Standing Still vs Still Standing
Which timeline are you living in?
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
In our hybrid/next normal working world, I am able to coach both in person and virtually with people across the country - sometimes even across the planet. Discussions uncover extraordinary talent facing unique challenges across multiple time zones.
I love who I get to work with and I love what I get to do. Quite frankly, many of us get to do a lot of cool things at Schneider Electric.
Last week - in what was supposed to be a typical work week - I found myself speaking to three professionals in two different timelines.
No, that wasn't a typo.
Not time zones, but timelines.
As if I was the star of one of my favorite SciFi movies, I found myself jumping timelines with them. Here's how it went.
Scene One
Young man enters the chat. He has been in his role for a little over a year. He had previously expressed dissatisfaction with his job due to a continuing conflict with one of his customers. This day, he shares that he is "bored", believes his career has "plateaued" and he "just can't do this job anymore". He is in active pursuit of new roles - one of which is alarmingly similar to his current one. When asked if he knew the position faced similar challenges in which he wanted to avoid, he claimed that the new job is "just different enough" that he felt he could be successful.
Mentee 1
"I am running away from my problems. And I can't move fast enough."
[Cut-away to next scene.]
Scene Two
A mid-career person enters the restaurant. He has been steadily progressing in their organization and is highly esteemed. Recently, he pursued a role but came in second in what was a highly competitive interview process. He was hurt and uncharacteristically bitter. In our session, he began to question himself. Maybe he should have taken another role with another division that he previously turned down. He describes time like the sand in an hourglass. He feels compelled to take action now.
Mentee 2
"I am tired of waiting my turn. Maybe it is time to break the glass altogether."
[Cut-away to next scene.]
Scene Three
Back in the Zoom meeting again. A professional from entirely different industry explains she is in pursuit of a career pivot. She wants to know my insights on the best way to approach this. This pivot was driven and, increasingly accelerating, by the fact that her husband had suffered an accident. She explains that the accident left him partially disabled. As he was the primary breadwinner, she was in search of a role in which she could transfer her skills.
Independently employed, her current job gives her purpose and joy. However, the circumstances are such that she must find a way to support her family. She is focused on securing a role with a company with benefits and a steady income.
In her eyes, each of our sessions allowed her to see herself through a different lens. She takes voracious notes. And with every session, she shows me how she has implemented insights. Even via Zoom, her confidence visibly grows.
Mentee 3
"I am steadily inching closer to stability"
[Fade to black.]
While all three professionals had three distinct challenges, it was clear each had positioned themselves in one of two timelines.
One of the timelines can be best characterized by the name "Standing Still".
And the other: "Still Standing".
Timeline 1
While these professionals could not see they had leaped into a different timeline than the rest of us, it was abundantly clear.
For the young man and mid-career professional, both people saw themselves in different states of "Standing Still".
For both, there was clear sense of urgency. They used words like "late" or "behind". There was laser-like focus on velocity, direction, or comparison.
They were rushing.
Rushing to prove something. Rushing to get away from something. Or rushing to get to anywhere else.
Their urgency had ironically morphed into the destination itself.
Recall the famous White Rabbit from "Alice in Wonderland". The Rabbit hustles and bustles throughout the story, holding this pocket watch and insisting how late he is. In Tim Burton's version of the tale, the Rabbit describes "forever" to Alice as "Sometimes, just one second".
Later, at the Tea Party, his watch is deemed "exactly two days slow" and is ultimately destroyed.
For the first two professionals, their metaphorical watches were certainly wound. But what they were late for, they could no longer account.
Timeline 2
Unlike the first two, the woman seeking a career pivot saw herself in an alternate timeline: this timeline was one of "Still Standing".
Her focus was less on the "when" as determined by her ego, but more on the "where" and the progress she was making to achieve her goal.
And while time was of the essence for her as well, she possessed a larger mission.
That mission sustained her.
The mission kept her grounded.
And the mission transformed each step into a little victory.
Director's Cut
I know each of these bright individuals will ultimately get to where they are going.
How do I know?
Because in my career, I have been all three of these people.
I have had the impatience of the novice. Racing frantically to cross the finish-line somewhere in the distance just beyond the horizon.
Me (Then)
I must get there NOW. I can't point to the destination on a map. But I HAVE to get there. Fast. And now. Right?
Like Mentee #2, I have had the disappointment of not being tapped as "the one".
Me (Later)
I mean, I work hard. I'm smart. And I've put in the time. That was my "should have"; not theirs. Should I just give up?
Finally, I have been the person seeking something bigger than myself. Beyond myself. Doing something for a cause greater than myself.
Me (Today)
[Types away at keyboard]
This is the timeline I have opted to be in now: still standing.
Ready to step into your next timeline?
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Thank you. Very relatable!