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Go your own way

There are many misconceptions about career progression but understanding your own motivation is a vital first step, says Steve Keyes

Many people assume an ideal career progression involves increasing specialisation, steadily rising salary and perks, and a move into a management position. But this is not necessarily a formula for job satisfaction. Understanding some of these career myths can help you make wise choices.

Myth 1: The only way is up

It is commonly believed that most employees aspire to achieve promotion, and that a management job is a sign of success.

Brooklyn Derr (1986) at the University of Utah researched employees’ motivations and confirmed that some people are driven by the need to expand their influence in organisations. He calls the group the ‘advancements’ because they are motivated by power or status.

Derr, however, found four other groups with different career orientations (see box). They are represented in every organisation, which implies that a drive for promotion is not what motivates most people.

Your orientation is not your destiny.Understanding your orientation just means that recognising where your priorities and values lie might make the practice versus management decision easier. If moving up the corporate ladder does not inspire, you might explore other definitions of career success.

Myth 2: Plateauing is a sign of failure

Career plateau usually means a promotion block. But organisations are much flatter that they used to be and most of us have found that there are fewer rungs in the career ladder. Many will move a lot more slowly than our parents did, but topping out in terms of learning and growth is fatal.

In that sense, it is important you keep moving. Many people depend on promotion to force them to continue learning. But if avoiding a contribution plateau is your motivation for moving up, be sure it is what you really want.

The best people in organisations are the ones who know that real influence comes not from a job title but from the credibility and trust they have built with others in the organisation.

“The key to staying valued is to know how and when to change the way you contribute.”

Myth 3: The organisation only values managers

Tradition holds that managers are entrusted with formal influence because they are more valuable to the organisation’s success.

Twenty years ago, Harvard business professors Gene Dalton and Paul Thompson (1993) found a disturbing trend in employee performance. Most appeared to peak at 41 to 45 before their performance declined. Some, though, continued to be valued highly throughout their careers and Dalton and Thompson wanted to know why.

Their investigations reveal that high performers – those who were assigned key projects – fell into four groups known as the Four Stages® Model of career development. The model explains how performance expectations change over time. It suggests that the key to staying valued is to know how and when to change the way you contribute.

Stage I: Apprenticeship stage; learning the ropes but open to teaching and coaching. If you show basic competence and complete assignments, people will trust you with more responsibility.

Stage II: Individual contributor stage; with a focus on gaining in-depth technical knowledge.

Stage III: You establish networks throughout the organisation and adopt a wider perspective on the business.

Stage IV: You possess the credibility to act as a sponsor of key initiatives, to align your organisation with policies and to represent it on strategic issues.

Stages III and IV sound like job descriptions for managers and executives, with the most effective managers in stage III and the best executives in stage IV. But one of the revelations of Dalton and Thompson’s research is that most people in stages III and IV are not in formal management roles. The message is that you do not have to be a manager to be highly valued.

There is no single right answer to the promotion dilemma. People’s interests, values and talents vary and individuals have to find the most acceptable approach. The above model does not necessarily make the decisions any easier. But it does provide a framework for making intelligent trade-offs.

Steve Keyes is a director of Ignite Learning and Development

For more information on the work of Gene Dalton and Paul Thompson, visit www.novations.com

References Dalton G, Thompson P (1993) Novations: Strategies for Career Management. Foreman & Co, Glenview. Derr B (1986) Managing the New Careerists. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco CA.