Road Sign 1

Who Are You?Where Have You Been?Where Do You Really Want to Go?

Bill:

In recruiting candidates for searches, do you findpeople in corporate America generally happy or unhappy intheir careers?

Janice:

For too many, it’s a matter of habit, not happiness.

Bill:

And too many have accepted that happiness in acareer is simply not possible.

Janice:

Yes. That’s why I advise just about every candidatewho comes through my office to stop and evaluate whothey are, to take a look in the rearview mirror to see wherethey’ve been, and only then to figure out where they wantto go. The job I am interviewing them for may fit theirexperiences, but may not be right for what they really wantto do next. For the most part, they have not stopped to

evaluate other possibilities; they just continue driving on acareer highway – it becomes what they know best, notwhat

best!

Bill:

There are times when you just need to take a break,turn on the lights, and look objectively at every aspect of your life. We just need to stop and re-assess.

Janice:

Otherwise, you run the risk of crashing andburning. But people are simply afraid that if they stop, theywon’t be able to start again.

Bill:

Actually, they’ll get off the mark faster, smoother, andbetter if they take that all-important pause.

Failure to Stop Can Be Dangerous

Remember the rules about what to do at a STOP sign? You’re required to bringyour vehicle to a complete stop, check your rearview mirror, look carefully to the rightand left, and of course scan the road ahead. Only when you are completely satisfied thatthe conditions are right and that your way is clear can you take your foot off the brakeand put it back on the accelerator.Chances are that you’re reading this book because you feel you’re driving towardssome sort of intersection in your career. Maybe you see a STOP sign ahead. Maybeyou’re there, with your foot on the brake and the engine idling, waiting for the other cars

to get out of the way. And maybe you’re not quite sure what that sign up there is saying,and you figure you don’t need to slow up, you’ll just ram through.Don’t.Failure to stop at a STOP sign is as dangerous in a career as it is on the road. Themessage it’s giving you is all-important: if you don’t stop, look, listen, and assess rightnow, your career may not make it out of the intersection at all.So hit the brakes. Not tomorrow; today. Now. This minute.Put down the Blackberry. Close the cell phone. Clear your mind. It’s time for a pause.

Stop—But Don’t Stop Working:The Pause That Refreshes

High school kids take a “gap year” before they start classes at the college at whichthey’ve been accepted. Partly, it’s because a lot of them are utterly exhausted—burnedout—from all the pressure to get into the college. And partly, it’s a way of promoting“discovery of one’s own passions,” as an admissions officer at Harvard put it—Harvard being just one of many fine institutions of higher learning that actually advises students toexperience the gap year before college.Professors take sabbaticals after seven years of steady teaching and scholarship.The mind begins to tire if it concentrates too consistently on any one thing. A change of pace and a change of scenery refresh the brain’s capabilities and restore its capacity for thinking.