Now, we tend to think of career moves in terms of promotions upwards.
Sometimes, the best way to get there is actually to go sideways first.
A lateral career move could actually be one of the smartest career moves that you ever
make.
Before we start, you're going to want to subscribe to my channel and click that bell, because
I've got a whole series of videos about switching careers that you're going to love.
If you stay to the end, I'll give you an example of how one client used a lateral career move
to get away from her demon boss, as we used to call him.
Today, I'm going to give you three brilliant career benefits of making a horizontal career
move.
I'm Dr. Suzanne Doyle-Morris, the founder of Inclusiq.
Now, in addition to straight-up promotions, I've coached many women through
many successful lateral career moves.
Now, one great client made a lateral career move from CTO to then COO, and now, well she's
being lined up for the CEO position, a dream job that, let's be honest, she never thought
she would get.
Now, I'm actually a huge fan of the lateral career move, for a number of reasons, and
I think by the end of this video, you should be too.
The first reason to love a lateral career move, well, it's a wider understanding
of the business.
I was recently working with a fast-moving consumer goods multinational, now, in our
program, high potential, middle management women are paired, essentially, with senior
management leaders, who let's be honest, are mostly guys.
And those guys are their mentors.
Now, these mentors aren't their bosses.
Instead, they lead completely different departments.
Now, the program was hugely successful, but one of the most interesting things was that
by the end of the year, well, the mentees were now considering opportunities in other
departments.
They were now willing to look much wider than just simply waiting for a
promotion that would only come if their boss retired or became vacant in some way.
That's essentially like waiting for a dead man's shoes, which is wholly unsatisfying
and a completely time waste.
As part of the mentoring, these women now realized how much bigger the organization
was, particularly compared to their own siloed area.
That wider understanding of the business gave them a renewed sense that they had far more
career options than they thought, potentially just from moving sideways.
Second reason to love a sideways career move was your wider network of supporters.
Now, your work is no doubt great, but its people who are going to get you your next
promotion, and the more people you know, well, the better off you'll be.
It is the death knell for any professional if when their name comes up during promotion
discussions, somebody pipes up and says, "Who's she?
I haven't heard of her."
Let's be clear: That is one of the most important things that I work on with my clients.
One coaching client was a project manager for a small civil engineering project.
Now, that project did well, and she certainly wanted to progress.
But to get there, she actually sought the same role, in the same company,
but for a much bigger project.
It was higher profile and had bigger budgets, plus much more access to the senior people
she wanted to get known by.
On paper, she went from being a project manager to, drum roll please, a project manager, but
it was the size and scope of the project that served her so well, and after a year of being
on that second project, well, she was given a much bigger promotion, because she'd proven
herself, not just on one, but two projects that looked essentially the same on paper,
but as everyone in the company knew, were completely different in scope, and she now
had a much wider range of advocates, because that sideways moves mean that you can have
tentacles of influence that go much further.
That's a fantastic way to get ahead.
So my question to you is when have you made a sideways move that turned
out to be exactly what you needed at the time?
If you've done that even once in your career, well then type, "Sideways," into the comments
box below.
And let's finish with the third reason to love a lateral career move.
Well, it's that they're a less competitive, and often less contentious way, to get away
from a team, or specifically a boss that doesn't suit you, because it is a lot easier to fly
under the radar, as your boss and peers don't think that you are gunning for the top job.
One client used this as a really smart approach to stay at the same company,
but to get away from her demon boss.
He relied on her so heavily, he even once told her, straight up, that he'd probably
never give her a good recommendation if she ever tried to leave him.
Anyway, she started her sideways career move by volunteering to help on a different team's
project, which he couldn't object to.
That gave her a new set of stakeholders, including her boss's boss, and she worked so well for
that head honcho that he eventually asked her to be moved over permanently to that team.
Demon boss not happy, but by then, what could he do about it?
Not much.
Now you know three of the benefits of a sideways switch, and I'd recommend you
check out our playlist on influencing others at work.
It will give you plenty of techniques that are going to help you win that next lateral
career move.
And if this video's making sense to you, then give it a like, and share it with someone
else who's considering what next.
Subscribe to get regular advice about switching careers, and so much more.
And if you're convinced that a lateral career move could be a great option for your career,
well comment below with the sector in which you work.
I hope this has helped broaden your horizons when it comes to thinking about your own career
options, and good luck, and remember, no one cares about your career as much as you do.