Mid-Career Crisis Musings

Dears,

Life is good but I find it harder, if this the thought that comes to you often and you are for sure going through the Mid-career crisis. You suddenly feel professionally and emotionally stagnant. There's no challenge left for you at work. If you are one of those people who are struggling to make mid-career transition, take a deep breath and look around. After a certain point in your career, you need to do some amount of introspection to find out your deeper aspirations. 

Try and figure out where are you headed, do you know yourself well enough. I find mid-carrier crisis to be a very common problem in companies today.  The super ambitious few who want to go all the way to the top will usually get the attention they need and get what they want.  Then you have ambitious employees that not always are aiming for top-management positions, but want to work in a demanding and meaningful job applicable to their education and experience. But too often, those persons don´t get the attention of management and leaders, and they tend to find them self in a stagnant job and not getting any attention or getting involved in exciting projects in the company. Then looking at new employees arriving, and making progress in the company adds to the frustration.  It becomes a catch 22, where the employee becomes more and more de-motivated, and thus receiving less attention from managers.  .  The leaders sometimes focus only on the super ambitious and those who are climbing the ladder, while not paying attention to skilled employees in the level below.  By doing so, they can usually find invaluable knowledge and experience for the good of their corporation.

 Ask yourself a series of questions like, what are my unique gifts? What is my 'calling? ‘What can I do to make my present work and life more aligned with my calling? What are the competencies I would like to develop in myself? "Asking questions will help you to get a clarity on where do you stand and where are you headed.

 Many a time’s people don't understand that not leveraging their talent to the best level may lead to frustration. They may think they are capable of a bigger role and responsibility, but don't take measures to communicate this to the top management or to the next level. Communicating to large extent means taking initiatives and showing results. Unless that happens, you stare from a distance and think you are being deprived of a bigger role. Think hard: How can I leverage my talent to develop these competencies?

What specific steps would I like to take? How will I know that I am making progress? What could go wrong and how do I take responsibility for what could go wrong? Think what options lie outside the present environment that can offer you those challenges you are looking for. Should such a crisis arise, intensify your networking efforts. Talk to people even if they are outside your social circle. Strangers can often guide you better with their dispassionate opinion. And help you understand where you're headed better providing fresh ideas uncolored by your previous self. Build new connections by associating with people you've long admired and can learn from. Use alumni and company networks that can help you grow into your possible new selves.

Any good leader knows to surround themselves with talented people, but recognizing the future leaders who will generate change and innovation is a task rarely considered. It is from mid-career employees that the next generation of leaders will emerge. Forming relationships with these employees will allow a leader to acknowledge and reward talent, as well as identify, train, and develop talent for the future of the organization. To enhance the value and commitment of mid-career talent, leaders need to work at building their relationships and commitments to these employees, which means more frequent and visible interactions that affirm the interdependency of organizational goals and individual career aspirations.

If there is a lack of a competitive environment, and your peer group is not strong enough to challenge your competencies, you may lose interest and may feel like living the organization. Challenges and competition and the hunger to learn is what keep people going, if you are deprived of that, it’s time to get serious about it. Go ahead with whatever you feel is right after giving it a careful thought, avoid desperation. If you've lived with this so far, a few months more won't do any further damage.

 Even if you fail you'll have the satisfaction of having tried what you felt. If things go right, you are one of the fortunate ones who transitioned to the right path.

Loving P&C

DC*