I coach academic faculty of all experience levels, and one commonality among my clients is the need for a strategy for overcoming career roadblocks. Without a strategy or plan for moving forward, my clients become frustrated and overwhelmed, wasting precious time.
It's my job to help them discover a workable strategy.
Inevitably, you will face roadblocks during your academic career. If you are like most, you will ask yourself questions like "How do I get around this issue?" or "How do I handle this situation?" Much frustration can arise at these times; however, to succeed in your career, the faster you identify the roadblocks, the easier it will be to move past them.
To help decrease your frustration or sleepless nights, I want to share the top four strategies I suggest to my clients.
1) Talk about it
Talking to colleagues about your roadblocks can be helpful, and I always encourage that. However, if you are uncomfortable speaking with a colleague, you must find someone you trust who can be your confidant.
Don't be shy; every academic has roadblocks. Successful faculty talk about their roadblock with someone they trust who has experience with the situation. When you verbalize the challenge, new ideas and solutions may arise during your discussion, which can assist you in moving forward. You may discover a solution you didn't realize was possible.
Strategy: Seek advice from past mentors or professors who have experienced a similar career journey. Make an appointment to speak to them and outline your roadblock. Listen to them. Be open to what they have to say. Work to see the roadblock and strategy through their eyes.
2) Take a breather
Much like in the real world, your career roadblock can be overcome by taking a break and re-examining the situation. Once in our lab, we hit a roadblock when measuring a particular protein in brain tissue. Regardless of our technique, we continued to get non-reliable results. So, we took a step back, took a break, and discussed the challenge. That's when one of my brilliant Doctoral students suggested a technique that gave us the necessary information. Their idea worked!
Strategy: Stop, breathe, and discuss the roadblock. Also, be open and listen to your Doctoral students!
3) Change your approach
Colleagues, administrators, or students can block your career progress. This can be unintentional or due to a lack of understanding of the situation. Changing your approach to handling a roadblock can alter how you attack it.
I once had a Dean who refused to purchase emergency equipment for our human performance lab. She would not spend the funds for a cardiac defibrillator because she believed it would never be used. My rationale and facts for why we needed the defibrillator were disregarded. My Dean would not budge. The roadblock was that a defibrillator was required for human testing in the lab. No defibrillator meant no research.
To overcome this roadblock, I changed my approach by involving other people on campus, particularly the Human Subjects Committee. The Human Subjects Committee agreed to bring in an expert from another University to evaluate whether we needed a defibrillator. The expert interviewed me, other faculty members, and the Dean. The expert's report showed that the defibrillator was necessary. We had a defibrillator within a week and received approval to do our research. Thankfully, over 30 years later, the defibrillator hasn't been used. But our research would have been stopped if we hadn't changed our approach to the Dean.
Strategy: Consider how you are approaching the roadblock, especially if a human is involved. Determine if a different approach will make a difference.
4) Let It Go
An important question you should ask yourself is, "Do I need to get around this roadblock?" One of Garth Brooks' more famous songs is "Thank God for Unanswered Prayers," which speaks to times when a door does notopen. Think about it. Is the roadblock you are facing stopping you from going down a path you shouldn't go? Is it time for a change?
In the middle of my career, I found NIH funding to be one of my biggest roadblocks. I spent hours writing and rewriting, spoke to experts in my field, and did everything I could think of, but I could not get traction on a grant. It was a frustrating and discouraging time. However, that roadblock made me think about my research area and why I pursued it. It prompted me to look at different fundable topics for my research. I decided to move into a new area, and I received more grant money than I had ever dreamed of receiving. However, I needed the initial roadblock to make me realize that I needed to let my earlier direction go so I could move onto a more satisfying and lucrative path.
Strategy: Don't be afraid to "Let It Go" if the roadblock is insurmountable or the door will not open. Ultimately, it may be the best thing for you and your career.
Regardless of where you are, you will experience roadblocks throughout your career. When you assess the roadblock and address the issues with a strategy, your efforts will support you as you move forward in your career.
Cheers,