“Success is not final,
failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston
Churchill
Almost everyone
experiences mid-career crisis their corporate lifespan. Some of them drive
ahead while the rest remain stuck with old responsibilities, designations and
salaries. Some of the problems faced by a corporate executive after certain
years (8 to 15) of experience can be listed as below:
- Scope of further growth seems scarce
- No new learnings or no value addition in the
professional life
- Compensation is not according to knowledge and
experience level
- No scope of promotion or very late promotion
- The job profile is not aligned with the skillset and
knowledge
- No job satisfaction
- No job security, fear of unknown or opaque future
- You are apathetic towards your work and often
disinterested in achieving greater results
- You are impatient, defensive and disgruntled
- Boredom
- FOMO – Fear of missing out - a widely-known cognitive
bias
This is called mid
carrier crisis.
Above mentioned are
the problems, now let’s focus on the solutions!
Let me address the
above pointers to help you avoid these common mistakes and prepare you to fight
your mid-career crisis.
We can divide our
corporate career into four stages. In the first stage, we choose our career
path, acquire relative knowledge and skills to start our journey. The
confidence level is at peak and enthusiasm is on point. The sky seems to be the
limit! The second stage is the first few years of our career, where we learn
new things, complete some projects and achieve new heights. The mind wants to
know more, learn more and do more. The third stage of career starts when we
pass through mid-career. This stage is again different for different people. In
this stage, we have considerate years of work experience. We begin to handle
big teams and have frequent interactions with top management. Your opinions
matter and subordinates seek your guidance. We may handle multiple domains like
delivery, service and presales. Despite seemingly content, we feel dissatisfied
and stuck. This stage is the onset of confusion and sometimes we don’t know
where to go further. Occasionally, we start doubting on our previous decisions.
Have you ever thought
why a general corporate employee faces such mid carrier crisis and what can
they do to overcome such scenarios? Listed below are the three steps to
recognize, target and solve such complications:
1. Accept that you have a problem!
Be realistic and accept that you are going through a mid-career
crisis. Many times, people don’t know that they are experiencing it and fail to
mark the red flags. The acceptance brings courage to pin it down and work
towards it. It will instigate you to take some corrective measures.
2. Time to Introspective and Analyze!
As per my experience, emerging out of such a crisis is not as
hard as it may seem. If you look back at your significant years of experience,
you will see that the solution was right there all along. The only thing needed
is to retrospect. Walkthrough your stages carefully and analyze based on your
current situation and capability. Identify the problem area, make note of where
you are lagging and start working on it.
3. Hit the Bull’s Eye!
The crisis is not the same for everyone. Hence, different
solutions are applicable. It’s not a one size fits all path. “Trial and Error”
method is one way to experiment and see what works best for you and what
doesn't. Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Play to your pros and be aware
of your cons. For example, collaboration maybe your weakness area. Work on that
area, there are lots of tools and techniques available, apply it and come out
of this situation. It is not a big deal! Below are some of the suggested
solutions that you can apply according to your needs:
Be passionate!
Best fit opportunity
is more important than the best opportunity. Be patient and follow your
passion. Look for organizations aligned with your passion. You never know when
an opportunity will come up. Plan and execute your battel systematically. Be
strategic and pull yourself out of the crisis with a new instilled zeal to
achieve what you always wanted to.
Define your goal
Success is a huge
platter that appeals to different people with different tastes. There are
diverse forms of success. For some, it can be wealth, respect or fame. There
are five keys to success - Determination, Skill, Passion, Discipline and Luck.
Rome was not built in a day nor can a successful career. You are the artist of
your career canvas. Analyze, learn from your mistakes and paint your future
yourself.
Upgrade yourself!
You must be upgrading
your gadgets now and then. Why can’t we upgrade our self? If you feel that
there are no new learnings in your workspace, upskill yourself! Complete your
education in your area of expertise, gain certifications, attend training,
workshops, seminars and conferences. Keep yourself and your resume updated.
This will form the path to walk out of your crisis. Your supervisor and
colleagues will see the difference in you and based on your new acquired skills
they may provide you with more responsibility and accountability.
Keep an eye!
Take Arjuna from
Mahabharata as an example and keep your goal in sight. Never build a comfort
zone, instead keep looking for opportunities to reach your end goal. These
opportunities may be in your existing organization or outside and sometimes you
may have switch fields as well. Spencer Johnson beautifully explained this
concept in his book “Who moved my cheese”. In modern times, career is no longer
linear, and we have abundant options available. There can be multiple career
paths within one lifespan. I have seen many examples where an individual
started with a certain professional calling, but later changed it midway to a
different profile and ended up successful. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, for
example, was a cook by profession who later changed his path to becoming a
superstar.
Crisis be the Blessing
in Disguise!
Recharge and
Rejuvenate. This mid-career crisis can be a time to relieve yourself of the rat
race. Its time to take a break and spend some quality time with loved ones. Go
for a sabbatical and do the things which you always wanted to do. Travel the
world, learn Yoga, practice meditation or write a book. Do whatever you could
not because of the work pressure.
Meet with a career
counsellor
If none of the above
options works for you then you may consider taking professional help from a
career counsellor. They take aptitude and achievement assessments. Your
interests, backgrounds, skills, abilities, education, and training will be
evaluated by them. Based on those evaluations the counsellor will provide
advice to help you plan realistic goals and manage your journey through
professional life, learning and work changes.
Change is Constant.
Nothing is permanent
in this world. No matter what problems or issues you are facing in your
professional life at present, it will change sooner or later. Obviously, it
will not be spoon-fed! You need to work for it. Don’t stress yourself too much
worrying about the situation. Heraclitus said - There is nothing permanent
except change.
Love what you do!
Find meaning in your
current job. List out the activities that give you joy and pleasure in your current
work profile. Look at how your work benefits other people’s lives. Passion can
evolve and change - keep your mind flexible and open to circumstances. Listen
to your heart and take a stand. Accept your weirdness. Embrace your uniqueness
to develop yourself further, discover more in life and explore your true
self.
Reboot and Refresh!
Just like computers
you need to reboot yourself after a bad crash. If you don’t like the view from
where you stand you can always walk new roads. Look for the new opportunities
if you feel that the current position is not working for you. Switching can be
tough but if you are good at what you do, there will be no problem in getting
in new jobs. You can contemplate to re-start your career. It can be refreshing
to work with a new project, new team, new boss, new environment and new
organization. Starting afresh can be a good way to get rid of the saturation.
Mid-Career Crisis is
nothing but a hurdle in the road to success. Such hurdles are faced and
overcome in small or big aspects of our lives. Everyone faces it at least once!
You should always keep climbing up but at times you reach a point where the
stairs seem vague. The mid-career crisis is a big fall, but you need to
strategically plan to gather yourself up and have the courage to rise like a
phoenix.
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