Know Your Value (Part II)
La version française de cet article est disponible ici.
Last week, I wrote about a common problem: the person who thinks they have succeded for one reason, when in reality it was for an entirely different one. This week, I address a similar phenomenon: the person who succeeds early in their career and who fails to adjust their working style even as they occupy successively senior positions.
Sometimes, it’s the proverbial frog in the water that’s slowly heating to a boil: we take on responsibility gradually, and as a result we do not think about modifying our behaviour as time goes by. This problem is often exacerbated by the constraints of high-pressure roles: even in workplaces that stress the importance of annual evaluations, more pressing deadlines can mean the focus shifts from professional development to satisfying corporate needs, which can themselves be out-of-synch with real needs. In this way, lack of time, and lack of implication from one’s chain of command, can mean that we keep the nose to the grindstone without taking the time to assess whether we are working effectively.
In other cases, the need for change is more abrupt: it is possible to take on a new role that requires a sudden change to the way one works. For example, someone who has achieved technical mastery in her field and who is rapidly promoted to a managerial role needs not only to develop new competencies; her relationship with work must fundamentally change — after all, now she is further removed from the terrain, the team she supervises now separating her from the technical work that had until recently occupied all of her time.
In both cases, a misalignment between one’s working style and one’s responsibilities has a tendency to lead to overwork, in the vain hope of compensating for shortcomings through brute effort. It is therefore important to take the time to evaluate the evolution of one’s working style, and how that compares with the progression of one’s career:
How has your working style evolved in comparison to your responsibilities?
What early-career habits have you held onto, and to extent are they still relevant?
When you take a look around you, do you work more like the people you supervise, or more like those who supervise you?
Does the work you do correspond to your job description, or do you spend time doing work that is supposed to be done by others?
Even if changing the way you work can feel anxiety-provoking, continual adjustments of varying degrees are a necessary part of your professional development. The preceding questions, when answered honestly, can help you avoid the tendency to hang onto old work habits that, although useful at one stage, can become more of a hindrance than a help as your career evolves.
How might you use coaching to ensure that you continue to develop in the most effective way possible? You can contact me here to discuss what it might be like to work together. If you would like to know more about me first, you can do so here.