Making a basement a balcony

Last week I was running a Career River workshop when a woman in the front row shared an incredible insight.

She'd been looking back on her career journey, which had its share of setbacks. But taking in the entire map of her river, she noticed something. Those "basement" moments when she felt her lowest actually offered a "balcony" of insight. (I immediately told her she'd just named my next newsletter.)

Perspective is everything. And with some practice, we can take the view that serves us best.

The "balcony" view as described by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky is for leaders who need to manage change in their organizations by stepping back from the action and asking what's really happening.

Because we're all leading our own professional journeys, you can apply this thinking to managing change in your career too.

Think back on a "basement" moment you experienced. Maybe it's something like this career Navigator who listed "wither and die" as a skill under Role 6 on their Career River map:

Now ask yourself: what did I take from that experience? Chances are you learned something about what you want to avoid in the future, either about the work itself or the situation you were in at the time.

When we experience hazards on our journey, we get better at spotting and avoiding them down the line. That's how you make your basement a balcony.

As we finished the workshop, I asked the attendees to hold up their fingers (from 1=none up to 5=a lot) to answer this question: "How much of a sense of possibility do you feel about your next career move now?" The room was filled with 4s and 5s:

Career lows don't have to be regrets. It's by looking back with an open mind that we can mine those experiences for valuable insights. That's how we keep moving forward – not despite the dips, but stronger for them.

Happy navigating,
Bridget