How to Decide Your Next Career Move?
Breakdown of strategies I have seen working when it comes to moving to the next role.
👋 Hello, I’m Vibhor, and welcome to the 🔒 subscriber-only edition 🔒 of my weekly Training Series powered by Winning Strategy. Every week, I answer two reader questions and publish 2 posts about Agile Products, Role-Based Skills, and anything else that you need answered about your Career Growth. You can send me your questions here.
On to this week’s question.
Q: Hi, Vibhor. I have been a Scrum Master for four and a half years and love my job. I have also earned some decent respect in the field, especially in my corner of the world. To give the credit where it’s due, I want to thank you for all the knowledge you have shared over the past few years. I owe most of my Agile maturity to that knowledge. Lately, I have been feeling quite overwhelmed with this feeling of stagnation in my career. After almost 5 years, I think moving to the next role is time for me. I am confused and don’t want to make a hasty decision. What should be my next role? Please help.
Thank you for the question.
First of all, congratulations on 5 successful years in the industry, especially as a Scrum Master, which, believe it or not, is pretty challenging.
When I started this role, I thought about quitting every single day. It was just so hard. People didn’t know what the role was about, and I didn’t know what the role was about.
It was a nightmare.
But let me tell you this — after 16 years, I know that if I had quit when I started, I wouldn’t be where I am now.
I owe the executive role, the confidence, the gravitas, and the ability to make things happen to the role of Scrum Master, which I accidentally accepted in 2009.
They didn’t even call this role by that name back then.
The point I am trying to make here is that the role of a Scrum Master is a tough nut, no doubt. But it is the role that can catapult you to the heights in your career that you’ve never imagined.
Everything that you learn as a Scrum Master is gold.
I am not talking about the frameworks, manifestos, or silly arguments we witness on social platforms.
No!
I am talking about the “mindset.”
I know the word is cliched, but hear me out. When you spend this much time in this type of role, you can’t help but develop this mental resilience that forces you to think that all problems can be navigated to a solution.
The people who make it to the top of the ladder are the people with this kind of mindset.
They view things holistically.
And in their holistic view, the impediments that appear huge to the people at the ground level have small and easy solutions.
The feeling of “stagnation” that you are experiencing right now is because you have “unknowingly” developed this “mindset.”
You now long for more significant problems and impediments that you can work on and help people navigate.
With the feeling taken care of, let’s talk about your next “career” move.
After reading this post, you will know:
which roles you can realistically apply to
which role you should apply to
what it takes to get into those roles
the strategies that I have seen working to get the offer