Is it time to turn the page?
As the end of 2021 looms, so nears the closing of two full years working in a pandemic-ridden workforce and world.
As phrases like The Great Resignation morph into safer, cuter, more palpable Great Reset descriptors, the reality remains: opportunities abound for digital-first leaders and, while knee-deep in exploration mode, many next steps might trot them right out of their current industry.
While we are all familiar with and aware of the dangers surrounding the well-worn saying, the question persists: what if the grass is greener on the other side? How does a leader know when it is time to act as their own change agent?
There are signs.
A sense of nagging disillusionment
It’s been a rewarding albeit rough couple of years. In addition to exhausting the best and brightest, the pandemic decimated many differentiating employer benefits.
From managing staff early on through layoffs and furloughs through personally experiencing pay-cuts and elimination of perks such as retirement matching, those early stressors continue to persist in some organizations.
Even today, many leaders are not seeing the return of benefits on their administrative roadmap. They are seeing with clear eyes the widening gap between the rhetoric and new reality of the industry where they sit, where they have chosen to serve.
MORE FOR YOU
Meanwhile, calls are coming in from wildly different industries offering previously unconsidered employment options. In turn, they are intentionally making the time to think deeply and weigh options.
What led me here? becomes:
- Where did what attracted me go?
- And is it ever coming back?
- And why should I stay if I can do more, possibly with better impact and result, elsewhere with more tangible benefit for me and my family?
Watching a slow backslide
In addition to jarring changes to personal benefits, according to FEI’s Ray Grady one of Covid-19’s largest takeaways for business is the clear need for business to modernize, automate and continuously improve and invest in technology for the efficiencies and value it delivers.
This is not breaking news for chief information officers, however the rest of the c-suite being all in on the concept felt fresh and welcoming.
But that awareness and focus in some organizations is fading much too soon.
As workplaces choose to slide back into business as usual, tech leaders notice the respect of and appreciation for their work is losing the battle against ‘how we’ve always done things.’
Chief information officers know, now more than ever, it’s critical to stay the course with a technology modernization focus. Those industries that are backsliding and have effective tech talent? It can be difficult to rationalize staying in a culture that drops the digital focus in lieu of sliding back into a less long-term-focused comfort zone.
Dreams of a new challenge
Strong technology leaders have a solid track record of switching same-industry employers with finesse. Walking in on day one is familiar territory.
Knowing the intricacies of similar environments allows leaders to walk in with a proven roadmap, primed for quick tweaks to most powerfully drive the exact right, tried and true, change.
That industry experience and refined-to-perfection competence then empowers near immediate influence over a new organization’s spans and layers. And so on. And so on.
Spoiler alert: technology leaders love a new challenge.
Boring is the kryptonite for many modern workers in the tech field. Sure there is the old guard that excel and prove critical in the head’s down work, but for many tech employees the magic is in solving new problems and delivering improved outcomes in fresh, innovative ways.
For those ready to take on truly new and different challenges, a brand-new industry environment takes change to that next level.
Simply put, priorities have shifted
The pandemic provided time for technology leaders to think, ultimately leading to deep-dives into the consideration of shifts in all priorities – work, personal, familial. As the smoke clears, leaders are taking a hard look at their professional careers and leaning all the way into big life decisions.
Virtual/hybrid tangible benefits
2020’s pivot to remote or hybrid work for the majority proved that flexibility is not only manageable within business, it is often preferable with optimum results. For both the person and the business.
The benefits felt endless and eliminated layers of stress:
- Saving on gas, coffee runs, eating out for lunch
- Midday appointment scheduling simpler
- Errand running during less peak times
- Caring for a sick child on occasion
- Work from anywhere
A pivot back feels difficult and, for many, unattractive. Workplaces now choosing to deliver mandates requiring a full-time, back in office presence will likely get hit the hardest in technical talent loss.
Self-care
Heightened self-care prioritization results in stronger self, service and value, but requires genuine support from the workplace. Contact boundaries need to be solidified and schedules need to be empowered to allot time to focus on health.
At a time where some companies have yet to reinstate previous basic employee benefits, others have not only reinstated prior benefits but, as Forbes reports, have implemented new work from home stipends and even Peloton memberships to retain their people. Companies are choosing to prove they are walking their work-life, health-conscious talk.
And these self-care-supporting companies are cold-calling your leaders that have proven their worth, value and effectiveness during undoubtably the most most trying professional time in this lifetime. They are vying to attract standouts from workplaces that continue to deprioritize staff retention.
The reality on switching industries
The reality trifecta:
People bring the power to positions.
Talent easily navigates new environments.
Technology is the underpinning and foundation for driving, supporting, facilitating all effective business.
The industry flavor or focus is only as frightening as a person allows it to be. Now more than ever, opportunities abound for technology talent and as Leemay Nassary shared in her Lossless Leader advice column, “It’s OK to seek other experiences even if most of your peers are not willing to do so.” And as chief information officers and other tech leaders well know, technology is technology. While jumping from banking to healthcare seems dramatic, under the hood technology remains the underpinning and foundation for furthering business excellence. If the biggest gap to bridge is learning the business itself, that is certainly one doable – and exciting – challenge for a strong leader.
After all, according to The Change Leadership’s Yvonne Rule Akpoveta, change leadership is defined as “the ability to influence and inspire action in others, and respond with vision and agility during periods of growth, disruption or uncertainty to bring about the needed change.”
Change leaders need to pay attention to the internal whispers and lead themselves through their own personal growth and change. No one is better equipped to inspire action.
