Career Anchors - Do you know what yours are?

Career Anchors are core values that influence career decisions and can affect how fulfilled you feel in your job. It is important to have a good understanding of what your Career Anchors are especially when managing your career. Your Career Anchors also often influence your perception of the behaviour and choices of others. If you are a manager, take time to reflect on the Career Anchors of the people you lead. Ask yourself what the best way to manage them is.

I have briefly outlined my own interpretation of these anchors below.

Security and stability

This Career Anchor is common to many. Sometimes this Career Anchor changes depending one’s responsibilities. I have heard men and women talk about their need for security and stability increasing as they started to have children. If security and stability is not a strong Career Anchor for you, it is important to be sensitive to team members who have this as a strong value.

The issue of stability is not just financial. There are some people who will leave a company if there are too many changes of leadership or strategy. There are others who are quite the opposite. A regional sales manager in the financial industry said to me recently in a coaching session “Paul I have been working for this company for seven years and have had three CEOs in the last five years… I am really fine with that. I am comfortable with that type of change.” On the other hand I have seen other team leaders struggle with the idea of having to report to a new person especially when it involves getting to know someone “from scratch.”

Pure challenge

Some people are motivated purely by the challenge. If they are in jobs that have a lot of variety and challenge then they thrive. If not, they tend to move from job to job, unless they have loyalty as a strong value. It’s important for these individuals to learn how to create challenges for themselves and measure their achievements using milestones. Recently one of my clients shared with me that they had been offered quite a senior post by their Vice President. This individual went on to say that he had turned down the offer because the “goals were too easy”. He said that it was not challenging enough for him. I think that that Pure Challenge is one of his career anchors.

Autonomy and independence

People who love autonomy and independence tend to value personal freedom. Sometimes they want to make sure that they are given credit for the work they have done. Often they struggle with team dynamics that distract them from their goals. This is a good value and preference to have in a team setting and often results in people taking initiative and being self-managed. However if you are working in cross-functional teams and have to rely on each other it’s important to have a significant conversation if you are both high on this value. “Look, I know that we both value our freedom but we need to create a spacious place to think together and partner on this project. Let’s discuss how this will work.”

Managerial competence

These people are drawn to roles that involve them overseeing teams and sometimes the “position” is important to them.

Technical/functional skill

These individuals value growing in their specialized fields. They are happy to go to various conferences and develop their skills. Sometimes we project our desires onto them but pushing them forward for promotion but they will always view their position through the lens of technical expression and growth. When you understand this about these types of people it’s much easier to know how to create environments where they are self-motivated.

Service and dedication to a cause

We usually associate this career anchor with a missionary nurse in an obscure country. Whilst this is valid, it is important to note that one can have a job whilst still pursuing their cause outside of work. Recently I was told of a lady leading a unit dealing with applications for a technology company. One of her colleagues mentioned to me that you never hear this woman talking about her applications. You only hear her talking about the great young software developers from East Africa. She has been mentoring them and linking them up with institutions such as Harvard. She has a cause!

Lifestyle and Balance

Recently a woman I had been coaching was elated when she had made the decision to take a package after her division had been through a restructure. Initially I had asked her what was wrong after seeing tears falling down her cheek but she was quick to telI me that they were tears of joy. She was so happy that she could finally spend the time she wanted with her kids.

Entrepreneurial creativity

I know of someone who resigned recently from working in marketing for a well-known multinational company. She felt that she was not getting to do real marketing where she could express her creativity. One of her top career anchors is creativity and entrepreneurship.

I want to encourage you today to take the time to identify your top three career anchors and to think through why this is so.

Then take some time to go through the questions below.

• What is your biggest fear with regards to your career? What is the biggest opportunity?

• What are the skills necessary for advancement in your field?

• Do you have a long-term plan?

• Have you set clear career goals?

• Do you have work-rest balance?