How to Get on A Strategic Career Path Now (and Save Yourself Years)
New Year is a moment to take stock and assess how things have been going. If we find them lacking, we can choose a new direction.
Or maybe moving in a new direction soon isn’t even about the new year.
You may be here because you’ve seen your business school or college people get ahead, and it’s not sitting right.
Or you’ve just celebrated a milestone birthday, and you’re thinking of the future.
Maybe someone younger got promoted ahead of you.
Or you just got passed over.
Whatever your reason, any of these natural infection points may have you wondering:
“How do I get on the right career path quickly?”
And that’s why this blog is all about:
The main thing keeping you from a strategic path (and how to shift it)
A new mid-career approach to strategic paths
4 skills you’ll need to get on your path
Main thing keeping you from a strategic path (and how to shift it)
Take a moment to reflect on what it means to be on the right path.
If you’re a high achiever in mid-career, you’ve definitely felt what it’s like: taking clear, strategic action that you’re sure leading somewhere you’re excited (or curious) to move toward.
There’s a roadmap. And you know exactly where on the map you are. So even if you don’t have perfect clarity on your final destination, you know you’re heading toward it.
The thing that is fundamentally true about being on a path (and knowing it’s the right one) is that you’re headed toward something. Call it your North Star, your vision, an anchor. I call it your Long Term Career Destination (LTCD).
Most people think about this North Star as the next step…
I like to think further out–five years from now or ten. Once you establish that, your first step toward this longer-term vision becomes clear. AND you can be sure you’re moving toward something meaningful (vs. moving away from where you are now).
Your first step could be knowing whether you will stay at your organization or leave.
If you’re staying, an LTCD helps you figure out where in your organization you need to go.
If you’re leaving, your LTCD clarifies what the next organization you’ll join should look like–what its product, service, or mission is and what experiences the next role needs to afford you.
Knowing your LTCD helps you bridge the gap between your current industry and the next one.
Having that LTCD is like plotting a destination on that map. And from there you can get there by train or bus or unicorn. As long as you’re headed toward your LTCD, you’re heading in the right direction.
So to get on the right path or, better put, a right path (because there are many), there is an inherent implication of a destination.
Yet many ambitious women I work with come to me when they’ve pushed down the gas pedal so hard they’re stalled. Or are cruising along with no real destination. Either they haven’t taken the time to stop the car and decide where they’re going. Or they don’t know how to find their way on the map.
And that has cost them years.
New approach in mid-career
Here’s what I know about the women I work with: they’re incredibly savvy and resourceful. They work hard and take consistent action… and they have a tendency to think they can do everything on their own.
This quality can be remarkable. After all, who doesn’t love a self-starter?
In fact, it’s likely that for years you’ve been rewarded for figuring it all out alone.
And when it comes to finding roles, you might even have had success. But here are a few reasons why, in mid-career, this approach may no longer serve you…
1. Time is of the essence
Mid-career is a rich time. Each day is full of competing family, partnership, and work responsibilities. The thing that tends to suffer is time to ourselves. We forgo time to relax and recharge, yes. But also choose our own adventure and design the career we deserve.
As we’ve seen, answering the question: ‘How do I get on the right career path quickly?’ begins by answering the question, ‘Where’s this path leading?’
Without a container of dedicated space and time to answer these questions, weeks, months, and years drag on without an answer.
This is one of the greatest tragedies of mid-career I have seen:
At the moment when you could be defining your LTCD… building a brand and path to get there and cultivating the skills you need to move forward, you may instead grow exhausted and disheartened from all the wrong turns you took over years of searching for the answer.
2. What got you here won’t get you there (as fast)
If you’re here, it’s safe to say that you’re great at your work. You’ve mastered your role, and you're ready for the next step: leadership.
You may already be on a list of high potentials or have been chosen for leadership workshops, etc.
But here’s the thing: seeking leadership is not the same as getting the next job.
Making that jump from individual contributor to management is unlike any other transition. It’s a sea change.
It means demonstrating a whole new set of leadership skills, no matter your industry:
Vision setting - for your career and your team or org
Storytelling - bringing stakeholders along with a compelling story about who you and your team are and how you can take them toward your vision
Influence - learning how to position your story for the right stakeholders
Delegation - letting others do what they do best so you can focus on doing what you love AND building the next-level skills and experience you need to beeline to your LTCD.
That’s a lot to learn. Without useful frameworks & opportunities to practice these skills during the job search or promotion process, it can take years of on-the-job experience to figure them out on your own without any guarantee that you’re working toward what you actually want.
My aim here is to demystify what it takes to get ahead in your career quickly. If this is delivering value and you’re craving more direction, I invite you to do a deeper dive with me on how to:
find your LTCD - where you’re going and what you do there
build a leadership brand
position yourself with relevant stakeholder
And do it within 6 short months.
I cover all this and more in a private invite-only masterclass where I break down how to get on the right path faster. It’s only available to folks who apply to the AC Electric online group coaching course: the Career Strategy GPS program. If that’s you, apply here, and if accepted, you’ll get access.
3. You’re going to change jobs a lot
The traditional corporate ladder is a thing of the past. No longer will you automatically move up at your company like clockwork and receive a gold pocket watch for your years of loyal service.
At present, the average worker will change jobs every 3-5 years. That means you will have to set, adjust or at the very least revisit what you want from your next role every 2 years. Every 18 months or so, you’ll have to reactivate your network and find the right role. Same with tweaking your LinkedIn and reworking your resume, going on interviews, or building your case at review.
If you’re anything like me, you’re all about efficiency and repeatable processes. If I know I’m doing something more than once, I want a template.
Knowing this is an emerging need, wouldn’t it be great to have a repeatable framework that not only:
Sets your LTCD for years to come (so you know what’s next after each job and don’t have to waste precious time trying to figure it out)
Offers a clear step-by-step framework for how to set a vision, tell a compelling story and bring along any stakeholder you’ll need to get to your destination.
These vision, storytelling, and influence skills aren’t the only things you’re going to need to move to the roles along your most strategic career path. They’re also the skills you’ll need to get things done in those roles.
Conclusion
Getting on the right strategic path is an enviable goal. Yet, many people barrel forward without knowing where they’re going or cruise or idle along the way. This can lead to detours that cost them years of moving forward in their careers.
Having a Long Term Career Destination (LTCD) and vision, storytelling, and influence skills are some tools needed to meet the demands and capitalize on the opportunities of mid-career growth.
As always, if you’ve gotten value from this and you’re craving more, I invite you to join me in my free masterclass.
It’s a deeper dive into how to:
find your LTCD - where you’re going and what you do there
build a leadership brand
position yourself with relevant stakeholder
get on the right path faster
Within only 6 months, specifically.
I break down all of this and more for folks who apply to the Career Strategy GPS program, AC Electric’s online group coaching course. If you’re ready to get on that path faster, apply here, and if accepted, you’ll get access to the masterclass and next steps.