{"id":211,"date":"2019-03-08T21:17:24","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T21:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/?p=211"},"modified":"2019-03-08T21:17:25","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T21:17:25","slug":"java-with-joe-changing-jobs-a-servant-leader-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/?p=211","title":{"rendered":"Java with Joe: Changing Jobs…A Servant Leader Approach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve recently been asked by a number of followers of Java with Joe<\/em>, many of them \u201cmillennials,\u201d about the topic of changing jobs\u2026and more specifically, if, when and how to make that change. It seems clear that even the thought of making a career move can leave people confused and apprehensive. It\u2019s that old fear of the unknown. While I don\u2019t think this brief discussion can completely eliminate that stress, here are a few thoughts that might be helpful.                                               <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, there\u2019s the question of when<\/em> to make a move: \u201cHow do I know that it\u2019s time?\u201d To get a handle on this, it might be helpful to remember that the decision to change almost always starts with some level of dissatisfaction with your current state. In the case of a job change, the dissatisfaction is often pretty obvious. You don\u2019t have a good relationship with the person to whom you report or possibly with the people you work with. You feel undervalued and undercompensated. You don\u2019t see any opportunities for growth and vertical mobility. Maybe you just hate going to work in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But sometimes the dissatisfaction is less a burning platform\nthan a smoldering flame. You\u2019re paid pretty well. You get along well with your\ncolleagues. Your manager is ok. The work itself is interesting, at least most\nof the time. And yet, you just have a feeling that something isn\u2019t right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how do you figure out if you\u2019re dissatisfied enough to\nmake a move? One way is to approach the whole question through the lens of\nServant Leadership, and more particularly, its underlying concept of service to\nothers. Whether or not you\u2019re in a leadership role\u2026formal or informal\u2026having\nservice to others as a core value gives you a solid platform on which build a\ncareer, and a life. And it can help you make important decisions about your\ncareer and your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, try asking yourself if your current position allows you\nto really serve others\u2026your customers, your colleagues, the organization as a\nwhole. Think hard about how much of your whole self you\u2019re using in your\ncurrent role. How has all this changed since you\u2019ve been in the role? Even if\neveryone around you thinks you\u2019re doing fine, what does your gut tell you? If\nthe answer\u2026the real, deep down answer\u2026is that you\u2019re no longer fully utilizing\nyour talents\u2026if you have much more to give than the current job allows\u2026 then\nit\u2019s probably time for you to make a move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a different way to approach the same question, an\nexercise I call \u201cStanding in the Future.\u201d Look out 3-5 years and ask yourself what\nyou\u2019d like to see yourself doing. Write a news story about yourself, your life,\nyour work. Fill it with details and even quotes. Think of a compelling headline.\nWhen you\u2019re done, ask yourself if you see a realistic path from where you are\nnow to where you are in that story. If you can\u2019t see that path, then maybe it\nreally is time for you to start looking for a job, an organization, a role that\nwill serve as a better jumping off place for your future.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve decided to make a move, the question of how\nimmediately arises. You can certainly go on line to access various job-related\nsites, like Indeed.com, Monster.com, ZipRecruiter.com, etc. And you can check\nout the career opportunities listed on the websites of companies\/organizations\nyou might be interested in. But as much as it may be a clich\u00e9, the best way to\nfind a great new job is through people you know\u2026networking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I look back on my own career, this is one area where I\ndefinitely could have done much better, and many of my friends have told me\nthey feel the same way. Indeed, for many people, just the word \u201cnetworking\u201d is\nenough to make them feel slightly nauseous. It conjures up the idea of reaching\nout to people they haven\u2019t talked to in months (or years) to ask for help. Not\na pleasant vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my experience, what prevents people from networking\neffectively is that they wait until they need help to connect with the people\nwho could help them. If you haven\u2019t talked to someone in two years, it\u2019s no\nwonder that you\u2019re uncomfortable about now reaching out to ask for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems to me that this is less of a problem for\nmillennials than for previous generations. Growing up with social media seems has\nmade it much more likely that millennials will build and maintain connections\nwith a broad network of friends and acquaintances. But based on the questions\nI\u2019m often asked, it seems clear that they too want to avoid taking advantage of\nthe people in their network. They want help, but they don\u2019t want to use<\/em> people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would suggest that if you\u2019ve been living the core value of\nserving others, this issue will take care of itself. In other words, if you\u2019ve\nfound ways to serve the people in your network\u2026if you\u2019ve helped and supported\nthem in the past\u2026you won\u2019t really need to ask for help when you yourself need\nit. All you\u2019ll need to do is tell them you\u2019re thinking of making a job change\nand they\u2019ll be there for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\u2026if you\u2019re thinking about making a job change, I hope\nthese ideas will take at least some of the stress out of the whole process,\nfrom deciding when it\u2019s time to actually implementing your search. In the\nmeantime, ask yourself these questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you still doing your best work in your current job? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does the job offer you the opportunity to make full use of your talents? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does it offer a path to the role you want to have\u2026the life you want to be living\u2026 a few years from now? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you finding ways to serve the people in your network, so that you\u2019ll feel comfortable asking them for help when you\u2019re ready to launch a job search?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve recently been asked by a number of followers of Java with Joe, many of them “millennials,” about the topic of changing jobs…and more specifically, if, when and how to make that change. It seems clear that even the thought of making a career move can leave people confused and apprehensive. It’s that old fear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=211"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions\/221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}