Powershifting out of Stuck and Changing Jobs to Level-Up Work and Life.
Carmela R. Nanton
Most careers are built by jumping from one job to another. The day that changed my life was the day I gave myself permission to choose ME. I took back my power and became the CEO of my life and my company. That single decision netted me more income in one month than I had made in a year and half prior to that. There I was, having won awards all along the career I had built, with millions of dollars as receipts for the companies and departments I worked for, all the while knowing deep down that I had to get off the path I was on. I had been feeling unfulfilled, misrecognized for the value I bought to the company, stuck in the ruts of passed over, underpaid, and undervalued through one pretext or another. How could who ‘they’ wanted me to become and who I started to become be so far from who I really was?
What changed that day, was my commitment to living the life I had envisioned for years, no longer putting my dream and purpose off for the plethora of reasons that always popped up when I felt the urge to live my dream. I was done consoling myself for settling or making excuses for why I was not staying in alignment with my dream. No more excuses. It was time to make the shift!
The hardest but sweetest part of making what was, at the time, a drastic change in my life was taking back control of my life, my long-time vision, and my God, saying Yes, to the freedom to BE who I was authentically. Kicking fear to the curb, pushing aside others’ opinions of me, and trusting the dream I had held for a long time, I gave myself permission to do three things: take ownership of my life, my voice and my career.
Ownership of my life:
First, I took ownership of my life, my dreams, my vision learning whatever I had to learn, along the way, and to even do it afraid when necessary! I gave myself permission to fall and fail my way to the success of my dream, and to take time to de-stress and listen to my body more on the journey. I have learned to work strategically and smarter though there is always the temptation to work harder and not permit myself to delegate non-essential tasks.
Ownership of my voice:
I also gave myself permission to own the authority of my voice. I had written before, but this was personal. So, I started with the Hard-wired to Lead women’s leadership series that pushed me to take a deeply honest look into the mirror of my leadership life. Candidly looking at the challenges faced by many women if they are hard-wired to lead, you know, the stuff no-one wants to talk about, frequently not available in the texts to teach about, things that remain swept under the rug of corporate and cultural silence. This was leads me to the third thing I had to own.
Ownership of my Career
Ultimately, I gave myself permission to leap as a woman with ambition, attempting to reclaim her personal power. As CEO of my company, I had to reallocate my skills and manage my energy. The pivot required a powershift out of my stuck mindset to hit that next level. I have never looked back. Today, that leap has integrated my passion for leadership and diversity into creating space and opportunities for executives to accelerate their career and diversity goals.
Taking the leap to another position can certainly advance your career, but it is the action taken that can be transformational simply because it sets off a change-reaction. Taking ownership requires a relentless commitment to personal vision and goals set. Action-taking is the springboard to the successful leap. Permitting myself to leap has not only allowed me to take ownership of my life, my voice, and my career, it has also allowed me to do ALL this while creating a better life for myself and for my family.