In Monday’s blog, we talked about making SMART career decisions. Three of our main points were: be sure you are “moving to” and “not moving from”; be sure you understand what you want, why you want it, and what you are good at; be deeply honest with yourself. We also reinforced our point by using the word “SMART”. We use it both as an adjective and as an acronym.

When making a career decision, remember:

Slow down enough to ask yourself focused questions about your current
situation and your desired future. This will help you avoid making impulsive
decisions.

Measure the risks/rewards or pros/cons with respect to your current role and
the potential you see in your new role. Do this as dispassionately as possible
and do not do it when a major, yet temporary, change is going on in your
organization or in your life. These one time events can skew your view.

Ask a trusted advisor to help you through this process. It is very difficult to
go through a process like this alone and to be objective. How many of us
have taken a situation, put an explanation to it (and it’s oftentimes a
bad one), argued and debated with ourselves, and in the end agreed
with ourselves that a change is absolutely required. We tend not to be
objective when we talk to ourselves (and it looks like downward spiral thinking).

Risk will be required if we want to stretch and grow. Do you know your risk
tolerance? You should. Consider a business personality assessment that
includes a measure of risk. Also consider talking with your trusted advisor
on how he/she assesses your risk tolerance, which must be based on
evidence.

Take consistent small strategic actions to prepare you for the transition
from where you are now to where you want to be. Nothing substitutes for
daily action. As the Chinese proverb so accurately states: a journey of a
thousand miles starts with the first step. It’s a process not an event!

Your life is simply much too important to waste time on self-delusion or self-avoidance. In fact, if you do it often enough, these negative patterns can easily become a way of life. “Ain’t it awful starts to creep in”, and without realizing it, you are in a downward career spiral. It doesn’t need to be this way. Make SMART career decisions. You won’t regret it – nor will those around you.

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest