We often hear, careers are not ladders but jungle gyms.
In essence, if you want to be successful in your career, you need to be nimble, spirited, open to moving across functions and industries, ready to pivot at the get go etc etc.
All great advice I not only endorse but also actively follow.
However, what we hardly talk about is how hard what comes later is. What happens after finding the pivot and engineering a move? How does one settle in?
Recently, a young friend of mine (X) articulated this conundrum really well. “I was a superstar in my function. I had deep expertise and experience, and hit every metric out of the park. But then, I wanted to move to a completely new function, because that’s the pivot I wanted my career to take. Now, I have transitioned into this dream job after putting a lot of fight, and suddenly I realise I am at the bottom. I know nothing. I am completely out of depth here. It isn’t a pretty feeling, not something I am used to. I have always been the superstar after all.”
What do you do when you are no longer the biggest fish in the pond, when you have to re-learn all the swimming techniques while trying not to drown?
Four years ago, when I pivoted industry and function both at the same time, the first thing that hit me was the lack of a network. I didn’t know anyone at all, in an incestuous industry where everyone knows everyone and often times even their families. The second thing that hit me was how behind I was vs my peers on industry knowledge itself.
What followed were a tough few months that took a fair bit of effort, perseverance, and missed moments in an endeavour to set my base up.
Looking back, I have some learnings that I believe can be useful not only for my young friend with the aforementioned conundrum but a number of others. The ones who experiment and adventure it out in this brave new world of ever changing careers and meandering pathways. The ones who start from base once more and suddenly find themselves out of depth when only a few weeks back they had been the superstars of the show.
Ask for help. Shamelessly. There is no way of learning that’s faster than asking someone who has tried and practised and honed something for longer than we have. People won’t have time, consumed by their individual workloads. No matter. Keep pushing, find small slots, go for coffee, diversify your help-circle with multiple people.
Define micro learning targets. What do you want to learn by week 1 on this new role? By month 1? By quarter 1? Micro targets help breaking the big problem down and give a sense of satisfaction.
Look for small wins. Follows directly from the above actually. The micro targets can lead to small wins that build your and others’ confidence in your progress. Nothing like some instant gratification.
Go deep on 1 or 2 items. The question always is, how broad and how deep. While the micro learning targets may help in going broad, identify one or two things during the journey you want to go deep on. Devote extra time and effort to those, so you start becoming an expert on something; it’s really pointless pursuing excellence and expertise in everything.
Believe in yourself. Corny though this sounds, bear with me for a minute. Someone believed that you could be trusted with this new role you have never done before. The least you can do in return is believe in yourself.
As always, the answer is a formula, though in this case more art than science. A tinge of patience, a dash of perseverance and oodles of optimism coupled with curiosity could be that secret sauce. What do you think?
P. S. Views strictly personal.
Addendum to the post:
Comment from Gowri -
2 things that help:
1) Knowing what to expect and being mentally prepared for not succeeding and flying right away. A sort of reasonable "stabilization timeline" after which you can do an honest and objective evaluation of the move.
2) Knowing (and reminding yourself especially on tough days) that you are not starting from scratch even when you are (especially true for career pivots). You are always taking forth things from your past with you, and the more cognizant you are of when your past experiences are helping you, the more confident you will get in your new skin.
Addendum to the post:
Comment from Ramya - Also meet people from different levels and across teams, particularly if the company is also new, not just role. Will give different perspectives and help in map and draw out inferences.