Why it is critical to have a strategic vision for your career
Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash
You worked hard and secured your dream academic job. Your colleagues are brilliant, and the students are energetic. But somewhere in the midst of the teaching responsibilities, the multiple service committees, the paper that just can’t get past Reviewer #2, and the never-ending emails, you realize that you don’t feel happy and fulfilled. In fact, you feel a little burnt out, somewhat uninspired, and definitely tired.
The problem is that once we’re on the academic hamster wheel, it feels indulgent, almost irresponsible, to take the time to reflect on our career goals—and whether our current set of activities align with those goals. There’s only so much time in the day and you really need to get that manuscript review in before the editor emails you for the third time, right?
Early in our careers, before that first promotion review happens, we feel that we need to be team players for our department and for our field. We’re taught that we’re the lucky ones who got a job, and we feel pressured to say ‘yes’ to each request that comes in so as to not appear selfish or undeserving.
But career planning shouldn’t stop once you get the job. In fact, if you *don’t* think about what you want for your future, you will derail your progress, and jeopardize that tenure or promotion review. Once you’re off-track, you may become disillusioned and even leave academia altogether.
Crafting a strategic vision for your career gives you a North Star to follow as you move through each semester. For instance, if you want to be Department Chair in 5 years, or hold a VP of Research position in 10 years, what do you have to start doing now? You then use that strategic plan to map out the activities that should be done in Year 1, Year 2, etc.
Strategic visions also provide the framework to evaluate and shape opportunities as they come in. Will this committee request give you the leadership experience or insider knowledge that you need to move to the next level? How can you design your next course syllabus to allow you to learn new material alongside your students or to develop new pedagogical skill sets that are necessary to achieve your future goals? Will this new collaboration request enrich your network in a meaningful way and allow you to answer some of the key questions that drive you?
Take an hour, a mug of coffee or tea (or your adult beverage of choice), play your favorite music in the background, and just sit and be with yourself. What do you want to be known for in 5-10 years? What problems do you want to solve? What new skills do you want to develop? How do you want to give back to your communities or develop the next generation of talent? If you get stuck, let’s chat—I’d love to help you dream big about your future!
Next week: In order to embrace activities that support your strategic vision, you may need to walk away from something else…and that’s ok.
