Growth beyond promotions
Career development has traditionally been defined by promotions and acquisitions of titles. That's what growth and advancement means to us. It's how we measure how far we've gone and how far we've got to go. It's how we determine who's on a "meteoric rise" and whose careers have "stalled."
Promotions and titles represent simply one dimension of how we can grow in our careers, yet it is the only dimension that matters to many of us - including me.
Like many professionals, I measured career growth solely through the dimension of promotions and titles.
I believed that if I don't have a title, I'm not eligible to do the thing. I thought that having a "Music Director" title is the only way that I can conduct legitimately. I was attracted to jobs that came with a great title, without realizing that they didn't provide opportunity for growth nor were they the work I really wanted to do.
Nothing was worth celebrating or even mentioning unless it was a clear upward move. If I couldn't demonstrate that I was steadily advancing with these markers, I was losing and dangerous falling into that zone where artists go to become forgotten.
So I kept measuring my career growth based on promotions and titles.
I never considered how I might measure it differently and more expansively - until I came across the work of Julie Winkle Giulioni, whose research revealed 7 other dimensions "that offer more interesting ways for employees to grow than the classic climb up the corporate ladder."
Taken directly from her website, they are:
Contribution: Making a difference, being of service, or aligning with purpose
Competence: Building critical capabilities, skills, abilities, and expertise
Connection: Cultivating relationships, deepening networks, elevating visibility
Confidence: Enhancing confidence, certainty, and trust in one’s talents and abilities
Challenge: Stretching beyond what’s known and comfortable
Contentment: Finding satisfaction, ease, balance, and joy in one’s work
Choice: Exercising control, autonomy, flexibility, and decision-making authority
When have I ever thought to measure my career growth using any of these dimensions? Never!
In fact, my focus on promotions and titles not only gave me tunnel vision, but it also stunted my growth in some of these dimensions. Here's how that happened:
I never felt like I was worthy of being a conductor because I was never able to acquire a Music Director title. This crushed my confidence and self-worth. I started to see no value in myself without a position. That confidence never grew.
I felt like because I didn't yet gain a title, I didn't belong to this field. I shied away from my network. I didn't think people wanted to have anything to do with me because I wasn't one of them. My connection didn't grow.
I believed that my artistic work was only meaningful if it were part of a promotion-like opportunity - like with a more established orchestra than previously. This led me astray in pursuing brand names instead of being attracted to the challenges and new competencies that I would gain from an opportunity.
I stayed in jobs that I didn't want to do for far too long because I thought I needed the position to remain legitimate as a conductor. That made me unhappy in my job and unsure whether I was making a difference at all. I wasn't increasing my contribution.
I wasn't making a whole lot of progress in the dimensions of confidence, challenge, competence, connection, contentment, and contribution. I had failed to measure them, and I failed to nurture them.
***
Upon reflection, I realized that over the last couple of years, I have actually advanced in almost all of the 7 dimensions.
I've made exponential growth in my sense of contribution. I've improved my confidence through questioning some of my limiting beliefs. With more confidence, I've been more open to learning more and developing my competence and challenge. I've also increased my connections by being proactive in networking. All in all - I'm now happier.
The problem is that these are largely invisible and difficult to see by others. Even if I shared that I've increased my connections, upleveled my confidence, or am 56% happier, it's just not the same as the news of a promotion or new position.
We are all wired to respond immediately to promotions and positions through the society we live in. Maybe we can also get into the habit of noticing, valuing, and responding to our growth in these other 7 dimensions.
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