A Guide For Sailing Through Your Career Transitions

Article from Todayonline

I first wrote about the “Next 5Cs”: Course, Courage, Capacity, Commitment
and Compassion in May. Today, I will look at how these “Next 5Cs” are
essential to navigating career transitions.

On our sailboat passage from Canada to Australia, my wife and I got stuck in the doldrums, 1,600km from land. The doldrums are 800km wide and the home of a blazing sun, week-long calms and severe electrical storms with storm force winds.

As a transition zone between the winds of the northern and southern hemispheres, sailors must sail through the doldrums if they are to realise their ambitions of travelling to far away places.

As such, we too must make difficult transitions in our careers.If we are to move from junior to senior and from ordinary toextraordinary, there are a few major transformations to navigate (seebox).

Each transformation requires not that we do different things, or that we do things differently, but that we become fundamentally changed and be transformed.

But, like passing through the doldrums, when we are in the process of transforming we feel stressed, uncertain and confused.

We lose our bearings and are uncertain about how to proceed. In transition, we are often buffeted by strong forces that seem to come from nowhere and we become afraid.

How do we navigate through these career transitions? Start to cultivate within yourself each of the 5Cs.

Pick a Course: To cross the uncertainty of transitions, you must have a destination in mind. That way, when you are becalmed in transition, you will have a course to set your sails by as you work each zephyr to inch
forward.

It doesn’t matter that your greater destination will change as your career proceeds, what matters is you have a course to set your compass by.

Set goals that define how you will be proactive, decide what gifts you want to contribute through your work, what work context will support your career goals and who and how you will help others learn.

Build Courage: You must practice taking risks to build that courage to be extraordinary. Practice standing out, being proactive, stepping out of
your role and comfort zone and declaring your unique contribution.

You must risk insisting that your work aligns with your gifts, and risk allowing those you are teaching to make mistakes on your watch so that they can learn.

Build Capacity everyday in every way. “Work only” is never sustainable by itself – you must have the strength of a full and balanced life to sustain yourself.

Being ‘extraordinary’ means bringing who you really are into play at work, and that is how it feels when you are extraordinarily successful – like play.

A life of integrated play and work is your platform for excellence. Your life platform is built from exercising vigorously nearly everyday, eating well but moderately, resting and recharging with contemplative practices, and taking time to smell the flowers.

Be deeply Committed: If you are to make your work an expression of your gifts, you will have to make difficult choices and big commitments.

Stand by your choices, at first for yourself, and later as a leader for your colleagues.

You build your capacity for commitment by learning two things: how to say no, ironically, and by learning to take responsibility for everything over which you have the slightest choice.

Become a responsibility warrior – take responsibility for everything in your life and work. Eradicate blame and powerlessness from your stance.

Learn how to ‘decide’, that is, learn how to kill off the alternatives until you are committed from the very core of your being.

This unleashes the power to be extraordinary.

Be Compassionate: Compassion is love for yourself and then for others. I know, we are not supposed to talk about love in the workplace, but show me
a workplace that works and I’ll show you a workplace where people care about themselves and one another.

I’ll show you a workplace where trust is the basis for relationship, not power or fear and where people are committed to their own and everyone’s success. To build compassion, learn to love yourself first by discovering how to accept who you really are – the good, the bad and the ugly.

It’s a process that is surprisingly fun and powerful.

Seems like a lot of work? The next 5Cs, like your career, are not so much a destination as a journey. Begin today in the spirit of learning and discovery. One day at a time, you will be transformed.

Transform From:Transform To:

- Being reactive Being proactive

- Fulfilling a role Contributing your gifts

- Serving your workplace Aligning your work context to your career goals

- Continuous learning A teacher of others