“Pale Beauty by Valerie Stangl Melancon

Leaders are constantly challenged to help their followers achieve success, advance in their careers, and deliver value to the company. It can be very frustrating, for everyone involved, when an employee has obvious talent and opportunity, but they don’t capitalize on it. Over the years, I have had many discussions with managers and supervisors about what holds people back from achieving their full potential. One of the most common causes I have identified is a lack of direction.

People simply don’t know what they want from their career!

As a leader, it’s your job to mentor and coach. The best leaders are open to helping people achieve success even if it means the employee will ultimately move on. I know some people will struggle with this concept, but this is the road to trust and loyalty. This is not a conflict of interest. In order to build the best team possible, you want to align employees self interests with company goals. If people are not where they are meant to be, they will never provide peak performance.

Here is a tool that I use when I have someone who is confused about their path. I give them two opposite perspectives and ask them a few questions. This process may be a struggle the first few times, but it gets easier for both parties with practice.

The Opportunities Ahead

The first scenario is for the person to imagine themselves in their current career today, and look forward at the possible opportunities ahead. Most people can do this even if they need a little help to get the ideas flowing. I like to work with them on a white board. I find this visual queue helps achieve engagement. I will start with a few thought stimulating questions to get the ball rolling, and write their answers on the board.

1. What comes naturally to you?
2. What activities make you lose track of time while doing them?
3. What have you always wanted to do as a career, but were too afraid to try?
4. If you could do anything in the world as a job with all the money you need to meet you lifestyle goals, what would it be?

Looking Back, Are you Happy?

Now I ask them to take A Change in Perspective… I ask them to imagine themselves in their final days looking back at their life. (I usually ask them to assign an age to this. I think it helps them visualize the situation better.) From this perspective, I ask them to imagine what career choices would make them feel happy. Working on the white board, I write their answers to a few questions:

1. What would make you proud to have been a part of?
2. What would have been most important to you:
   1. Relationships
   2. Giving back to the community
   3. Financial achievement
   4. other things???
3. Using their answers from the prior section (questions 3 & 4), would you be happy in your final days if you had pursued…..  ?

Wrap Up

As you continue to work with employees with these tools, look for connections with your company’s goals. This will allow you to advise employees on their career path. Encourage them to run through this exercise on their own, it takes time to develop. Ideally, it helps them open their mind and gain some level of clarity about what they want to achieve in their career. Heck, it may even be good for you to try…

When you are in your final days looking back, do you think you will be happy about your current career choice? (Leave a Comment)

Image credit and copyright: Valerie Stangl Melancon