It’s okay to settle, just don’t settle in.
No job is perfect, but even Admiral Ackbar can recognize that some are traps.
Finally! A job offer but it’s not ideal. There are some significant shortcomings that make you think twice. Should you just accept that this might be as close as you are going to get to your goal? Should you wait for something better. Should you settle?
Settling is often frustrating. You can come away with the feeling of somehow betraying yourself, of accepting less than you deserve. But settling can also leave you feeling satisfied, calm, and oddly… excited for the future.
What’s the difference? How can compromising on your goals and dreams leave you resentful in some situations and enthusiastic in others?
Are you using a nail or a piton?
Nailing yourself in place
So you settled by taking that safe-sounding job. Six months on you find yourself regretting your decision as you discover the only way to move up to the next level is by leaving the company.
Settling the wrong way feels like nailing yourself to a tree limb. You can’t fall, but you can’t climb higher either. Euphemisms aside, if the compromise you accept locks you into a path or a position that has no direct road to your goals, it’s a bad decision. These compromises are guaranteed to leave you with lingering resentment that will also need to be dealt with.
Be a mountain climber
Settling the right way is more like hammering a piton into the side of a mountain. The piton isn’t there to stop you from going higher. It’s there to stop you from falling further down.
Let’s talk real life. You want to lead. In your heart of hearts you know that you are at your best when at the helm. You want to be the CEO of a company or equivalent by the time you hit 40 and your education, reading and extracurricular activities have all pointed toward this goal.
Your first few positions after university seem to be leading you along that path and the goal is in sight after almost a decade of hard work but as you wait for the next big promotion, you are offered the job of assistant to the company president. You’d be over no one and outside of the formal managerial structure. WTH? They want to make a secretary?
Stepping back you realize that in a small way, it’s kind of a prestigious promotion and pays a lot more than you make today but feels like being drafted into the military as a lieutenant after years in a civilian position equivalent of major. Your expectations were set on a promotion into a directorship or, even better, VP.
Do you settle? Do you compromise with your ambition?
In this case, yes.
This is a classic example of pounding in a piton as you climb. If you chose to, you could sit in this position for 20 years and possibly follow the company president to other companies. You’d never make less than a solid six figures and you’d never see your competitors promoted above you because you are outside of the main branches of the org chart. To them, you are an appendix off the circle labeled ‘President’. Let them scoff in their ignorance. But what about moving up?
The real reason to settle for this position is the amazing opportunities that would land in front of you every day. For an ambitious person, it’s a gold mine. In a short period of time, you’d know everyone the company president knows. You’d have their contact information, shake their hands, look them in the eye and know who they rely on and learn who the real movers and shakers are. Every one of them would be impressed by your talents and understand that you aren’t in the role of secretary. You are acting as an extension of the president.
It’s an opportunity to climb higher using a different path you weren’t even aware of when you started. Soon, one of those contacts will need someone to lead a company they just acquired or re-org a failing division. Guess who they’ll immediately think of poaching.
The wise analyze
Making the right call requires investigation, analysis and recognizing your gut feelings. Make a list of all questions necessary to see all angles of the position’s opportunities and limitations. Dig a little about your future boss, their boss and who is in the positions you may want to shoot for in the future. If they are all “lifers” you need to recognize that those paths may be blocked.
Find out if the company prefers to hire from within. Plenty of companies make a point of looking outside for key positions and rarely promote. If you aren’t satisfied with the answer you get during the interviews, connect with past employees through LinkedIn. Ask them about their experience. If none of them received a promotion that’s a big red flag.
And lastly, trust your gut. If it’s telling you to be concerned, then that pattern recognition center in your subconscious brain may have locked onto something that you missed.
Happy climbing!
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