The first step in the 5-Step CHART Framework is “C.” It stands for the Criteria you have for what fulfilling work looks like.
You can’t get what you want until you know what you want. Everything we do comes from this — who we talk to, what we target, how we evaluate possible opportunities or approaches.
This is a process of uncovering, discerning, and articulating.
My clients are all smart, but this kind of self-reflection isn’t always easy or familiar. “I’ve never actually thought about what makes me happy,” an ambitious young finance professional told me. A lawyer at a highly selective law firm said, “It’s always been more like, ‘what’s the hardest thing, can I do this very competitive thing and get the gold star’?” Other clients have told me about “stumbling into” a career and continuing to get promoted without ever feeling like they chose the responsibilities that were thrust onto them.
You can be pretty accomplished at work, and also be a beginner at knowing what you want from the next stage of your career.
How do you identify what matters most?
I send all new clients a pack of values cards in the mail. (If you want to get your own, here’s the link). I invite them to choose the 10 values they want to prioritize in the coming chapter of their career. Sometimes I push them to narrow it down even further, or to articulate “even/overs” that recognize which ones take precedence if they are ever called to choose between two.
The conversation about what they selected and why, and how they see the tradeoffs, helps us articulate the key elements of a successful solution. It’s one of a handful of exercises designed to pull out and examine what matters most at this life stage.
Another exercise is the work biography. I interview them about their professional life so far, and my specific questions focus on their motivators, their frustrations, their high and low points, and the relationships they built and choices they made. Together we look at patterns and themes that have driven their decisions.
How do you know when you’re done with this step?
We’re done with the “C” stage when a client has identified and can articulate a few things with confidence:
- their superpowers or the workplace activities they love doing
- the attributes of the organization / people / culture that make it a fit (and those that make something a deal-breaker)
- the purpose of their work — a personally-meaningful “why”. This is sometimes about mission (e.g. ‘environmental justice’) but it can also be a personal goal — skillbuilding or achieving a financial milestone.
When we have the criteria in a good place, we start trying to figure out where to look for it. And we have a rubric for evaluating the opportunities that come our way through our network.
