Little Boxes
ABBA famously sang “Breaking up is never easy I know”. Part of the pain stems from the uncoupling (conscious or otherwise) and part because of where it can leave us. Uncertain. Alone. Disorientated.
One of the main reasons people don’t leave their jobs is because they don’t know what to do next.
Well, not in enough detail to make the move.
They might be able to articulate a feeling of freedom or having more agency, more time, more purpose. To be removed from somewhere toxic or disabling.
But these feelings aren’t usually sufficient to warrant the disruption which follows an exit.
So, we swing another way and rely on over-simplistic, stereotypical concepts of roles or jobs we could perform.
Consultant. Coach. Advisor. Trainer. Project Manager. Domain Expert. Business Owner. Freelancer.
We tentatively ask ourselves, “Could you be a consultant?”. Answer Yes or No.
Under pressure, our lizard brains quickly process a whole range of uninformed biases:
“I couldn’t be a consultant, I couldn’t cope with the constant selling.”
“I couldn’t be a consultant, I’d hate to work on PowerPoint all day.”
“I couldn’t be a consultant, I’d have to work until midnight every night.”
“I couldn’t be a consultant, I’d have to bullsh*t my way through life.”
And we default to No.
I see it time and time again.
Uninformed views of all manner of roles, based on narrow stereotypes that assume we have to ‘Take it or Leave it’.
I think of them as Little Boxes. Easy to weigh up (superficially) and conclude No. It requires minimal energy to say No.
Decision: Stay put.
It kept me stuck. A morbid fear of sales, late nights, slides and being caught out, stopped me from considering a career as a consultant.
And yet, I’m one today. Of sorts. I run a startup accelerator, I do some marketing consultancy, I mentor small businesses on strategy and value proposition.
So, what’s changed?
Once I left my job I stopped relying on Little Boxes and instead thought in Long Spectrums.
I began to see job types, like Consultant (and all the other options), each one as a spectrum of different activities or roles. And some roles on the spectrum played to my strengths, my experience and where I got my energy.
For example, a consultant can be the McKinsey-type trusted advisor, it can be a report-writer, a certifier of something, a trainer, a domain expert, a solution salesperson, even a business-builder – and a hundred different things. A coach can be a life coach, an executive coach, an agile coach, a startup coach, a career coach, a mentor…you get the idea.
Thinking of these ‘job families’ as spectrums helps you work out what feels right for you and what matches to your own needs, offer and where you will best thrive.
Opening up. Becoming non-binary. Fluid. More ‘maybe’.
A space to explore, not to write-off.
The chance of finding a match with a Little Box is small, too small.
Fitting somewhere on a spectrum is much easier. Many more people will find their place.
And the fact that there is somewhere for you outside of your corporate job might be enough to build your confidence to move. To somewhere you might be happier, more fulfilled, more energised and more successful.
Give yourself a chance.
If you know someone who wants to escape but doesn’t know where to go, share this blog with them - or point them to my Escape Method course or to Instagram. Or maybe they’ll be inspired by other people’s stories on the Corporate Escapology podcast here and here.
Corporate Escapology the book is out on July 2nd and available to pre-order on Amazon.
