Own up your current state, establish where you want to be , have an action plan. Results will follow

He looked hassled and frustrated, and I came to know that it was his last working day. With excitement, I asked him, what’s next?

His response was cold and I could sense frustration, anger and aggression in his tone and body language when he said: “I don’t have anything at hand and I am leaving because the manager did not bother to solve my problem.”

I decided to spend some time with him to understand him and his situation better. For the initial 15 minutes, I just listened to him to understand where he was coming from, and more importantly, it’s important that people speak, always give a listening ear in such a scenario. Towards the end of his part at the core, I could establish a few things which were creating this difficult for him in his head. He had the below external factors to blame for

1. His manager is non-supportive

2. His manager is younger than him and doesn’t respect him

3. He was not given a promotion and hence company and manager is bad

4. He has worked so hard for the company and no one cares

While these were his versions, I could gather some more insights after the process of inquiry.

1. While he blamed his current manager and company, in his 16 years career across 7 companies, all jobs have been parallel and he has not got a single promotion.

2. He has a family to take care with him being the only bread earner, kids, wife and dependent parents and still took a call to call it a day

3. He was in an “ I deserve a Promotion” zone

4. He had no plan for the future and not a single action he had taken for himself

5. His was not being flexible and adaptable

6. All of his past managers have given him the same exact feedback for the past 16 years

At the core, he had the entire world to blame for his situation and was not willing to take accountability for where he is in a career.

Well the process worked, he realized what he was doing to himself, took accountability of where he is and decided to take charge. He committed to himself that within the next 6 months he will make himself so incredible that his boss will do whatever it takes to get him a promotion, he decided to become a Million Dollar Employee.

My learning and message, Only you are responsible for where you are in your career. Own up your current state, establish where you want to be, have an action plan. Results will follow!