- On one hand is Stable Job, Settled family and letting everything run as it is
- Second road lead to destablising the existing run-of -the -mill job to do something 'better'(will come back to this better aspect)
- Third one leads to 'greener pastures'
- and finally the fourth leads to 'Self Actualisation'
Let's take a closer look at these four options and try to identify which is the best route to take in such scenario. But before that we need to understand, why one reaches such a crossroad at all.
Its to do with disenchantment from the existing work and my observations over 5-6 organisations that I have seen closely says that the disenchantment bug can bite you if
a) you are 'too creative' for the job you are currently doing or
(b)you feel undervalued / unrewarded for the work you are doing or
(c) you don't have a friend at workplace or worst of all
(d) you don't feel you are contributing enough
These four are often overlooked scenarios of employee disenagegement and need to be duly addressed by HR. Since this is not a HR manual, I leave this discussion here itself and come back to original topic of 'Life's crossroads'. So these are the four reasons which pulls you / drives you towards that crossroad. Now, with this understanding let's look at the four roads available.
Route 1 : Leaving the leaf unturned: The easiest of the routes to take as it requires absolutely no efforts. But is it really that easy because the very fact that you reached the crossroads implies you need to act now - lest you'll not just erode your own value, go into depression slowly but also will slowly make the organisation think of getting rid of you, if the reasons are a or d . The only reason you should take this route is if you reached the crossroads because of c. If b was your reason, than you still can take this path but need to 'do things better' and need not yet look for 'doing better things' which brings us to Route 2.
Route 2: Rocking the Boat: This is the most effective path. Effectiveness coming from net of result and effort. So, this path in bring in maximum risk free benefit with least effort and hence most evvective path, once you have reached the crossroads for either of reasons a,b or d. However, taking this path require some inherent skills as well as a well thought out strategy. Steps to follow this path are 1) Write down various things that you want to really do; 2) Identify who is currently doing that and because of what reasons he is into that position; 3) Acquire those skills or go back to step 1 and cut this option and start afresh. 4) Know who is the power centre in the scheme of things 5a) Active mode - Make the right noise at the right platform in front of the power centre 5b) Passive mode - Having identified what you want, keep an eye on and wait for the opportunity to come for the desired profile. 6)Make the move.
Route 3: Greener Pastures: Looks like an easy route but quite risky as the saying goes - to everyone, grass looks greener on the other side. Route 3 Path to be adopted in scenario a, b, d after trying Steps 1 to 5 of Route 2. However, if the alternate pasture chosen is the right one, this could be the best thing to have happened to your life and career. So, take a deep breath, think and then take the plunge.......remember, this has life changing power.
Route 4: Self Actualisation: Most risky route, most difficult route but at the same time most rewarding route. Identify your passion and become an entrepreneur. If the 'passion' is real, nobody can stop you from succeeding and this cross road is a blessing in disguise for you - a tipping point. However, if you can't be true to yourself, if 'passion' is for out of anger+frustration+fashion..........then you are doomed for a failure - Stick to path 1 only.
To conclude, I myself at the crossroads right now........let's see, which path do I take.
2 comments:
and what reason brought you to the crossroads?
Mix of all four
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