I don’t know about you, but I spent decades collecting some pretty strong beliefs about work, money, and professionalism. Beliefs like…

Work should get easier when I’m promoted and have more say.
I should be earning at least $$$ by the time I’m 40.
I should never walk away because I’m not a quitter.

My beliefs carried me (and a lot of people I know) pretty far, but at a certain point they stopped being helpful and started complicating my career transitions.

In 2019, I finally figured out what it actually takes to make a successful career transition: getting really clear on your own definition of success.

And since then I’ve been helping professionals chart more satisfying careers - corporate leaders, contractors, creatives, and civil servants like Kallie…

KALLIE’S STORY

Inside city government, Kallie had earned a reputation for being a fast thinker, a relatable communicator, and an activator.

She had helped her team navigate a pandemic and an economic crisis, but by spring of 2023 she’d become cynical and exhausted. Her path to leadership wasn’t taking shape as she’d expected, and she was finding it harder and harder to stay the course.

So when her teammates started outlining the next growth initiative, she felt guilty and stuck…

CLARIFYING HER BELIEFS

When we started working together, I could tell Kallie was on the verge of burnout. There was fatigue on her face and pessimism in her voice.

But as I tuned in, some old beliefs about work started to surface:

A government job should open up more opportunities for me in the long-run.
Work should be more of a financial decision than a happiness decision.
I can’t ask for things to change just for me.

But what Kallie also surfaced was how badly she wanted to leverage her education because she was the first person in her family to go to college, and how determined she was to model courage for her two young boys.

Kallie actually had her own definition of success, and one that was much more complex than earning the next promotion.

MAKING A SUCCESSFUL CAREER TRANSITION

So I requested Kallie start re-writing some of her old beliefs, and I challenged her to experiment with new boundaries and new conversations at work.

And somewhere along the way, Kallie discovered something even more important: she didn’t need to jump overboard to make work work for her.

When she focused on her own definition of success - and took radical responsibility for all the pieces that went into it - she felt better at work.

And even better? Her team noticed and started asking her questions…

Today, Kallie occupies a more influential seat at the table. She is playing a bigger role in shaping her organization’s five year plan and her role in it.

But best of all, she’s spearheading a leadership development pilot that she developed to help everyone in her organization work smarter.