Page 45 - Free Yourself From

28 It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor

Learning to Let Your Values Be Your Guide

I understand that over time, the currents of life and work can carry you
off course, often so subtly that you don’t realize it’s happening until you
notice you’re somewhere far from where you wanted to be.
After spending 14 years in the corporate world, running human
resource teams, I realized that I was ready to turn to the next chap-
ter in my career. My entrepreneurial bent was pushing to the surface
and I wanted to build a business that would create innovative ways
to develop and advance new business leaders, something I both knew
and cared about.
Just as I had done at the start of my career, before embarking on
this major transition, I once again identified and prioritized my core
values. This was not a laundry list of all my values about everything.
I am talking about my nonnegotiables—the ones that really mattered
to me. They included being in a work situation where I would have
real ownership over the work I produced (for better or for worse),
where I could pursue continuous learning and personal growth, and
where I could create new things, take risks, build relationships, and
have fun.
Seeing this list of entrepreneurial values reinforced my confidence
that I was making the right career move and those values continue to
make my short list today.
I think of this list as my compass—a reminder of what is impor-
tant to me and of what I want to accomplish. It also helps me to
choose the right direction in which to pursue my version of success.
It helps to ensure that I, and not those around me, shape my dreams.
Not paying attention to your own compass can get you into trou-
ble. It can lead to jobs that are ill fitting and unsatisfying, and it can
get you stuck somewhere between the eighteenth floor (management)
and the executive suite penthouse. It’s incredible how often I see tal-
ented people fail to match their personal values to their career