I Stayed Too Long

 I spent 13 years working for the same company. I stayed too long.

That's an interesting idea for me these days. While I was working there, I enjoyed it. I had my place in the organization, strong peers, great teams, I learned a lot, more than I realized at the time.

I started as a supervisor, then moved up to manager, director and finally a director with national responsibility. How can that not be good?

That was my thinking as I started looking for a new role after I decided it was time to leave. I had gotten to the point where I felt my growth had plateaued, I didn't feel I was learning and that the challenges in front of me were more rinse and repeat rather than new.

Imagine my surprise when I expected the market to see things the same way I did, and it didn't.
A young, successful candidate that has proven himself for over a decade, ready to do the same for another team.

I was faced with a number of comments and judgments that I was not ready for:

• You didn't "prove" much, it was always at the same company
• The environment was always the same
• Are you actually a good leader or did your boss just like you?
• You were successful in a very large business with a lot of support, we aren't that big
• You don't have experience with other markets

 

I can tell you now that none of those things actually mattered. Once I did find myself with a new organization and on a new team, the ability to make a positive impact, to see things different and to challenge the status quo ... they all transferred over.

 

The challenge is that people hiring want to make safe bets. There is a lot that goes into the process and most of the time, the hiring structure does not allow for  a lot of exploration of diverse candidates. We use ATS systems to screen, we want to see the same keywords. In interviews, we want to hear right buzzwords and align with people that see things the same as we do.

The same difference in perspective that would support and sustain innovation, is the same perspective that makes people think that you aren't a fit because you clearly don't understand the role or market [more that you don't understand it like them].

I would never encourage anyone to leave a role if they are happy, it meets their personal and professional goals and they feel it will support the future growth they want for themselves.
If however you do not feel that all of those boxes will be checked, if you feel that at some point you will need to look down other avenues, I would encourage you to evaluate how much time you feel you should stay in one place before moving on.

Being in a new environment and industry immediately cranked back up my creativity and curiousity. The rush you get from things being new while also wanting to prove that you can do it helps your development. You get to start over with everything that you have learned up until now, and use that as a springboard going forward.