Moving sideways to get ahead

Are you in the first five years of your career? Chances are you feel an impatience to progress up the ladder, are wondering when your efforts are going to be noticed, and generally think you are ready for bigger things. Why do I say that? Research shows that Millennials (born between the years of 1980-1999) expect, and are motivated by, fast career progression and are frustrated with perceived lack of progress at work. Research also indicates that Millennials change jobs and employers much more than other generations early in their careers (see references for more information).

Taking sideways career experiences to further long term success

So what can you do to progress your career, perhaps without jumping ship to another organisation? Think about a maze. Sometimes it seems as though going straight on would get you where you need to go but it might take cutting through the maze hedge to do that. Taking a step sideways following the open path may then lead to a clear way to your destination. Similarly, a sideways move in career terms could be the better route for your longer term success.

Research has indicated that there are 6 career experiences that help to shape and develop a leader, for example, starting something from scratch. These experiences often involve having a lot at stake and a degree of hardship which is where the opportunity to learn presents itself. Knowing these early on mean that you can deliberately choose career moves to put you into one of these experiences. Easy choices? No? Developmental? Yes. A sideways move can broaden your perspective, business acumen and network, all of which are likely to give you greater longer term prospects. While a pay rise may not be part of such a move, the financial return later in life could be significantly more than the relative increase you feel you are missing out on now.

Amy’s example

Lets revisit Amy. In our last check in with her career she was considering what she could do to be more successful over and above just doing her current job well. Now, 6 months on, she has an understanding of the 6 developmental experiences thanks to a chat with her mentor. Instead of pushing her manager for the promotion she had been looking for, she decided to broaden her functional experience by taking a financial business partner role with her marketing organisation. Amy wanted to know that she was competent with the numbers and the role will expose her to geographically dispersed colleagues from different European countries as she takes part in a cross regional project. Amy knows that the role potentially gives her the opportunity to gain experience in fixing a major process issue and also in broadening her perspective in the next 2-3 years.

How to determine your sideways move

So, how can you determine what ‘sideways’ experiences are the most appropriate for you to go after? Take time to reflect on the following four points to give you some ideas:

1. What are your longer term career aspirations?
   Given that leaders typically spend between 2-4 years in roles as they progress, how many distinct roles over time might you have time for before reaching your career aspiration? Knowing that, what experiences might give you the best chance of achieving your aim? If in doubt, is there a leader in a role you have set your longer term sights on that you could ask? What was their career path that led them to that role? Given your career to date what would they recommend you look for in your next couple of roles?
2. Review your experience to date. Have you pushed yourself to take on roles of increasing scope or assignments where you can fix something or start something from scratch? What might be possible given your network, organisation and a little motivation?
3. What is going on in the rest of your life right now? Development doesn’t happen in a vacuum. What experience could you take on right now and give a good go at given any other context (travel needs, family care, commitments outside of work, study etc)
4. Look externally. If opportunities at work are not available right now but could be in a few months, where could you stretch your perspective and challenge yourself with experiences outside of work? Do you play a sport – then perhaps you could take a role on a sports club committee? Maybe there are some local volunteering opportunities that could present a challenge in the form of a project requiring new skills?

Whichever opportunity you go after, remember to reflect on what you are learning while you are in it. Performing the role IS the development. Reflecting on it enables you to recognise the learning in order to draw on it again in the future. Is it time for you to say yes to a sideways move for greater career progression in the longer term?

References:

Honore, S. and Paine Schofield, M. (2009) GENERATION Y: INSIDE OUT – A multi-generational view of Generation Y – learning and working, Ashridge:Ashridge.

Wong, M., Gardiner, E., Lang, W. and Coulon, L. (2008) ‘Generational differences in personality and motivation: do they exist and what are the implications for the workplace?’, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 23, No. 8,pp. 878-890.

Twenge, J. M. and Campbell, S. M. (2012) ‘Who are the Millennials: Empirical evidence for generational differences in work values, attitudes and personality’ In E. Ng, S. T. Lyons and L. Schweitzer (eds.) Managing the New Workforce: International Perspectives on the Millennial Generation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. pp.1-19.

Lyons, S. T., Schweitzer, L., Ng, E. S. and Kuron, L. K. (2012) ‘Comparing apples to apples: A qualitative investigation of career mobility patterns across four generations’,  Career Development International, Vol. 17, No.4,pp. 333-357.

Hess, N. and Jepsen, D. M. (2009) ‘Career stage and generational differences in psychological contracts’, Career Development International, Vol.14, No. 3, pp. 261-283.

McCall, M. W., Lombardo, M., & Morrison, A. (1988). The lessons of experience:  How successful executives develop on the job. Lexington, MA:  Lexington Books[