Stalling is never a nice feeling especially if you have kids in the car and it’s a hot day and yes you guessed it you are miles away from any form of service centre. Thank god for the AA!!
But what does happens if you experience this whilst at work in your career?
It happens, it is more common than written about and for many bruising it under the carpet is the only way to move on. But I’d encourage you to really think about your career and if you find yourself stalled I hope my post today sparks the ignition back into your career. Enjoy
The feeling of being behind your own steering wheel when things stall is like being lost in the woods.
Any professional throughout his/her career will experience career-stall. It can and does creep up on professionals and the once excited – committed – dedicated professional now sits with a barrage of thoughts, can I do this anymore, do I want to do this anymore, can I make a change – what if……. who can I speak to about this……what if it doesn’t work out….etc.
If you have, are or do experience career-stall I’d encourage you not to push things to one side or to the back of your mind. I’d really encourage you to seek support, help or advice with a trained professional. There are many wonderful career coaching around the world that you can lean on for support. Great career coaches will give you the space, support and tools to get you back on track or as I like to say re focused.
Don’t let things fester! Sometimes the hardest part is just starting……
I know and appreciate that our minds play a huge part in our thinking, so, ensure you complement that with an experienced coach who can bring another view point or thoughts to help you. It’s definitely work speaking to a loved one or friend but makes sure they are not just agreeing with you and that they can bring perspective to your thinking.
Many clients share with me that right now with the loss or lack of physical human connection they feel isolated and this has therefore impacted in on his/her career.
Human interaction does impact positively and negatively on our careers and my career coaching business has seen an upward spike in professionals working with me to discuss their career plans. I am proud my clients get and to play a small part in their career direction is a huge honour.
I’d encourage anyone who is reading this that is or has experienced career-stalling to have a look at the following few questions and reflect on your thoughts.
-
Audit Your Career (today)
-
What do you actually do and what are you actually meant to be doing?
-
What do you enjoy about your job, the people, the culture, the financial return? Why?
-
What do you not enjoy about your job, the people, the culture, the financial return? Why?
-
What can you control about your enjoyment and frustrations? What action can you take and why?
-
Why do you do what you do?
-
If you knew you could not fail professionally what would you do?
-
What were your reasons for taking your current position
-
If you could address, change and resolve one thing what thing would that be and how would that make you feel?
-
What one specific things should you address today that will support you being un-stalled?
-
Do you have a current ‘mentor’?
-
The above questions are positioned to get you re thinking in on yourself and your current situation. They are not designed to do any more than to allow you the time and space to selfishly ‘think’. To many of my career coaching clients do not feel they can create the time and space to think (this is why they engage with me). I use some and all in my coaching work along with a number of other tools to ensure your career gets out of the stalled state it is in.
When working through Audit Your Career questions I’d encourage you to grab a pen and paper and do this work when you feel fresh not after a barrage of meetings or deadlines. Maybe a Sunday mid morning might work. But do the work, get time into your week and really work through the above. Identify themes, thoughts and then look to put a plan together to address your stalled career.
You will get un-stalled, it might take time but you will.
If you feel working with an external coach would support your thinking then reach out to me for a confidential meeting.
You will face times in your career when things stall, that is going to happen. Except it and find the quiet time to work on yourself. You owe it to yourself to embrace where and why you want to be heading.
Yours in coaching
Nick x
About Nick Roud
Nick has been helping and coaching professionals since 2006. He studied executive leadership coaching with one of the world top executive coaches. Nick’s work is globally certified and accredited by the International Coach Federation. He was awarded Best Executive Coaching Consultancy at the Global Business Awards 2022 and has personally coached over 850 CEO’s Senior Executives, Future leaders and professionals. Nick is a coach on the EMBA and MBA programme at one of New Zealand’s most prestigious universities. He lives and works in Auckland New Zealand and his global office is a 20ft shipping container 🙂 He is married to Nicola and they have two kids, Louie and Willow