Is climbing the ladder the only way to reach your career goals? Must we continue to move upwards in order to pursue our ambitions, receiving better titles and bigger paychecks?
Today’s CEOs and VPs might disagree, as well as leaders who are seeking more balance in their lives. Working your way up the corporate ladder through promotions is less prevalent than it once was, yet the image of the ladder persists and can lead people to feel like a lateral move isn’t the best career move. So many companies struggle to retain top talent and bemoan rampant job hopping. What if the answer was as simple as a shift in thinking?
Sheryl Sandberg famously talked about a new analogy for careers as a “jungle gym scramble.” With the rate of change in the world today, we simply don’t know what opportunities will come our way, nor can we predict when a step that may not seem to lead us upwards will turn out to launch a meteoric rise. Early in my career at McDonald’s, I moved between operations, HR, training, operations again, and then back to learning and development in a series of lateral moves. These turned out to provide me with invaluable insights into the way the company worked, as well as a network of contacts who, later in my career, helped me stay in touch with the core business.
During a recent conversation with Dr. Bev Kaye, the author of Up is Not The Only Way: Rethinking Career Mobility, we talked about updating the metaphor to climbing a rock wall. Have you ever gone rock climbing? I had the opportunity to go with my sister recently, and I must admit, it’s much more challenging than it looks. I set my sights on ringing the bell once I reached the top, fully intending to take the straightest path to get there. As I progressed, I found that going straight up wasn’t going to cut it. Not only do you have to reach farther and support your weight, but sometimes you can’t reach the next rock at all. As I continued to climb, I found myself choosing to take smaller, safer, more enjoyable steps, which took me sideways at times. I stopped thinking about other people’s journeys and instead focused on my own.
Like the rock wall, career development is a unique journey and process. Promotions are not the only way to advance your career. In fact, in my experience, the leaders who transferred between departments, taking lateral moves in their careers, had deeper knowledge, stronger networks, and relationships to leverage. Don’t discount the value of a lateral move. It’s not a failure, but an alternate route to your destination. Avoid the trap of thinking that a better title or bigger paycheck are the only measures of career success. Instead, focus on what you can learn where you are. Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, “Bloom where you’re planted.” It doesn’t mean to be complacent in unfortunate circumstances, but instead to look for the opportunities right where you are. Maintaining a learner mindset will take you a long way—we can all learn something new, regardless of how much knowledge and experience we already bring to the table.
You can listen to my full conversation with Bev Kaye on episode 30 of the Talent Champions podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, or your major podcast player of choice. You can also sign up for an email notification on the Talent Champions website. Talent Champions is a free podcast, sponsored by FranklinCovey, featuring conversations about leadership, careers, HR, and talent development.