I had a client—let’s call her Jane—who was driven, ambitious and beyond over-qualified (MBA, years of experience, multiple certifications, excellent track record) and she worked for a small company where her management seemed to adore her.
One problem: Jane was not getting promoted to that higher level role she’d been eyeing.
Jane had already been promoted a few times, but she was going for that final big push to sit near the top. So we worked together, explored her strengths, her gaps, and the quality and depth of her relationships with her management and executive leadership team. She scored high on all fronts.
On the surface, there were no apparent areas that she needed to “work” on—she needed to keep doing what she was doing, but if they were going to fill that leadership spot, there was no sign that it was going to her yet again.
Does any of this sound familiar? You don’t need to be shooting for the top leadership seat at your company’s board to relate to Jane. What she needed was to realize that she had reached the growth limitations at her own environment and it was time to move on to a new opportunity.
Within several weeks, Jane started interviewing at several prospective companies for a leadership position that suited her strengths. With the negotiation coaching that we worked on, she was able to land her ideal position with a very handsome bump in compensation.
In retrospect, we found some tell-tale signs for Jane that showed her it was indeed time to move on.
Here are the first 3 of the 5 signs to look for if your career plans don’t jive well with your company:
Sign #1: Your management doesn’t want to see you grow.
You know the signs. You are qualified for a role and for no good reason your higher-ups are creating excuses to obstruct your growth and development. If you feel this is happening consistently and communication with management has not given you any specific actions to take to solve it, it’s time to move on.
Sign #2: Your company doesn’t invest in you.
You see that in order to have career growth—classes, workshops, or conferences are needed. You’re also getting a clear sign that your company is not willing to invest in you.
What’s worse, they may not even be willing to support you as you invest in yourself. These are clear signs that you need to find a new job.
Sign #3: You have outgrown your role.
If you are no longer learning, you’ve outgrown your role. And if you don’t enjoy any daily or weekly challenges in your position, then you need to find one that provides that for you. But what if you can’t?
When you cannot imagine yourself getting challenged in other areas of the company (and remember, challenges help us grow in our careers), then you need to shift your gaze to a new direction.
In the next blog post, I’ll share with you the other two tell-tale signs that say it’s time to make a career change.
-Farnoosh Brock, Business and Career Coach, Prolific Living Inc.
