Yesterday I shared a reader’s question about why mid-career hits gridlock so often.

Today, I want to make things practical.

I’m a card carrying member of the mid-career crew myself. And over the last couple of years, I’ve been shifting lanes and ended up landing myself a spot on a 15 month Coaching Apprenticeship, generously sponsored by work. 

Along the way, I’ve learned a few things about what helps when it comes to switching lanes mid-career at the same employer.

Of course, there’s no step-by-step process or one-size-fits-all approach here. So If you’re thinking about mixing things up in your career, I suggest picking one or two points that land with you and then feeling your way into them rather than trying to cookie-cutter your way to your next career pit-stop.

That being said, here’s what I suggest:

*** Be good at your job. Perhaps too obvious to mention. But if I was half-arsing my day job, there’s no way the powers that be would’ve okayed my coaching application

*** Shout your ambitions from the rooftops. This one was a learning curve for me. I started off very gingerly, almost like I had a guilty secret by working in banking while harbouring ambitions to do more coaching. Big mistake. I’m a lot more open about my coaching now and rarely miss an opportunity to talk about my workshops and the Mindset & Clarity Beach Bar forum I’ve set up. What I’ve discovered is that the more people who know you want to shift lanes, the more people who can help

*** When you do talk about your ambitions, speak passionately, fervently and even obsessively about your career shift. Leave no room for doubt that you’re all in. Clarity & certainty are contagious and if done right, you’ll get other people onboard

*** So much the better if it’s senior people who catch that clarity. One endorsement from your departmental MD is worth fifty endorsements from Bob in Accounts (sorry Bob, but it’s true)

*** Don’t just warble on about how committed you are to shifting lanes. Demonstrate it too. I ran 50+ Mindset & Clarity workshops side of desk for my banking colleagues before snagging my Coaching Apprenticeship. Having these in the bag undoubtedly helped to grease the wheels when it came to my apprenticeship application

*** I could also show how my apprenticeship would benefit my colleagues. Very clearly in this case, given all the workshop testimonials. Sure, this isn’t easily done if you’re not running workshops like I was. But there’s no excuse not to have a cracking answer to the question “how will mixing up my career benefit my colleagues and my company”

*** Expect your change of direction to feel ambiguous and lean into that. Don’t mistake discomfort for a sign you’re shifting into the wrong lane

*** Stay calm if nothing is happening. Trying to get a corporate organisation to shift with you is like trying to turn an oil tanker in the Panama Canal. It would be strange if things didn’t take a while

*** And perhaps most importantly of all, don’t think of yourself as your current position. Yes, no-one “is” their position, job or job title anyway. But what I really mean is: think of yourself as in motion. So it’s less “this is what I do” and more “this is where I’m heading”. This way, you won’t be fighting against yourself by reinforcing the very gridlock you’re trying to avoid

Incidentally, this is what the Buddhist idea of the “Middle Way” looks like in practice at work. It’s threading the needle of not waiting passively to be noticed, but not blowing things up either. So you’re moving deliberately, visibly and patiently all at the same time.

Perhaps that all sounds very calculated. 

But when I snagged my Coaching Apprenticeship, there was nothing calculated about it whatsoever. It’s not like I took Michael Neill’s Genius Catalyst Certification program in order to run a Mindset Workshop at work, then to run 50+ more, then to get a bunch of awesome testimonials, then to send those testimonials to HR, then to ask for a coaching apprenticeship.

A calculated domino run like that would never work.

I like the way the American "supercoach" Michael Neill talks about this. He says our path in life doesn't reveal itself like a room flooded with light. It’s more like walking with a lantern where taking one step reveals the next. And the steps above are me looking back at the path I’ve been on and sharing what worked rather than unveiling a 13-step plan I conjured out of thin air three years ago.

It took me a while to come round to the lantern idea, being the cold & calculating chess player that I am. Planning countless steps ahead was always second nature.

But the lantern is just common sense.

Having the next five years of your career plotted out today isn’t just a fantasy but also puts blinkers on you when it comes to new opportunities that arise as and when you’re in action mode.

So I’ll add this to the points above too:

The way to shift lanes isn’t to plot & plan with military precision but to let it unfold.

I think that’s all I’ve got to say about this for today.

Except, perhaps, for this:

There was one other thing I did when I asked work to sponsor my Coaching Apprenticeship which was much more tactical.

You could even say it was a bit sneaky. It’s a negotiation technique I borrowed from one of the old school masters of persuasion. It's something I’m sure most corporate professionals do too when they’re pitching a project or negotiating numbers, even if they don’t realise it.

Now, I have no way to prove whether or not I would’ve got the apprenticeship if I hadn’t used this tactic. 

All I can say is that I ended up getting it, so it can’t have done much harm.

If you want to know what this sneaky tactic is, here’s the deal:

Hit reply. In your reply, tell me the number one thing you‘d love to change about your job (or your work if you don’t have a “job” in the traditional sense).

In return, I’ll send you this tactic. Then you can try it yourself.

Deal or no deal? 

To fulfilment,

Tom