Time to Move On?

From time to time in my coaching I’m asked to help someone decide if it’s time for them to move on from their current professional place. If you’re looking for snappy answers, you’ve come to the wrong guy. But if you want some help working it out for yourself, here are some of the issues I’d want to explore with you:

1. Do you have joy, or just a job?

2. How frequently are you bored? Is your work mostly intellectually, emotionally, and professionally challenging?

3. Do you regularly feel “out of sync” with your colleagues?

4. Do you have the authority to push back with clients who want you to act outside your professional comfort zone?

5. Do you feel like you’re growing professionally?

6. Do you feel that you’ve achieved what you set out to achieve when you came on board?

7. Do you feel you can’t get past feeling tired or burned out?

8. Do you sometimes feel like you don’t like the person or professional you’re becoming?

These are not exhaustive, but they can help focus what is often a nagging sense that things aren’t right. More often than not, the outcome is to deal with one or two specific issues, or to have some important conversations with specific people in your organization. It may well be that things just need to be tweaked somewhat to get you back into a place of “flow” and professional satisfaction. And sometimes it’s the “business side” of your work that needs attention.

On the other hand, it may be that it’s time to close one door and open another. A few of us are fortunate enough to be able to walk away from one income stream straight into another, but most of us need to plan these things carefully. In some cases there may be legal implications such as having signed a non-competition agreement.

In the final analysis, if your professional life has mostly become a grind, there’s only one person who can do anything about it. Guidance and coaching will help you with the process, but at the end of the day it has to start and end with your choices.

Request: I’m building out my website and getting ready to publish my book. One of the most valuable things I could ask for in both cases would be your endorsement or commendation, together with permission to use it in one or the other. If my writing, coaching, or speaking has helped or touched you, I’d be most grateful for a few words.