You know that feeling when you dive into deep water and there's an invisible but unmistakable line where you pass from warmth into significantly cooler water? In an instant, I went from managing one of AOL's call centers -- an operation of 250 people, buzzing with activity seven days a week -- to a completely different experience as the head of corporate training. I remember carrying my box of belongings to my new department, passing one office after the other. I heard nothing. Where was everybody?
I thought I was on the track to gearing down, having children, becoming a stay-at-home mom and being a wife in a functional, if not joyful, marriage. We even bought a five-bedroom house in the suburbs. In time, I'd have a minivan to go with it. But for now, my main task was to settle into this new role and create a training program that would help develop managers, and fast.
They say that the one thing in life that's constant is change. During my three-and-a-half-year stint as corporate training manager for AOL in the late 1990s, the company mushroomed from 1,200 employees to 12,000. Revenues went from $100 million to $2 billion. We grew from a small, domestic company sharing an office building to a multinational organization with more than 12 major locations throughout the world.
That was the height of what I called AOL adrenaline. It was exciting. It was explosive. And it was a daily challenge. I wanted to be a part of this amazing experience, so I was determined to learn how to thrive on shift and change for my career. Here are three strategies I found worked well.
1. Expect Some Initial Discomfort
Not only did I experience environmental culture shock all alone in my quiet training office, I had to create my new job from scratch. Fortunately, nearly all of my previous positions required some level of invention. Still, I'd never built a training program for an entire company. My ability to perform would be seen by literally everyone in the company, a company that was constantly growing.
Shift and change -- it comes with the territory. "The first task of transition management," says author William Bridges, "is to leave home." Your own personal transition-management challenge is to convince yourself to leave home, whether "home" is a department at work, old personal habits or a home life that has become toxic.
You will feel uncomfortable for a time. Old weaknesses and insecurities that you managed to efficiently camouflage suddenly make themselves obvious again. The stress of change can even lower your immune system. You may temporarily feel like a mess. Do your best to take care of yourself and keep going.
Lead With Your Value
Trust that you can be resourceful. As you research options, look beneath the surface. The alchemy of your passions, combined with external needs, may create an opportunity that hadn't existed before.
When I started looking around AOL for alternatives to my 10- to 12-hour days in the call center, I didn't know the HR vice president was considering including a corporate training manager on his team. I just believed I could make a difference and had what it took to do it. The vice president saw that, too. He recognized my package of skills, dedication and experiences, and saw he could leverage them in a way that would benefit the entire company. So he asked me to go corporate.
Create Change In Half Steps
At AOL, we were creating change in giant strides, but in my personal life, I discovered the best way to change was in manageable half steps. Half steps help you test whether the change process is giving you desired results. When we lose weight gradually, we stand a better chance of keeping it off. When we give ourselves half-step goals, we can stop, acknowledge our progress, congratulate ourselves for any improvement and then step up to the next level.
I could have decided to leave AOL entirely in hopes of saving a marriage that already was strained and not getting better with my current efforts. And I considered it. The half of finding another position within the company allowed me to still be part of this adventure while reserving my time and energy to nurture my marriage.
Mary Foley, author of "Bodacious! Career: Outrageous Success for Working Women," inspires women to take charge of their lives and grow their careers and business. Tired of seeing so many people weary from jobs they hate, Mary created "6 Steps to Win the Job You Really Want," which draws from her 10 years at AOL. To find out more, check out www.new-job-search.com.
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