I love jigsaw puzzles. I love the problem solving, the kinesthetic learning component, the visual and physical manipulation of pieces. Not surprisingly, I come from a long line of jigsaw puzzle doers. My parents, their parents, and maybe even their parents (but I don't know for sure) were all big puzzle people. We could all stay up half the night doing a puzzle due to our compulsive need to finish it. Now, I've happily discovered that both of my children love to do puzzles and are quite adept for their ages. They both do puzzles well beyond their age groups, and what can I say? I'm a proud mama!
As I was doing a puzzle with my two year old son the other day, I asked him, as he tried to put two non-connecting-yet-closely-related pieces together, "Do you think that we need to find another piece to put in there first?" While the puzzle pieces may have been part of the same image, there was one piece we needed to find and put in place that would connect the first two original pieces. I remembered asking my daughter the same thing about "connector pieces" when she was first learning to do puzzles, and enjoying the moment when she actually understood what I meant.
Career design is kind of like putting together a puzzle, which is one of the many reasons I enjoy the field of career coaching. Oftentimes connector pieces are just what my client needs to complete his or her career puzzle. For example, the gap between a crummy job and a perfect job (sometimes within that same company) may be just a puzzle piece away. This piece may take the form of a position that serves as a "connector piece," one that the employee knows they just have to muster through temporarily to get a chance at the holy grail: the dream job.
In the past month I've had two friends that have gotten their current, fabulous career paths through that exact method. The connector jobs they took within their same respective companies were anything but their dream jobs (although in each instance they were only in them about 3 months or less.) They had taken these connector jobs solely for the potential of reaching the next level. Their bosses needed to see that they could handle certain tasks before being given more responsibility. And now they are doing exactly what they'd always wanted to be doing. How awesome is that?!
But putting those pieces together took very critical actions, the four most significant I will mention below:
1. Forethought. They had to know where they wanted to go eventually. This is big picture thinking coupled with self-knowledge. (They were following the Rules of Engagement!)
2. Relevance. The connector piece or stepping stone, if you prefer, had to have some relevance to the eventual position they were seeking. In one case, this in-between job had managing functions; in the other, the role had less to do with function and more to do with getting to know and work with the right people. In both cases the connector job provided their employers with evidence of their abilities and character, so that they could then make the mental leap of hiring them to do more sophisticated and specialized jobs.
3. Determination. My friends had to muster through what really were a pay-your-dues type positions. They temporarily took on roles that didn't utilize their best talents or interests; however, they knew the sacrifice would be worth it, as they needed to show their employers they would do whatever it took to help the company.
Now, truth be told, one of my friends absolutely hated her connector job. The other friend didn't necessarily hate her in-between post; however, she was constantly nagged by the feeling of being extremely underutilized intellectually and ability-wise. Sticking with those pieces of the puzzle required every ounce of self-confidence to know, deep down, that they were capable of more than that job. As one friend said, she had "to trust the universe," which eventually reimburses us for our personal vision efforts. Both women had to accept that their temporary position was not going to use their strongest attributes and preferences, but that it would lead to a job that did use those talents. They also had to be prepared to deal with the reactions of others.
Often, when taking on a connector job these outside reactions typically fall into two forms:
a) belittling attitudes (i.e. when you are doing a job that any Joe Schmoe could do and people treat you as if that is ALL you can do) andb) negative feedback (especially when you are having to do tasks that show your weak spots.)
4. Courage!!! This is the grand finale that must come in order for all of the sacrifice to pay off. Once the women put in their time in the middle job, they each had to muster up the courage to ask for the coveted position. They had to take the risk that their employer would reject their proposal. However, not surprisingly, neither employer did say "no." Rather, both women received a big fat "yes" and negotiated better benefits than they'd even hoped for.
Bottom line: if they'd skipped any of these pieces they would have not been where they are today.
So instead of getting frustrated that you are on a road to nowhere, entertain the possibility that you may just need a bridge or connector piece to get to the road you really want to be on. Perhaps it's within the same company or organization. Maybe it's a matter of going to another field and then linking the two. Who knows? It's your puzzle to work on.
(And mine, if you care to partner up with a puzzle lover such as myself.)
