The other day I was driving along a country road in the pre-dawn hours when a beautiful deer, a 6-point buck, began to parallel me on the lefthand verge of the road. I was only driving perhaps 30 miles per hour, so I slowed further and allowed him to pull ahead. Clearly he wanted to cross in front of me, but was cautious. Finally, he stepped out on the road, but then froze—the proverbial deer in the headlights.
We may smile at this poor, benighted creature not acting in its own self-interest, but frankly, most human beings are no different.
Many executives get stuck, like a deer in the headlights, aware of their career discomfort but unable to take the next step. |
Every day at The Barrett Group (TBG) dozens of executives tell us about their work-related pains [Read “Ouch, My Job Hurts!”] but they fail to do anything about it.
Why do they remain frozen in the headlights?
One answer is that we humans are not primarily logical beings. We seem to make most decisions based on emotions—sometimes mitigated by reflection on relevant facts. Before our higher thinking processes evolved about 200,000 years ago we were far more dependent on the lymbic system— the so-called “reptile brain”— that governs our first reactions to external stimuli. Beyond the well-known “fight or flight” reflex, this system also encompasses gratification, so that at a very fundamental level, emotional decisions often boil down to dominance (me first), safety (freeze in place or run for your life), or gratification (enjoyment and adventure).
On top of those deep-seated drivers, we are often guided by cognitive biases in our decision-making that we may or may not be aware of. A recent article, “How neuroscience can help you make tough decisions – with no regrets” collected these unconscious filters as:
Consciously we may well understand that people who change jobs judiciously earn more money than those who stay put [Read: “Are Your Career Assets Frozen?”], and that utilizing a tried and true career management firm to support you career will mean faster and more lucrative advancement [Read “Results Don’t Lie: It’s the ROI!”]. Unfortunately, between dictates of the reptile brain and the unconscious biases operating at a higher level, many executives get stuck, like the deer, aware of their discomfort but unable to take the next step.
The neuroscience article goes on to suggest a way out of this dilemma, describing it as the “fly on the wall” approach. In other words, if you can gain a little philosophical distance from your career situation and options you may be better able to make the optimal choice. One method is to adopt the perspective of a benevolent observer. How would you counsel a friend, a relative, or a child if that person were in the same situation? Or, if you have the gift of another language, it may help to think and talk about your situation and options in that second language as this will achieve a certain distance, too.
Some social media platforms are fully aware that their content may be false. Reddit, for example, encourages anonymous posting and has all but said in its terms of services that “truth” is optional on its platform. |
Of course, this is exactly the point of our Clarity Program©—the first step in TBG’s career change program. By stepping back and looking at your behavioral tendencies through a psychographic instrument like DISC, evaluating your current life circumstances (and how you might wish to change them) through our Snapshot, and lastly designing a plan to achieve your ideal career targets via our Navigator—all of these steps in the Clarity Program help you achieve distance from your current trauma while constructively laying the path to your future happiness.
The neuroscience article also suggests that it is critical to collect information when you are contemplating a big decision. We completely agree with this and will never encourage clients to make an uninformed and urgent decision. Instead, we provide numerous information resources, videos, reviews, and testimonials to explain how our processes work and the benefits clients have received from them.
Unfortunately, there is also a lot of misinformation out there these days. In fact, one source suggests that social media in general is contributing to a lot of bad decision making: “Around one-third of humans on the planet are using social media, and some of these people are displaying maladaptive, excessive use of these sites…” Essentially, the researchers were able to find a strong correlation between excessive social media use and poor decision making. [See source.]
Worse yet, some social media platforms are fully aware that their content may be false. Reddit, for example, encourages anonymous posting and has all but said in its terms of services that “truth” is optional on its platform saying “We take no responsibility for and we do not expressly or implicitly endorse, support, or guarantee the completeness, truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of any of Your Content.”
This is why we encourage prospective clients to conduct their due diligence through reliable sources like Forbes, BBB, or Google Reviews, not to mention our many named client success studies. Often, our clients say it best:
I really value the perspective The Barrett Group gave me about the job market and how to navigate the challenges. I don’t think anything could have been better about my experience. [Victoria Sydorowicz – Controller, Read More.]
Ultimately, in my case, the deer woke up, blinked, strolled leisurely across the road, and then disappeared silently into the underbrush. I encourage executives to follow his example. Wake up to your discomfort, consider your options, do your due diligence, and lay your plans for a more lucrative and satisfying professional trajectory. With more than 500,000 executives changing jobs every year just in our target geography, there is never a lack of opportunity—if you know how to find it.
Peter Irish, Chairman
The Barrett Group
CareerChange.com powered by THE BARRETT GROUP
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