Part 3 or 4 – High Potential Blog series
I am often asked by emerging leaders: How do I know if my next big role will come from my current company or by going somewhere else?
While there are no easy answers to this question, there are certainly strong indicators that can point you in the right direction.
Positive Indicators
If you are able to agree with your Leader on a possible next role, the skills you need to build to succeed in that next role and find opportunities to support the required skill building – you are well positioned inside your current employer. Other positive indicators include:
- You believe your current Leader clearly understands your career development interests and supports them
- You are having ongoing discussion with your
Leader about career development, skill growth and future potential roles. And that feedback is:
- Honest
- Frequent (multiple times each year)
- Supported by a pattern of behaviour with others, eg. The Leader has a track record of developing people on their team
- Pointing to the next role and what skills you need to develop to get there
- You are able to take on projects or additional work outside the scope of your current role
- You are able to positively influence others around you
- You can readily identify opportunities to grow your skills
Indicators that it is time to move on:
Here are some signs that it is time to consider a career move:
- Your skill growth has flattened
- Role challenge is diminished
- A growing volume of transactional work suppresses your ability to explore new skills
- You are not learning or challenged by the people you are working with
- Your Leader is not hearing you (or responding) when you voice these concerns
- Your Leader is not able to point to skill growth opportunities for you in the near term
- Your Leader is non-committal about next level roles and vague about timing of potential opportunities
Ultimately you own your career decisions. It is up to you to determine move timing and next role opportunity. By re-examining that decision through a developmental filter, you are more likely to find the best fit in both the short and longer term.
Written by Andrew Steen
Coming Soon…
Part 4 in this series: How to select your next opportunity
