Meghan Markle is an empowered, driven, professional woman who has worked damn hard to achieve her acting career success. Don’t believe the press; this woman has not naively leapt to a life of royalty without doing some serious exploration and decision making for herself.
Megan has made an informed career choice. A seasoned philanthropic advocate who has chosen a future career that is impactful as a champion of global charitable causes. Like many savvy professional women at a crossroad in their life, she has had to work through what matters most, weighing up the pro’s, con’s and compromises, to make the best decision with the information at hand at that moment. Albeit, this powerhouse of a woman had to make those choices knowing the world was about to weigh in on her decisions.
As an executive coach who has spent the past decade specialising in career strategy and personal branding, I can tell you we need more people to ‘Do a Markle’ and make informed decisions about their careers. Too many people leap from one job to the next lured by an extra 5% pay, a step-up in band level, or a fabulous new title having done next to no reflection and exploration. It is no surprise when they find themselves miserable, disengaged and disenchanted six months later and staring at the prospect of another leap (and another question mark on their cv).
Own your career happiness and be accountable for your success. ‘Do a Markle’ with these 3 Steps:
1. Explore what makes you excited (and miserable).
Get back to basics. Pull out a notebook and write a list of all the past roles you’ve had and note down what you’ve loved doing and what you’ve despised doing. Think of moments when time has flown by, and you’ve felt on fire, and anything is possible – what were you doing? Then think of the times when you’ve felt disengaged and watching paint dry on a wall felt more interesting. Now we know what a role needs to involve and what we want to avoid.
2. Know your purpose.
What are you working towards? This goal doesn’t have to be the big career vision ten years down the track but do identify what you want to see yourself doing (concerning role requirements) in the next 3-5 years. Which of those skills do you have now and what are your gaps? Ok, now we know what skill development opportunities we need to focus on.
3. Rumble with your current role
Can you get what you want (points 1 and 2) without leaping? What are you in control of or who is in your network that you can tap into to get more immediate career satisfaction? Be mindful that we co-create our situations, so what you don’t deal with now will follow you. Ask yourself the question ‘What do I know to be undeniably true about myself in this situation’ and start working on addressing the items listed that are hand braking you from maximizing the current role. Your future self will thank you for addressing this now!
I have no doubt Meghan has deep dived into all of the above steps to help her gain clarity and make an authentic and informed decision. At the end of the day, we are all human beings striving to find our way in this world and contribute in a meaningful way.
