Navigating Career Change: Confronting the 'Risk Sharks' and Embracing Growth

Avoiding change as far as possible can feel like the most sensible, ‘safest’ choice. 

But, paradoxically, playing it safe is the riskiest move of all. 

Staying safe means staying curled up in your Comfort Zone armchair which, while it might feel nice and cosy, isn’t going to take you anywhere.

This is especially true in the context of career transitions and navigating the ever-changing professional landscape. If you stay in your comfort zone, you’ll get left behind.

The decision to play it safe often stems from fear. The ‘risk sharks’ in the Fear Zone can be a pretty powerful deterrent to change.

In coaching sessions, I work with clients to reframe this fear. We spend time in the Fear Zone, getting to know the sharks: working out what they are, how real they are, and weighing up the risk against the potential. 

It can be uncomfortable. Things are getting shaken up.

Sometimes, people decide that the risk is too big. Then it’s time to go back to the Comfort Zone to reassess options. 

Sometimes, people reframe the risk, starting to see it not as a threat but as an opportunity for personal and professional growth. With this, they can move into the Learning and Growth Zones, exploring new ideas, learning new skills, and setting ambitious goals. 

So, when you are considering a change but the ‘risk sharks’ are circling, it might be useful to:

🦈Name the risks - What are they? Are they real? How big are they?

🦈Consider which of these risks can be changed or controlled by you and how (for example, by building your confidence or learning a necessary skill)

🦈Rank the risks - Which are you willing to take? Which are you not up for?

🦈Ask yourself my favourite question - What is the worst that could happen? The answer can give you a healthy fear of the ‘risk sharks’ so you take due care. Or it could put those sharks into perspective: maybe it’s more Bruce from Finding Nemo and less Bruce from Jaws* and you can jump more confidently into the sea of change. And in doing so, open yourself up to the possibility of a more enriching, exciting, purpose-driven future.

* Did you know that the shark from Jaws was called Bruce? I had no idea until writing this article. Mind. Blown.