Clarity is in short supply

Bernd K. had worked for years as a manager in an IT company and did an excellent job. Despite the high esteem in which he was held, dissatisfaction gnawed at him. He only functioned, he had not enjoyed his job for a long time. A short time later he was offered the position of chairman of the board. Naturally, he was full of pride and, as promotion to the top level seemed the next logical step in his steep career, he accepted the offer. If at the beginning he thought his doubts would now disappear, he soon found out - the opposite was the case. The unwillingness to work became even greater, and was compounded by excessive demands. The indirect communication and the over-bandaging, the rules of the game on the board, were not at all to the liking of the 49-year-old, whose personality structure was very straightforward.

Passing your own talents ...

This man had never asked himself whether he wanted to be a manager at all and always took it for granted. So he tortured himself through a career that didn't suit him at all, always thinking "Once I've taken the next career step, then I can be more active in shaping things and the diffuse feeling of being in the wrong place will disappear. " In fact, Bernd K., an outstanding expert who gets to the bottom of things and develops innovative solutions, is much better off in a specialist career. However, he only found this out in mid-life when, close to burn-out, he finally sought external support.

An isolated case? As a manager and executive coach, I have experienced many different variations of how topperformers follow a career that completely misses their own talents and opportunities. When the frustration eventually gets the better of them, they often react by quitting ("Now I'll do something completely different" or "I'll do my own thing") or moving up ("Once I ..., then ..."). In fact, these solutions rarely work.

The own career planning is neglected

In a recent survey by the Galileo. Institute for Human Excellence in Cologne, managers and experts in key positions were asked about threshold and crisis situations in their careers. The answers allow interesting conclusions to be drawn about current mood trends in management and confirm the experiences mentioned. According to the survey, the majority (64 percent) lack or lacked clarity about their career prospects. The most frequent mentions also include the desire for more sovereignty in one's own role (48.4 percent) and for career advancement (43.8 percent). Around 42 percent of those surveyed said that they were only

Professional and personal under one hat

still function and no longer have fun at work.

The blatant lack of clarity about what to do next, as expressed by the survey participants, may come as a surprise. But I have also made the experience that especially topperformers neglect their own career planning above all performance and identification with "their" company.

The survey also asked about the first solution ideas that the top performers developed in the situation: Here, the change of company (58.3 percent) dominates ahead of the complete exit from the career (40 percent), the thought of having to become better (36.7 percent) or to improve the situation by a career jump (25 percent). The fact that almost half of the respondents were thinking about quitting completely is quite alarming. After all, it shows that professional and personal fulfilment are apparently still impossible to reconcile for many people.

The actual solution path taken by the survey participants, however, looked very different. For 98 percent, the initial solution idea was outside the company, but 89 percent actually stayed within the company. A quarter still held the same position and worked on their hiring. 23.3 percent of the participants have changed companies, 20 percent have moved up, 15 percent have started their own business, and only 6.7 percent have found the best position within the company. The majority, however - 38.3 percent - have done nothing and are still in the same situation!

Only a few have the best position

Is this a good result for the companies and the top performers concerned? After all, almost 90 percent of those surveyed ultimately remain loyal to their employer. Nevertheless, the figures are fatal: according to one statement, only 6.7 percent hold the best position in the company. This means that they cannot - and possibly do not want to - contribute their full potential to the company, and problems are inevitable. Often, these managers do change companies at some point, but come back to the same place after a while because they still lack clarity.

The most important recommendation to managers and experts in crisis situations is to ensure clarity before taking action. In crisis situations, we are often tempted to follow a path that is common and therefore known to be feasible - but blanket solutions such as a change of company as the next logical career step have a decisive catch: one's own personality falls by the wayside. They therefore often lead astray and into permanent bending.

What is career?

What is "career" actually? According to my definition, it means finding the best possible role and position for yourself. However, many people are guided in their career decisions by external factors. Most people respond to offers that come their way. While this response to external opportunities is common, it carries a danger: since a position offered rarely matches one's profile completely, one begins to adapt a bit - after all, one wants to get the position. This process repeats itself over and over again in the course of a professional life. Slowly, at first hardly noticeably, your own profile and the profile of the position drift apart. When the discrepancy becomes apparent, it is often very late to take countermeasures. A deep-seated dissatisfaction comes to light, which can quickly lead to a negative spiral of lack of motivation, excessive demands and declining performance.

How about doing it the other way around? Instead of making a new decision with every offer and possibly bending a little more each time, managers should first develop their own clear profile with their personal strengths, motives, values and absolutely necessary framework conditions. From now on, this profile will be the basis for all future career decisions.

The Evolutionary Principle

A widespread misinterpretation of evolutionary theory lies in the assumption that the fittest wins. In fact, however, the "survival of the fittest" is about the one who knows best about his strengths and is able to adapt to permanently changing conditions. Evolution is thus a biological and social process in which the species that survives is the one that best knows and uses its particular abilities - and is also able to use these strengths to successfully adapt to its environment, which is constantly changing.

If this insight is transferred to the way people act and interact, a clear message can be derived from it. A successful and personally satisfying development can be expected by those who take the following aspects to heart:

• He knows about his real strengths, about what is special and unique in him.
• He trusts these assets and ensures that they can flourish.
• He is aware of the fact that the environment is constantly changing.
• That's why he also uses his skills to adapt to the ever-changing environment.

Processes from nature can help in many places to better understand relationships and to find solutions for leadership or organizational problems. I am convinced that it is particularly worthwhile to take nature, and in particular the pattern of evolution, as a model for shaping one's personal career. As I said, it is not a question of superiority through power and strength. Rather, the principle of evolution demands that you take a very close look at yourself, reflect on your own potential - in order to enter the market with your own clearly defined and unmistakable profile. This not only creates personal satisfaction and a good negotiating position with potential employers. At the same time, such an offer is credible and competent because it is based on the provider's very own strengths and talents.

In fact, however, most people violate the principle of evolution when it comes to their own professional development. Instead of giving priority to their own assets, they take external guidelines as a yardstick. They take their cue from competitors or colleagues, imitate them and thus become more and more interchangeable with each other, while at the same time their individual characteristics fade more and more. You become more and more passive, no longer actively shaping your own career, but a pawn in the game. On the other hand, those who present themselves with a crystal-clear profile in mind know very well which compromises they can and cannot make.

assume responsibility

Defining the absolutely necessary framework, personal strengths, motives and values - that means taking responsibility for your own career.

But companies and HR managers also have a responsibility: in the Galileo survey cited above, around 77 percent of participants said that they felt abandoned by their employer in crisis situations. So there is still a lot of untapped potential here. Companies can retain their best performers with suitable support measures, give them the opportunity to develop their real skills for the company, and turn them into magnets for other high performers.