Eclectic City

The biggest concern for mid career managers is the lack of growth opportunities within the organisation. After having progressed to the managerial role, there’s a certain stagnation that midpros face. This results from a few things. Companies don’t see mid level pros as agents of change and look out for fresh legs when new projects are round the corner. Senior management thinks that this group has lost its zest for learning and lacks creative solutions. The woes are in part created by midpros themselves in their visible slow speeds at work.

The fact that companies don’t have a clear road map for mid-career professionals compounds the problem. Add to this the lack of proper HR guidelines for development of this group. Mere 4 to 5 trainings days a year doesn’t enthuse them. They are looking out for long term programs that specifically nurture them and prepare them for leadership in the organization.

The knowledge and experience of mid career managers can be tapped into by companies. But in the rush to achieve quarter on quarter targets, companies fail to fully utilize the experience of midpros. Companies need to encourage mid career managers to grow laterally to broaden their expertise. Engaging them to mentor younger workforce will go a long way in energizing mid-career managers.

Battling career dilemmas, this group is sometimes prone to jump to radically different functions mostly ending up in mid-career crisis. Loss of identity, stress, bad relationships push one to jump the ship. And the consequences are sometimes disastrous.

Unbelievably, families begin to grow without much planning. But as it begins to strain the resources of the mid career employee, the need for financial planning is felt like never before. Education of children, health of family and aged parents, rising costs of travel, need for modern amenities at home drive most people crazy. Professional guidance to manage the mid career professional’s finances is the need of the hour.

Underutilization is the highest in this segment. The recent Midpros 2008 Survey by midcareers.com reveals that only 5% of the respondents felt that 100% of their potential was being utilized in their current job. 51% felt that their potential was being used between 50% and 80% and a significant 23% felt their potential was used less than 50%. Being passed up for a leadership opportunity, turned down for a sabbatical or a promotion leads to lesser involvement in the activities of the organization.

Dissatisfaction rates are also the highest in this segment of workforce. The disregard for a structured environment, perceived lack of decision-making powers, resistance to change in organizations, perceived lack of accomplishments all add to the woes.

Balancing work and family is another major concern. Long work hours, bringing work home and a stressful corporate life begins to hurt the health of the individual and the relationship with family. In extreme cases it results in poor behavior.

Managing two generations – aged parents and children is a trapeze artist’s challenge. Sandwiched between the two generations, the midpros energies are dissipated.

Mid-career crisis is also characterized by a series of questioning about personal identity and values, often resulting in dramatic career shifts. Questions that beg attention are: Am I doing what’s best for me? Am I happy at work? Would I be better off pursuing my dreams? Sometimes, a corporate counselor could help set right the perspectives. But, ultimately, the individual is responsible for initiating action on these challenges.

Have you been waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, panicked about your future, wondering if you’re going to be able to make things work out? Is your stomach all tied up in knots? Is your mind racing as you contemplate options, unsure about what to do and where to go from here? Do you find yourself wistfully thinking about the way things were, wondering how you could have it back? If so, then you are in the middle of a career transition crisis.

It’s a crisis because you’re feeling unstable, realizing that you’re at a crucial turning point. It’s a transition because you’re making the passage from one thing to the next and feeling out of control. Nobody likes feeling out of control. This is especially true when making a career transition — either changing from one type of job to another, or moving from being traditionally employed to being a solo preneur.

Transitions are rough. They’re hard on your body, spirit, and emotions. They’re tough on the people around you, your wallet, and your ego. Major life transitions beat you up, roll you over, and spit you out the other side. Even if you planned your transition ahead of time, had all the kinks ironed out, and had everything lined-up and ready to go, chances are . . . it’s still going to be rough.

The good news is that there are things you can do to stabilize your transition. Here are the 10 main things I did to ease my transition from working in the ivory tower of academia to starting up and becoming a successful small business owner.

10 Inner Practices for the Transitioning Soul

1. Allow the process. Big change often feels like death, as if an old part of you must die in order for the new part of you to be born. The birthing of something new requires a deep integration. So allow that to happen. Some things will cease to be. Others will take on a new form.

2. Stay in charge of your happiness. Understand that you determine your happiness — not someone or something outside you.

3. Reach beyond what you fear. Don’t go through it. Reach beyond to something greater, something more important than what you fear.

4. Trust that everything in your life is unfolding exactly as it is meant to be. Spend as little time as possible asking why or looking for answers. Trust and know.

5. Make your inner voice the predominant voice you listen to. Turn to others for support. Turn inward for guidance. Not the other way around.

6. Remain unattached to outcome. Fretting about the future or worrying about the past keep you attached. Stop doing both, and you’ll be surprised at the number of doors that open, pathways that light up, and possibilities that present themselves to you.

7. Stay connected. Don’t allow your fears to multiply by isolating yourself. Remain in contact with family and friends who support your vision, and stay involved with leisure activities that you enjoy.

8. Take good care of yourself with a balanced, healthy lifestyle. Eat nutritious food, exercise regularly, and get plenty of sleep. Weekly massages are terrific at releasing and balancing the body.

9. Meditate and practice T’ai Chi or Chi Qong to center and ground yourself, increase your energy, and sooth your psyche.

10. Avoid jumping into anything new too soon. Go slowly. When your life is disrupted by a transition — even one you initiate — it takes time to adjust to the new reality. Use that time to reflect and think about what is really best for you.

Will doing these ten things make your career transition crisis go away? No. However, they will go a long way toward giving you some breathing room to explore what matters most to you and how you’d like your life to be. Doing these inner practices will help relax the tension in your body, clear away the fog of confusion in your mind, and allow your inner voice to speak to you. Getting in touch with your inner voice and allowing it to guide you will put you back in the driver’s seat and turn your career crisis into a career transformation.