If you are getting your hands on the career ladder and seeking to climb, it can be hard to find a rung up at times. Good opportunities are few and far between, competition is fierce, and it can be nigh-impossible to stand out from an overpowered crowd. What’s an ambitious person in these trying times to do?
During my career, there have been long periods of time where I wanted to move up, but, despite best efforts on the part of myself and my manager, no real advancement was available. When you’re in that position – spinning your wheels and just digging yourself deeper into a rut – it can be easy to get discouraged.
And that’s something that happens. Life is not all sunshine and happiness; we are all adults who know how the world works, but rather than get discouraged, get inspired. If you find yourself in a rut and would like to drive your career to more advantageous positions, buckle up buttercup, and roll up your sleeves. It’s time for career enrichment.
Much like your personal life, your career benefits from enrichment. Enrichment is not necessarily about gaining credentials or education. It’s about expanding your horizons, broadening your network, and enhancing your authority. These are all soft skills that support your ongoing development and abilities.
Expanding horizons. Often in our careers, we end up specializing in one thing or another, and the more we specialize, the narrower our focus becomes. And it’s great to have focus and expertise! It can also be great to take a step outside of your box to learn about something new. Think about the last time you were really excited about something in your work, and look around to see what might give you that spark. For me, I can still remember the heady thrill of creating a complex query, complete with nested brackets, and having it give me the results that I was expecting. I tasted this thrill again when I successfully muddled through a PowerAutomate workflow, and it was magical. Be open to learning, experimenting, and just playing around – it can be immensely helpful to break out of a rut.
Broadening your network. Much like how our work can get specialized, our circle of colleagues can similarly shrink to a few trusted cronies. I love my cronies. They have seen me through ups and downs and all the in-betweens and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. But do you know what is both fun and rewarding? Finding new cronies. When my son goes to the playground, he flings himself into the group of kids playing, inserts himself into the game/discussion, and comes away with new friends. While I’m not recommending this exact method as a practice, I do recommend taking a leap of faith into new environments and new groups of people. Be the person who reaches out and offers. It can be uncomfortable, especially if you are, like me, on the introverted side of the scale. But it can also be so worthwhile as you learn from diverse perspectives and experiences.
Enhancing your authority. Are you known for a Thing? Are you tired of being known for just that one Thing, or do you want to enhance that Thing, or perhaps get a new Thing entirely? Are you confused as to what I’m talking about? Many of us end up as authorities, or trusted subject matter experts, on something that is not necessarily our preference, simply through time, routine, and “give it to her, she knows all about it.” If you are happy with your Thing, by all means celebrate it! If you want to gain a new Thing to be authoritative on, I have a trade secret to share. The way you become an authority on something is not necessarily by knowing the most about the thing. It’s learning about the thing, talking about the thing, bringing the thing up in discussions and in public forums. It’s getting people to link you with the thing until it becomes your Thing and people ask you about it. My favourite example of this is comedian Alice Fraser making fun of cryptocurrency so frequently that she became an invited speaker on cryptocurrency at several forums and universities. Is she the expert? No. But is she someone who learned about it and linked her name with it such that when someone went looking for an expert, her name turned up? Yes and yes. So don’t be afraid to dive into something and make it your own.
Will all of these things move you up a rung on the ladder? Not instantly. What they will do is give you a sense of accomplishment beyond your immediate role, and position you as a learner, a connector, and a leader. This sense of accomplishment can do much to mitigate any feelings of being in a rut, and the positioning can do much to demonstrate your worth both inside your current job and externally to potential partners. So, until such time as we can all retire to our favourite daydreams, let’s work on enriching ourselves and our careers.
Sarah Marcotte and Katherine Scott have a combined 35+ years of experience in prospect research and development across a range of sectors in the nonprofit world. They are active in the community as speakers and thought leaders.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent those of CharityVillage.com or any other individual or entity with whom the authors or website may be affiliated. CharityVillage.com is not liable for any content that may be considered offensive, inappropriate, defamatory, or inaccurate or in breach of third-party rights of privacy, copyright, or trademark.
