Career Stage: Exploration
“Peggy Lee had it right.” Bob flipped a burger on the grill.
The circle of friends in his backyard waited. They knew the signs. Bob was about to deliver a tidbit of “retro-wisdom” from the 1950s, 60s, or 70s that he thought would be helpful and interesting.
“Peggy Lee was a singer in the 1960s.” Bob flipped a burger. “And she had a big hit back then.” Another burger flip. “It was called ‘Is that all there is?’” Bob took a big drink. “That, my friends, is us.”
There was some nervous laughter and a lot of head nodding. Everyone looked around at the others in the group.
Bob was an engineer. After years of work that interested him, it seemed like every project was the same.
His bother, Jack, was a successful salesman, but his old boss retired. Jack’s new boss was a hard charger who wanted to put his own stamp on the sales team. Jack didn’t know if he wanted to hang around for that to happen.
There was Carla who had banged into a glass ceiling at her company. She felt blocked and frustrated.
Bob’s daughter, Susan, had mastered her marketing job right out of college. Now she was coasting.
Many of the people in Bob’s backyard that day felt like asking Peggy Lee’s question: “Is that all there is?” That’s the big question of an Exploration Stage.
You get to an Exploration Stage when learning, possibilities, and choices don’t seem to be part of your life at work. Sometimes it’s temporary. Sometimes it threatens to be long term.
An Exploration Stage can happen at any time in your career. It can be a very tough time.
When you’re in this stage you’re likely to feel frustrated, even depressed. You’ll probably quit diving in and showing initiative at work. You may react by becoming more aggressive or more passive.
Your challenge in an Exploration Stage is to deal with your emotions and start looking for something else to do. Because of the emotions that are often part of it, an Exploration Stage can be very hard on you and the people around you.
You need to meet the challenges of The Exploration Stage and your own Career Path. You need to seek out the resources, including mentors, who can help you make the most of where you are and move on to something better. At Momentor, we’re designing things so you can always find resources for whatever Career Stage you’re in.
