Yesterday I went to the DMV to get my license renewed. The officer gave me a little card with traffic signs and descriptions. Cramming before before the test? As I sat there waiting (for over an hour), I studied the signs and wondered what difference it would make if there were signposts on our career roadmaps. Maybe we would be better navigators of our careers if there were visible signs.

If you’ve stopped and are not moving in your career, there are people behind you urging you to go on, but before you do, make sure you are heading in the direction you want to go. Do you feel that you have accomplished what you set out to do in your work or where you are working? Have you been holding back and not giving your best? Are you not sure what you want to do when you “grow up”? It’s time to get moving!

Something happened and your job has been eliminated (downsized, right-sized, re-engineered, fired). Your job has come to an end and you have no idea what to do. This could be a great opportunity for you to do something you really want to do. I’ve worked with many people who have found themselves in this situation, and the ones who stay creative and open-minded are the ones who find opportunities – many where none existed.

Many of us grew up being taught that your career should look like a ladder, sometimes referred to as a linear career path. “Climb the corporate ladder, push your way to the top” are some phrases we’ve heard throughout our career. However there are many of us who don’t enjoy that type of career path. And in today’s economy and global marketplace, that type of career path is disappearing quickly. So, what we do? Don’t be afraid to get off your safe road and take a side road, maybe many side roads. Just be sure it’s the road you want to take.

Maybe you are in the job market and have interviewed for a job that you just don’t feel right about. Perhaps something is just “off” but you don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s work that you’re not very excited about – but it’s better than nothing. Or, maybe you are finding that what’s important to your organization is not what’s important to you. Have you been asked to take a new role but are not motivated at all to take it? Is your boss asking you to do something you feel is out of integrity with who you are? Please … Do Not Enter! These are all signs pointing you in the direction of extreme caution. Trust yourself to know what is right for you.

Although there may not be physical signs on our career roadmaps, there are many indicators if we just pay attention. The world of work today in the future is looking very different from the way it looked in the past. I believe we all need to be leaders of our careers and navigate our own paths through these tricky waters in our work. Let’s stay in the driver’s seat of our careers and be sure to recognize the signs that guide us towards careers that we are steering.

You may be familiar with the term MBWA or management by walking around, a term brought to light by W. Edwards Deming. Tom Peters, in his book, “A Passion for Excellence,” refers to MBWA as management by wandering about.

MBWA essentially means managers should get out from behind their desks and talk to their employees and form networks. MBWA is a great idea for increased visibility with your employees and colleagues, but if the interaction is fraught with distrust, disrespect, and even tension, MBWA could do more harm than good. All that walking and wandering could have your company poised to fall right off a cliff if you’re not careful.

Maybe you recognize these sleepy managers (likely not bad or evil people):

• Nate’s employees are scattered all over the country, so he uses web conferencing to communicate with his staff. He frequently boasts to his boss that he talks to his team on a regular basis while the other managers don’t. What Nate doesn’t know is that his staff thinks he’s an idiot. Nate seems to be more concerned about his image and saving his job so he spends most of his time asking his staff to measure everything in the form of beautiful PowerPoint charts created just like his boss likes them. Nate believes pleasing your boss is the best way to keep your job.
• In Arthur’s weekly meetings with his leadership team, only well-scrubbed information is shared – information that describes only what is going right. Once Sharon gave a report on a challenge her department was facing only to be belittled by Arthur and later terminated. Consequently, there is very little dialogue or creative thinking that ever comes out of Arthur’s meetings.
• Amanda leads a team of new managers. She challenged her managers to be more visionary, confident, and creative but has never explained what these terms mean. Amanda gives vague and often contradictory directions to her managers. Amanda’s managers find themselves mostly confused about what she wants, so they try different approaches of which none seem to please Amanda. Amanda is ready to fire them all.
• Cody landed a job at a growing technology company. Soon some guys in her department crossed the line and began pursuing her romantically. After telling the guys she wasn’t interested, Cody asked Bradley, her manager, for help. Bradley told Cody that she should stop being flirty and the guys were just having fun. Cody became so stressed that she took a medical leave of absence. Later all 3 guys were terminated and Bradley was fired.

What would happen if these managers woke up and realized what was going on inside and around them?

• Nate would realize that competing with his peers and focusing his energy on impressing the boss is not a sustainable employment strategy. Nate would earn the respect of his staff as they observed him spending less time protecting his job and more time producing real and lasting results for the clients.
• Arthur would understand that his demeaning behavior was controlling, manipulative, and shutting down the flow of information. Arthur’s team would begin generating innovative ideas that yield record-breaking sales.
• Amanda would clearly articulate her vision and expectations. She would take time early on to develop her managers so that they could in confidently lead their teams in the direction set by Amanda. Amanda’s managers would be celebrated for their high-performing teams that produced consistent high-quality results.
• Bradley would understand the seriousness of this situation, the effect on Cody, and the potential risk to the company and his own career. Cody would be able to work in an environment where she did not feel threatened, and Bradley would be considered a skillful manager in his dealings with difficult employee issues.

Managers and leaders, there is no need to fall over the cliff while you are walking or wandering around. Open your eyes to what is happening inside of you and all around you and recognize many amazing opportunities standing right in front of you.

Last week I was at the NCDA (National Career Development Association) conference in St. Louis. I had such a great experience – it was everything I wanted and more (professional & personal growth, ideas to bring back to my clients, and networking with great people). Several themes emerged for me during this conference, and I would like to share them with you (so I will).

• When you least expect it, expect it. Our world is filled with chaos (recession, wars, health issues, and so on). It’s good to have goals for our lives, but we can’t predict what the future holds, so we must learn to be agile and not get too attached to our goals. You may have heard the saying, “enjoy the journey.” Today this is evermore true. We need to be sure that we aren’t building systems that keep us complacent. In order to thrive in the midst of chaos, we must use these unexpected shifts to jolt us out of our complacency to regenerate our careers and lives.

• Work IS personal. You may have heard someone say, “It’s not personal. It’s just business.” Phooey! We are human beings, not human doings. When we bring our ALL of ourselves to work, our collective brilliance helps companies grow, evolve, and innovate. It’s up to us to find ways of identifying and communicating our unique strengths and discover how we can create more value for ourselves AND our employers.

• Identify and clarify your value. Each of us has gifts that are needed and wanted; not using our gifts could be doing terrible damage to ourselves and our communities. Storytelling is a way to bring clarity and understanding to how we create value in our work. Everyone has a story and everyone loves stories – it’s been our preferred method of communication for thousands of years. We need to learn how to tell a compelling story in a way that describes more than just our credentials and qualifications. You are much more than a resume. Use your career story to illustrate your character, identity, and personality so that others get a glimpse into who you are as a person and as an employee.

• Old ways don’t work. Stumbling into jobs, not changing with the times, political maneuvering, expecting someone to take care of us – these strategies (or lack thereof), won’t work in present and future economies. The lack of job security, globalization, greater emphasis on corporate social leadership, and rapid technology development forces us to view work in an entirely different context. We have to change. Unfortunately change can be very stressful for many people, and it doesn’t have to be. This new way of working requires us to be visionaries and strategists when it comes to leading our careers.

If you aren’t feeling all that confident about managing your career or haven’t given a lot of thought about your career, I’d love to help.