How to Navigate Career Transitions With Clarity

Research & Sources / Personal & Career Development

Standing at the edge of a wide river, you can see the other side but you can’t jump that far. So you look for stones. You step onto the first one, test it, find your balance, look for the next. Stone by stone, you cross. Career transitions work best the same way: not one giant leap, but a series of tested steps.

Why transitions feel so hard

A new role, a new industry, a move from corporate to self-employment, or the question “what now?” after a big success. Transitions bring uncertainty, and uncertainty is uncomfortable. Many people respond in one of two ways: they jump too fast, or they wait too long.

How people really change careers

Herminia Ibarra studied many professionals who changed careers. Her surprising finding: people rarely find their new direction by thinking hard and then acting. They find it by acting, through small experiments, new relationships and stories they test along the way.¹ Clarity comes from doing, not just from reflecting.

That does not mean reflection is useless. It means reflection works best in combination with real-world tests.

A clearer way through

1. Understand what you are leaving. What exactly no longer fits? The tasks, the people, the culture, the pace, the meaning? Be specific.

2. Know what you want to keep. Your strengths, the parts of the work you love, the relationships that matter.

3. Check whose goals you are chasing. Kennon Sheldon and Andrew Elliot found that goals in line with our own values bring more well-being than goals pursued because of pressure or image.²

4. Run small experiments. A side project, a short assignment, a course, conversations with people in the field. Each one is a stone to test.

5. Build bridges with people. New careers usually come through new relationships. Talk to people who are already where you might want to go.

Don’t cross alone

Transitions are lonely, because the people around you are often invested in you staying the same. A mentor or thinking partner outside your current world can help you see options more clearly. Research shows that coaching improves goal attainment and resilience during demanding periods.³

What this means for you this week

• Write down what exactly no longer fits, and what you want to keep.
• List three possible directions, even if they feel uncertain.
• Design one small experiment for one of them.
• Book two conversations with people already working in that direction.

You don’t have to jump the river. Just find the next stone.

Sources

1. Ibarra, H. (2002). How to Stay Stuck in the Wrong Career. Harvard Business Review. hbr.orgCareer changes succeed through small experiments and new relationships rather than by first finding the perfect answer through reflection alone.
2. Sheldon, K. M. & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(3), 482-497. doi.orgGoals that fit our own values are pursued with more sustained effort and add more to well-being.
3. Grant, A. M., Curtayne, L. & Burton, G. (2009). Executive coaching enhances goal attainment, resilience and workplace well-being: a randomised controlled study. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(5), 396-407. doi.orgCoached executives made more progress on goals and showed more resilience and well-being than a comparison group.