wisdom of so many well-wishers.  As with all collective undertakings, pay the favor back and pay the support forward, to everyone who helped and to everyone who needs help.
 
Credits
You can find Dave Evans and Bill Burnett’s book here. 
Here is also an insanely good article on becoming insanely well-connected.

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