When It’s Time to Go, You Gotta Go
a.k.a. “The No-Fear Approach to Your Next Career Move”
When you start to feel it’s time to do something new, to take the leap and leave the familiar, it can be daunting to think about how to approach the task of changing jobs and starting over.
Being afraid of change is natural, and anyone with humility will have some fear. Uncertainty in your ability to adjust to a new role, new environment and new people is very real, but so is the opportunity to learn, grow and succeed by embracing these changes.
I spent eight wonderful years at Salesforce, a mission-driven company that has been growing at an amazing pace – full of creative, passionate and smart people, with lots of opportunity to flourish professionally. But recently, I found myself thinking, wouldn’t it be wonderful to take everything I have learned, and go someplace smaller where I can help another company grow and scale and succeed?
Changing jobs was a big decision, but in the end, it was the right decision for me. And, I learned a lot in the process. If you’re ready to make a change, here are my top four tips on applying the “no-fear” approach when considering your next big career move:
1. Take the “no-fear” approach. Newness can be daunting. The unknown, even more so. It could be that, faced with the uncertainty of not knowing what’s out there, and being worried about your ability to adjust to a new place, new role, new people, you go with the safe option…stay with status quo, or find something very similar to it. Anyone with humility will have some fear. If you decide not to leap, be prepared to miss out hugely on all the excitement and learning…new skills, new environments, new people.
2. Understand your own “non-negotiables”. To embrace change, you need to be flexible, courageous and adaptable. But it’s just as important to know, and stay firm on, your non-negotiables. For each of us, there are some things that just have to be in place wherever we are. No choices, no maybes. For me, integrity is critical. I am black and white on integrity; “grey ethics” are unacceptable. And I must be part of a mission-driven, customer-centric company with deep customer focus, with people I respect professionally and like personally. Think about what your own deal-breakers are and stay true to your values when assessing new opportunities.
3. Apply logic, and then go with your gut. Thinking about transitioning to a new company and role means you commit to strong introspection. Be your own career consultant and take the reasoned approach. Consider your personal and professional priorities in life, and accept that there is no way that one does not spill into the other. Consider how your options compare if you assess them against your priorities. List them, then rank them. If you find the logical outcome is Option A, but your gut says Option B, listen to your gut. Analysis is valuable as a way of clarifying thinking and understanding the tradeoffs, but then there is instinct. Never ignore your instinct. Heart over mind.
3. Remember the people are the most important. In the first few jobs out of college, job-seekers make decisions based on the company, the role, the money, and to some extent, the people. It takes years to recognize that no matter how fulfilling your role or salary is, if you do not like and learn from the people you work with (the people you spend most of your waking hours with!), the rest matters very little.
Look for a team who you respect, whose values are aligned with your own, and importantly, a team who you can count on in difficult situations and want to celebrate with after important milestones. Ask the age-old question, will they be good company if you get stuck on a long-haul flight together? Use your network to ask others about the team culture and, as someone advised me, try to “bathe in the culture” yourself to see if it’s a good fit.
4. When you do it, dive right in: When you do initiate a move to something new, especially something outside your comfort zone, you may well have moments of self-doubt and uncertainty. Was it the right call? Can you handle the job? I can still remember, eight years ago, I took a huge leap of faith and changed everything I possibly could all at once: industry, function, role, company size, culture, everything. Months of bumpy moments ensued. But I can say today that it is the best move I ever made. Throw yourself into whatever you choose to do, give it your all, and don’t second-guess yourself.
Remember, you own your career. Clearly the business environment, the marketability of your skill set and the availability of jobs all impact your opportunities and decisions. But you can change, you can reshape your skills, and most importantly, you are in control of your own future. Take the opportunity to reassess your career every year to reflect on what you have learned, and what you can expect to learn and gain from the coming year. And then you should decide on your next step. Because if it’s time to go, you gotta go.
On to the next thing. Always be learning.
Originally published on LinkedIn