Reassessing your career: Reflect, reset, pivot?

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Until now, all of us had good excuses to put off introspecting about our careers. We were busy with projects and clients, meeting deadlines, and spending a good part of our day stuck in traffic.

Then with Covid-19, most of us were locked into our homes and forced to refrain from doing things we did best — communicate, socialise, and build relationships.

Industries have been readjusting — trying to stay profitable, redistribute and trim staff where possible. Market forces are enabling other changes and technology has taken on a bigger role in most of our professional lives.

What seemed unimaginable has become the norm: Board meetings, job interviews and thought-leadership discussions are happening right from the comfort of our home.

Most of us are stranded at home and we have no option but to take a hard look at our professional careers and the direction it is taking.

So what do you do, going forward? Stay firmly where you are? Explore new opportunities given the changed environment? Retool or add new skills to your repertoire and become savvy in a new area? Or make a significant pivot that you have been keen on doing for years now?

At the outset, it is important to conduct a good assessment of one’s professional life.

Reassess your career

Nanda Kishore, a senior IT executive, says, “This is a time for all professionals to do whiteboard thinking. It’s an opportunity to step back. To think about what is important, what business models will thrive, what we need to leave behind. Careers have to be relevant to new business models.”

Talk to a mentor or someone who is a trusted sounding board. It is even better if the
person is not in the direct line of reporting of your current job. This brings their perspective more objectivity.

Remember that you may get a lot of advice from great mentors and credible sources. But no one knows your professional dreams and aspirations better than you.

Have you been yearning to do something different for a while but have not found the right timing or opening to pursue it? This may be a great time to wipe the slate clean and start afresh.

But do ask yourselves – what are my competencies that can easily migrate to other fields or industries? If you have that extra time on your hands, take advantage of the mind space you have and sharpen skills that you always wanted to.

Sharpen skills

Himanshu S, who is just starting his tech career, says, “I am using this opportunity to sharpen my skill sets and become adept at technologies that will dominate the field 5-10 years from now.”

New technology, addressing gaps in communication skills, a new language that will enable [not just computer language!] you in your professional ecosystem or just a new mindfulness or relaxation technique that will make you more productive and a better human resource.

“Professionals in leadership positions need to manage their businesses and their careers judiciously during this period. There is a very basic, grounded way to segment leaders during this pandemic and how they should look at their careers: those with sufficient financial to get through for the pandemic and beyond and those without,” says Meera Harish, former VP, Tata Group.

Those who are at a stage in their careers where they can financially tide over the pandemic and the months beyond, should explore creative paths.

Several industries have been set back by the pandemic, and those in leadership positions should look at how they can help solve these issues, especially for the most vulnerable of segments.

For leaders who are in a tough spot financially, it is important to be risk averse. It is best to stay safe, innovating only within one’s circle of authority and influence.

“The only important thing to remember for such leaders is to reskill themselves. This is important as the world is changing rapidly and to survive, we need to reskill and stay relevant by being self-aware, adaptable and agile,” added Meera.

Colouring outside the box will be the name of the game.

(The writer is SVP, Safe Water Network and a trainer in social innovation and entrepreneurship)