Finding Opportunity in Discomfort
Recently, C-Suite Coach CEO Angelina Darrisaw presented in Valeisha Butterfield Jones' master class that focused on leadership and navigating the C-Suite. The class explored what it takes to position yourself for leadership from wherever you are in your career / how to incorporate tangible habits to accelerate growth trajectory, now. During this class, one trend that continued to come up was how to stay motivated when you don't like your work situation. Self motivation is always an area where we can work towards improvement, but it can be especially difficult when navigating a role where you are feeling unfulfilled or unappreciated. A helpful shift is moving the focus to what you can gain during this season as you plan for the next chapter that has more of what you require to be fulfilled.
If you find yourself exhausted, losing focus or joy because of your current situation, start with revisiting your goals. Often, we are focused on our day to day tasks and can lose sight of the bigger picture. Have they changed since starting this current role? Is the current opportunity helping you to reach them? If so, can you focus on that fact in the moments you are feeling frustrated / unsatisfied? If not, what would get you closer to the end game you desire? Here are a few suggestions that can help:
Taking on stretch assignments - that can help you build new skills to position you for career growth and make new work contacts that can be useful as you seek new opportunities
Leveraging employee learning / tuition benefits to upskill - allowing you to build your resume where you are currently with the resources that your company has for you.
Go to conferences with a strategy for networking - building new relationships in / outside your company can help introduce you to helpful contacts for the next opportunity you are seeking.
If you are feeling unfulfilled at work, remember that you can use your current role to help develop you to have a more compelling resume for your future roles. It is important to keep your professional and financial goals top of mind because it may help you reframe the unexciting aspects of where you are currently. Having a clear understanding of where you want to be in the next 1-3 or even 5 years can help you use where you are now to be strategic in getting to where you want to be later.