The Power To Explore Career Growth

Recently I interviewed two professionals working at Colorado State University about their strategies for maintaining thriving careers. They’ve both worked at the institution for over 10 years, and while they like the stability an organization like CSU can offer, they’re also driven to keep their work interesting and expanding.

This ties to the concept of wanting a level of certainty in our lives, such as having a predictable source of income and knowing our jobs well enough to do them successfully, while also desiring an element of uncertainty around, “What can I do next?” Achieving a satisfying level of variety can be a challenge though, as employers rely on employees to perform a defined set of tasks with expertise and consistency.

So on their own, both CSU workers identified a few potential areas for growth, and then went on walkabouts to learn what it would be like to be involved in those roles. Each interviewed a handful of specialists, gathered helpful data, and then made some career decisions.

One had considered aiming for a management position. Yet after learning more about what that would entail, as well as getting clearer about the skills she most wanted to use, she refined her career goal to get more involved in staff training. She presented this aim to her manager, and together they’ve found ways for her contribute her talents to those activities within the scope of her present job.

The other confirmed for herself that she’d really love to be involved in women’s leadership development. She also determined that making a career switch in the near future wasn’t feasible. Rather than giving up on her desires altogether, however, she launched a few sideline undertakings—a blog and some workshops—and for now those are successfully satisfying her career aspirations.

It would be ideal if our jobs could consistently satisfy all of our professional career hopes and dreams, yet that won’t be the experience for most of us. Thankfully though, we have the power to explore and implement steps that will boost our satisfaction, if we choose to take steps on our own.

Photo Credit:  © Winterling | Dreamstime Stock Photos